As Paul Harvey would say, "Here's the rest of the story..."
Lewis Frisch began his professional association with Gotham Audio in January 1985, serving a a dealer for Neumann microphones and Gotham Audio Cable. In 2004 he partnered with Franz Ammann, CEO of the Swiss company Gotham AG, to form Gotham Audio LLC . This company was the exclusive distributor of Gotham Audio Cable in the USA and Canada from 2005-2019. As Operations Manager, Lewis Frisch directed all its activities in North America. In addition to his many years as a dealer for Gotham Audio Cable, Frisch had an extensive background in professional cable sales having served as a leading dealer and later eastern regional sales manager for GEPCO and as a manufacturers representative and later leading dealer in the southeastern US for Mogami. But his relationship with Gotham actually dates all the way back to the 1960s.
Way back in 1966, Lewis Frisch was working as a part time stock-boy and sales trainee for Sam Goody's, then the world's largest record store, on West 49th Street in Manhattan. The take-home pay was only $47.00 a week but you could get records on employee discount for as low as a dollar and almost every night in the summer of 1966 you could catch a subway down to Greenwich Village and see The Blues Project, The Paul Butterfield Band, Richie Havens or The Youngbloods. Lew was befriended by a slightly older employee, Jerry Graham, who stocked the shelves for the leading brands of the day while Lew attended to the lesser labels such as Dot and Crescendo.
Jerry Graham soon moved on to a long and distinguished career with Gotham Audio, managing all sales of Neumann microphones in the eastern US for many years. After a few twists and turns, Frisch opened a recording studio in Atlanta and in 1984 he joined a newly formed pro audio dealership there. He again touched base with Jerry Graham. Neumann was one of the first lines acquired by Showcase Audio, which soon became the region's leading Neumann dealer.
Lew left retail sales in 1990 to work for the console manufacturer AMEK, but when he returned to retail in 1994, he immediately touched base with Jerry Graham, who by then had started a new company, G Prime, to import Microtech Gefell microphones. Lew became a dealer for Gefell and also re-connected with Franz Ammann and Gotham AG. As Sales Manager for Comprehensive Technical Group in Atlanta, Frisch supplied many thousands of feet of double-shielded Gotham audio cable to NBC, their Atlanta affiliate (WXIA-TV), and foreign broadcasters during the 1996 Olympic Games.
Back in New York City, Gotham audio cable was distributed by Joe Leung, who for many years had headed Gotham Audio's service facility. His company, Gotham Service Labs, continued a long tradition of selling and servicing Neumann microphones, always accompanied by Gotham cables.
Frisch left retail again in 2001 to serve as a regional sales manager for Gepco, a Chicago based cable manufacturer. He relocated from Atlanta to Pennsylvania. Shortly thereafter Joe Leung retired, leaving Franz Ammann with a major distribution void in the eastern US. In 2004, Gepco eliminated Frisch's position and it was only natural that he would again contact Franz Ammann. Soon the "The European Choice" in audio cables was once again readily available to the most discerning East Coast professionals.
For the next 15 years Gotham Audio LLC rejuvenated distribution in North America while strengthening the legacy of professionalism and excellence which it inherited from the original Gotham Audio Corporation. Gotham Audio in the US celebrated its 55th anniversary in 2013 and over the next 5 years its products regained a highly favored position among both professionals and audiophiles in North America. Sadly history often repeats itself. In 1991, Sennheiser ended a relationship between Gotham Audio and Neumann that had flourished for some 35 years. Just as suddenly, in November 2018, Gotham AG stopped shipping cable to Gotham Audio LLC, and in February of 2019, Gotham AG officially ended their 34 year relationship.
Lewis Frisch continues to do business as Gotham Audio Sales Co. and Gotham Audio (USA), supplying Lincoln Heritage Series Cable Assemblies and bulk cable products from his remaining stock of Gotham cable. The legacy lives on...