Madison Records was a United States-based record label. It was also sold in the United Kingdom through the F.W. Woolworth dime store chain. It was a subsidiary of Grey Gull Records, produced from 1926 through 1931 (almost a year after the last record on the Grey Gull label was issued). General opinion among the knowledgeable record collectors of this era is that Madison, being sold at Woolworth's, survived for a while after Grey Gull and their other labels due to fulfilling the Woolworth contract.
Like Grey Gull, Madison records were often poorly recorded and made from the same cheap material. Much of Madison's material duplicates other Grey Gull labels issues, but some material appeared only on Madison. Unlike the other Grey Gull subsidiaries, Madison Records labels and advertising made no reference to the parent company.
Issues include popular dance music and songs of the time, mostly recorded by studio musicians in New York City. There are a few jazz sides of interest, as well as some Hawaiian music and Wurlitzer organ solos on Madison records. Audio fidelity, is about average to somewhat below average for the era, pressed in below average quality shellac.
Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and 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.
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, 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; also Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, 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). RCA Records was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1987, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) and became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment after the 2004 merger of BMG and Sony; it was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony/BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. RCA Records is the corporate successor of the Victor Talking Machine Company, founded in 1901, making it the second-oldest record label in American history, after sister label Columbia Records, founded in 1889.
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
Countdown is an Australian-owned New Zealand full-service supermarket chain and subsidiary of Woolworths New Zealand, itself a subsidiary of Australia's Bella Vista’s Woolworths Group. It is one of two supermarket chains in New Zealand in terms of number of stores, although the rival Foodstuffs chain has a larger number of premises including smaller retail stores in rural areas.
Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson.
Van Dyke Records was a budget American record label which operated in 1929 and 1930. Van Dyke was a subsidiary of Grey Gull Records of Boston, Massachusetts and releases duplicated material found on the parent label. Despite claims of quality found on the label, the record was cheaply manufactured, and marketed to record dealers as a budget record with a high profit margin for the dealer. Accordingly the playing surface is noisy, and the recordings are often over-modulated.
Conqueror Records was a United States-based record label, active from 1928 through 1942. The label was sold exclusively through Sears, Roebuck and Company.
Radiex Records was an American record label during the 1920s. It was manufactured by Grey Gull Records of Boston, Massachusetts, from 1921 until the demise of Grey Gull in late 1930; it was then pressed for a few more months into 1931 by the successor firm, which continued the Radiex, Van Dyke and Madison labels. Radiex records were sold in Montgomery Ward catalogs although they were not manufactured specifically for that firm. In some cases, records have been found which had the labels of other Grey Gull products over Radiex labels or vice versa.
Grey Gull Records was a record company and label founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1919. The company was started by Theodore Lyman Shaw, a member of a wealthy and prominent family from Wellesley, Massachusetts whose ancestors included Civil War hero Robert Gould Shaw.
Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records.
Oriole Records was an American record label founded in 1921 by McCrory's stores.
Crown Records was a budget albums record label founded as a subsidiary of Modern Records in 1957. It has been the name of several different record labels, listed below.
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
Waldorf Music Hall Records was a budget record label exclusively sold in Woolworth stores from 1954 to 1959. Waldorf was headed by Enoch Light and based in Harrison, New Jersey. Light's business partners in this venture were Casper Pinsker and Dick Davemos. The business model for Waldorf Music Hall appears to have been inspired by the popularity of the Your Hit Parade television program. In the 1950s it was common to refer to Waldorf Music Hall, and other labels like it, as 'Hit Parader Records.'
Bluebird Records is a record label best known for its low-cost releases, primarily of kids' music, blues and jazz in the 1930s and 1940s. It was founded in 1932 as a lower-priced RCA Victor subsidiary label of RCA Victor. Bluebird became known for what came to be known as the "Bluebird sound", which influenced rhythm and blues and early rock and roll. It is currently owned by parent company Sony Music Entertainment.
Embassy Records was a UK budget record label that produced cover versions of current hit songs, which were sold exclusively in Woolworths shops at a lower price than the original recordings. The original label was active between 1954 and 1965, after which it disappeared when its parent company, Oriole, was taken over by CBS Records.
A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc. The standard in the Red Book for the term CD single is an 8 cm (3-inch) CD. It now refers to any single recorded onto a CD of any size, particularly the CD5, or 5-inch CD single. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s. With the rise in digital downloads in the early 2010s, sales of CD singles have decreased.
Mike Mosiello was an Italian-born American trumpet player.
Joseph Samuels was an American musician and bandleader, who is today virtually only known through his recordings.
Budget albums were low-priced vinyl LPs of popular and classical music released during the 1950s to 1970s consisting either of previously released material or material recorded especially for the line. Prices ranged from as low as 59 U.S. cents to $2.98. In the UK Pickwick Records' Top of the Pops record series, which operated between 1968 and 1985, was the most successful budget album range.
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