LeFrak-Moelis Records

Last updated

LeFrak-Moelis Records (or LMR for short) was a New York City-based record label founded by Samuel J. LeFrak of the LeFrak Organization and music industry veteran Herb Moelis. They had initial success in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Miami-based freestyle artist Stevie B. Other artists that LMR had in its roster included Maestro Fresh Wes, Daisy Dee and Jaya.

A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing, promotion, and enforcement of copyright for sound recordings and music videos, while also conducting talent scouting and development of new artists, and maintaining contracts with recording artists and their managers. The term "record label" derives from the circular label in the center of a vinyl record which prominently displays the manufacturer's name, along with other information. Within the mainstream music industry, recording artists have traditionally been reliant upon record labels to broaden their consumer base, market their albums, and be both promoted and heard on music streaming services, radio, and television. Record labels also provide publicists, who assist performers in gaining positive media coverage, and arrange for their merchandise to be available via stores and other media outlets.

Samuel J. LeFrak was an American real estate tycoon. He was a noted landlord who chaired a private building firm, the LeFrak Organization. The LeFrak Organization was also ranked 45th on the Forbes list of top 500 private companies. The development firm is best known for major development projects in Battery Park City, LeFrak City in Queens, and Newport, Jersey City. It was founded in 1883 in France, by Samuel J. LeFrak's grandfather, Maurice.

Its successor, Saja Records, holds the rights to Jim Croce's ABC-Dunhill releases and Stevie B's recordings before he signed with Empire Musicwerks during the mid-2000s.

Saja Records is a LeFrak-Moelis Records subsidiary.

Jim Croce American singer-songwriter

James Joseph Croce was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, Croce released five studio albums and numerous singles. He was killed, along with five others, in a plane crash on September 20, 1973, at the height of his popularity.

Stevie B is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, who was influential in the freestyle and Hi-NRG dance music scene of the late 1980s, mostly in Miami. Stevie B had a 1990 number-one hit ballad "Because I Love You ".

Originally an independent label, LMR was later distributed by RCA Records. The label is currently distributed by Atlantic Records.

RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records, Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country. Its name is derived from the initials of its defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). It was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1986, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG); however, RCA Records became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a merger between BMG and Sony Music, in 2004, and was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. It is the second oldest record label in American history, after sister label Columbia Records.

Atlantic Records American record label

Atlantic Recording Corporation is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegün and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most important American labels, specializing in jazz, R&B, and soul by Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave, Ruth Brown and Otis Redding. Its position was greatly improved by its distribution deal with Stax. In 1967, Atlantic became a wholly owned subsidiary of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, now the Warner Music Group, and expanded into rock and pop music with releases by Led Zeppelin and Yes.

See also

Related Research Articles

Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community in the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.

Motown Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.

Reprise Records American record label

Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Bros. Records, one of its flagship labels.

Epic Records American record label

Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, Inc., the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was founded predominantly as a jazz and classical music label in 1953, but later expanded its scope to include a more diverse range of genres, including pop, R&B, rock, and hip hop. Epic Records has released music by artists including Glenn Miller, Tammy Wynette, George Michael, The Yardbirds, Donovan, Shakin Stevens, Europe, Cheap Trick, Meat Loaf, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ted Nugent, Shakira, Sly & the Family Stone, The Hollies, Celine Dion, ABBA, Culture Club, Boston, Dave Clark Five, Gloria Estefan, Pearl Jam, Rage Against the Machine, and Michael Jackson. Along with Arista, Columbia and RCA Records, Epic is one of Sony Music Entertainment's four flagship record labels.

London Records record label headquartered in the United Kingdom

London Records is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America from 1947 to 1979 before becoming semi-independent.

Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 and 1958 to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, dance hits, popular/rock, rockabilly, big band, garage rock, soul and novelty records.

LMR may refer to:

4th & B'way Records is a US-based subsidiary of Island Records that specialized in street-oriented music such as hip hop. Established in 1984, it was the flagship label of the Island Trading Company, the independent-distribution parent company of Island's other record labels that operated in the US. However, 4th & B'way was not distributed through major-label channels—the flagship Island label was distributed by Atlantic Records at that time—until the label and distribution company were acquired by PolyGram Records in 1989, when Island Trading became a unit of PolyGram Group Distribution and was renamed Independent Label Sales (ILS). It was also one of several US-based Island labels that were named after nearby New York City streets when Island's US headquarters were located at 14 East 4th Street in Manhattan, the same building that held the legendary Greenwich Village branch of Tower Records, and also nearby at 400 Lafayette Street. When Island moved its headquarters to the Worldwide Plaza Building at 825 8th Avenue in 1995, where PolyGram's US headquarters were also located, the empty 4th Street offices became the headquarters of V2 Records.

Independent music is music produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording and publishing. The term indie is sometimes used to describe a genre, and as a genre term, "indie" may include music that is not independently produced, and many independent music artists do not fall into a single, defined musical style or genre and create self-published music that can be categorized into diverse genres. The term ‘indie’ or ‘independent music’ can be traced back to as early as the 1920’s after it was first used to reference independent film companies but was later used as a term to classify an independent band or record producer.

Allido Records is a record label and production company. The company was started by DJ and producer Mark Ronson and Rich Kleiman, a television, internet and music businessman. The label got its name "Allido" from the Stevie Wonder song "All I Do". Rapper Saigon was the first artist signed to Allido Records, but left soon after, and is now signed to Just Blaze's Fort Knox Entertainment. In conjunction with Clive Davis’ J Records, Allido signed Chicago-based rapper Rhymefest, who is best known as the co-writer for Kanye West's Jesus Walks. Rhymefest's first album, under Allido, was released July 11, 2006, under the title of Blue Collar. Allido has also signed Australian-born soul singer Daniel Merriweather. Other projects in the works from Ronson and Kleiman are the soundtrack to Gap's latest ad campaign as well as Jay-Z's movie, Fade to Black. Allido's most recent signing is Washington, D.C. hip hop artist Wale.

Alexandra Bruce (filmmaker) American writer

Alexandra "Chica" Bruce is a Brazilian-American publisher, author and filmmaker, who began her career working on independent films and directing music videos in New York City, soon after graduating from Brown University.

<i>Symphony in Effect</i> 1989 studio album by Maestro Fresh-Wes

Symphony in Effect is the debut album of Canadian rapper Maestro Fresh-Wes, released in 1989 on [RCA Records/LMR Records. In Canada, the album nearly went double platinum and remains one of the best-selling Canadian hip hop albums of all time. The first single "Let Your Backbone Slide" became the first hit single in Canadian hip hop history, appearing on Billboard's Hot Rap Singles chart. A second single, "Drop the Needle", was released in 1990.

SMC Recordings is an independent hip hop record label established in 2016 in Del Valle, Texas, by Charles Vasquez, Micheal Luna, and Saroj Thapa. SMC primarily signs and distributes established hip hop artists.

<i>In My Eyes</i> (album) album by Stevie B

In My Eyes is the second album released by soul/freestyle/dance musician Stevie B. This album featured Stevie's first top 40 pop hit, with the lead-off track "I Wanna Be the One" reaching #32. The next single, the title track "In My Eyes" followed its predecessor into the top 40, while the third single, "Girl I Am Searching for You" also became a moderate hit. However, the fourth single released, "Love Me for Life" became the most successful track from the album, peaking at #29 on the pop charts.

EmuBands is a digital music distribution service founded in 2005. EmuBands provides a simple but powerful digital music distribution service for artists, and record labels, to sell music online through iTunes, Spotify, Amazon.com, Google Play and many more of the world's digital music services.

"Party Your Body" is the debut single released by freestyle music singer Stevie B in 1987. The song had great success in the clubs, which resulted in a contract with the label MRL for Stevie B. The following year, he released his debut album, also called Party Your Body.

Martin N. "Marty" Bandier is an American music industry executive who is the CEO/Chairman of Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding of major record labels. Many artists begin their careers on independent labels.

LeFrak is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: