A Brief History

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Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mann began his career in entertainment as a comedy writer for Danny Thomas and Red Buttons, until his friend and songwriter, Bernie Lowe, encouraged him to try writing lyrics for the music industry.  Mann co-wrote songs with Lowe and Dave Appell, yielding a number of manor rock and roll hits, such as Charlie Gracie's "Butterfly," which sold more than two million copies and also became a million seller for Andy Williams.  He also co-wrote hits for Elvis Presley, Bobby Rydell and Chubby Checker.  

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In 1956, Kal Mann and Bernie Lowe founded Cameo Records, which later expanded into a subsidiary label called Parkway.  With Parkway they signed an unknown singer, Ernest Evans, to their label.  Ernest Evans would change his name to Chubby Checker, which helped Cameo/Parkway become one of the largest independent record labels in America.  

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