Harvey Glatt (b. March 28, 1934 in Ottawa, Canada) is a notable and award-winning Canadian music promoter, manager, broadcaster, record and instrument retailer, and record label owner.
Glatt, born in Ottawa, Canada, graduated from Glebe Collegiate Institute in 1951. He thereafter obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in 1956 from the Clarkson College of Technology in Potsdam, New York.[1]
Glatt commenced his professional association with music in the early 1950s, as a broadcaster, both at Clarkson College and for CFRA Radio in Ottawa. In 1957, he opened his first retail music store, The Treble Clef, in Ottawa, which grew to a chain of fifteen stores. Glatt also expanded into concert promotion (through Bass Clef Productions), music distribution (through Treble Clef Distribution) and music publishing (through Bytown Music Publishing).[1] Glatt's interest in music publishing had evolved from his management experiences with Ottawa-area bands, particularly The Children, which featured William Hawkins and, in later versions, Bruce Cockburn[2] and David Wiffen. In particular, he had encouraged Hawkins, a poet, to complement his poetry with songwriting.[3] Songs by Hawkins, Cockburn and Wiffen were published by Bytown Music Publishing. In the later 1960s, Glatt also managed The Soul Searchers, an influential Toronto-based band featuring keyboardist William "Smitty" Smith, drummer Eric "Mouse" Johnson, singer Diane Brooks and others, all of whom went on to play important roles in the music industry in Canada and the U.S.A. Glatt was also an investor in Le Hibou Coffee House, which promoted many international artists as well as local bands, such as The Children.
Through Bass Clef Productions, Glatt became the major producer of concerts of international artists playing in Ottawa. For example, it was Glatt who brought Jimi Hendrix to Ottawa, for an historic concert in March 1968, when Hendrix also met Joni Mitchell. Mitchell was playing at the Glatt-financed Le Hibou Coffee House that same evening.[4][5]
In 1977, Glatt founded CHEZ-FM, an Ottawa-based rock radio station, which was notable for its promotion of Canadian as well as international artists.[1] Glatt's radio holdings expanded through the 1984 acquisition of the CKUE[6] and CJET radio stations in Smiths Falls, Ontario,[1] the broadcasting ranges of which included Ottawa. In 1985, he acquired a 75% interest in Calgary's CKIK,[7] assisting it during a period of financial distress, and then selling his interest ten years later. To concentrate on his radio interests, Glatt sold his Treble Clef record stores in 1979 and his Bass Clef concert promotion business in 1985. In 1999, Glatt sold his radio interests to Rogers Media and served with Rogers as a board member (1999–2004) and director of Canadian music development (1999–2005).[1] In 2007, he was an investor, along with Linus Entertainment, in the acquisition of True North Records.[8]
In 2007, Glatt was honoured through his induction by the Canadian Association of Broadcasters into the Canadian Broadcast Hall of Fame.[9]