After hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles, Norman promoted concerts at the Shrine Auditorium, The Hollywood Bowl and the Pasadena Civic Center, hosted popular radio shows on KFWB and KLAC, and opened his own nightclubs, the Crescendo and The Interlude, on the Sunset Strip.

The Crescendo hosted a wide swath of jazz legends and comedians, from Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday to Lenny Bruce, Mort Sahl, Don Rickles, Dick Gregory, Woody Allen and Bob Newhart.

[2] GNP's releases included Louis Armstrong, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, Gerry Mulligan, Frank Morgan (musician), Max Roach, Charlie Ventura and Teddy Buckner.

In the 1960s, it recorded Billy Strange, the surf band The Challengers and the rock group The Seeds, which landed four singles in the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

[1] Gene Norman's son Neil, a fan of science fiction, secured a licensing deal from Paramount to release soundtracks of Star Trek, both in its TV and movie incarnations.