Russ Regan

Russ Regan (born Harold Rustigian; October 15, 1928 in Sanger, California – May 27, 2018 in Palm Springs, California) was an American record executive who was President of both UNI Records and 20th Century Records and was vice-president of A&R at Motown. Regan is the rare executive to have seen No. 1 hits in four successive decades. He started his career in the 1950s as a composer and record producer. His first notable hit was a 1959 Christmas novelty song, inspired by "The Chipmunk Song", titled "The Happy Reindeer" credited to Dancer, Prancer and Nervous (No. 34, Pop) issued by Capitol Records. In the early 1960s, Regan recorded "Joan of Love", backed with "Adults Only", which was released under the name Russ Regan. He also recorded "Calling All Cars" under the name Davy Summers for Warner Brothers with producer Sonny Bono. In the mid-1960s, he was drafted in to help form a musical direction for Warner Brothers' fledgling pop/soul music subsidiary, Loma Records. Regan started in record promotion with Motown in the early years of the company. His first project there was the company's first Billboard Hot 100 number one record, "Please Mr. Postman" by The Marvelettes in 1961. He w…

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