Kass brought in 24-year-old Neil Bogart to oversee Buddah's daily operations. Bogart had been an MGM General Manager in the early 1960s before taking a VP/Sales Director position at Cameo-Parkway Records. Bogart quickly enlisted Cameo-Parkway producers Jerry Kasenetz and Jeffry Katz, the Ohio Express (a band signed to Kasenetz's and Katz's Super K Productions firm), and ex-Cameo artists the Five Stairsteps into the new label. Buddah's first single was "Yes, We Have No Bananas"/"The Audition" by the Mulberry Fruit Band; the label's first album was "Safe as Milk" by Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band. Kass and Bogart also brought along the promotion department of Cameo-Parkway, which was shutting down.