To celebrate its 40th birthday, on May 14, 1988, Atlantic Records rented out Madison Square Garden for the day and night and got their money’s worth as they put on a 13-hour star-studded celebration that was simulcast on FM radio stations around the globe and on a fledgling cable outlet relatively new to original programming called HBO.
Founded in 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abrahamson, the label gave the world R&B legends like Aretha, Ray Charles, Sam & Dave, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding. In the mid ’60s it branched out into rock when it signed Yes, CS&N, and the mighty Led Zeppelin.
Ahmet himself signed Zeppelin in 1968 to a multi-year deal with an advance of $200,000.
$200k in 1968 is the equivalent to $1.7 million today… for a band that had never cut a record together before.
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