A man for many eras

Isidro Otis’s music business spans 70 years

Isidro Otis ’86 is at home in many eras, from the 1950s to the present day.

That’s because of his family business, The Clyde Otis Music Group, of which he is president. His father, Clyde, was a pioneering African American songwriter, music producer and publisher in the 1950s through the 1990s. His first hit song, “That’s all There is to That,” was recorded by Nat King Cole in 1956 after Clyde, who was a taxicab driver, had given it to a passenger who was headed to a New York City party full of people influential in the music business.

After that hit, his son Isidro explained, “He could stop driving a cab.”

With his day job behind him, Clyde Otis could write and produce music full time, often with Brook Benton, who recorded many of his songs. Other artists Otis collaborated with included Ray Charles, Pat Boone, Aretha Franklin, the Isley Brothers, Ben E. King, Patti Page, Sarah Vaughn, Johnny Mathis, Dinah Washington, B.B. King, Brenda Lee and Wilson Pickett.

As a producer and publisher, Clyde Otis amassed a music catalogue that formed the basis for his business. But by the time Isidro Otis came to Pitt-Bradford as a student in 1982 during the middle of a national recession, the business’s profits were slipping.

After graduating with a business management degree from Pitt-Bradford in 1986, Isidro Otis returned home to Englewood, N.J., to help out with the family business, which was still struggling. It was a song written by Clyde Otis, Belford Hendricks and Brook Benton that would lift the company from its low point.

Brook Benton had recorded the song, “It’s Just a Matter of Time,” first in 1959. It twice appeared on the country music charts before Randy Travis took the song to No. 1 in 1989.

“That was a real unexpected record,” Isidro Otis said. “We were basically broke at that time, and then the faucets were turned on. We went and signed a ton of new songwriters.” Those hip-hop songwriters whom Isidro Ortis signed with the company’s Randy Travis windfall are still producing income for the group today.

The group’s early hip-hop success was based on its writers and producers collaborating with artists to create songs such as “Shoop” by Salt-N-Pepa, which was written and produced by Otis Group writer Mark Spark.

Additionally, the group has also been able to capitalize on the popularity of sampling, leading to records by some of today’s popular artists. Sampling is a common practice in hiphop in which an artist uses part of an existing song in a new work. Sampling from songs in the group’s catalog continues to contribute to its bottom line.

Hip-hop artists from the early ’90s represented by the Otis Music Group continue to be sampled by artists such as Drake, Christina Aguilera and, recently, by the duo Run the Jewels in their song “Ooh-la-la,” which was then featured in the Netflix show “Ozark.”

Streaming services have become another source of income for the music group, as OMG has become a go-to stop for those looking for period music from the ‘50s through the ‘90s. Otis said that his company actively places songs in movies, commercials, TV shows and video games. “We’ve been very successful in that area,” he said.

The classic part of the catalogue also gave Isidro a most unusual childhood, although he didn’t realize it at the time. Clyde Otis moved into Englewood in 1962 in style, building his own house. A Black man constructing a large house in the suburbs was such a novelty that Isidro said people came from Harlem just to watch the construction.

After that, Clyde Otis’s friends populated the neighborhood – Dizzy Gillespie, who would teach young Isidro how to dive, Wilson Pickett and Tony Bennett. He spent summers camping with the Isley Brothers, and “Uncle Dizzy” always bought a huge box of fireworks while on tour for the Otis family’s annual July 4 party.

“The early part of my life was fun,” Isidro said. “It seemed very normal. I didn’t realize how special it was.”

Isidro Otis