TK Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Henry Stone Music |
Founded | 1972 |
Founder | Henry Stone & Steve Alaimo |
Defunct | 1981 |
Distributor(s) | Henry Stone Music Rhino Entertainment/Parlophone (since 2013; Sunnyview catalog) |
Genre | Various |
Country of origin | U.S. |
Location | Hialeah, Florida |
TK Records was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972. [1] and based in Hialeah, Florida. [2] The record label went bankrupt in 1981. [1]
"TK" was inspired by the initials of sound engineer Terry Kane, who built a recording studio in the attic of Stone's office in Hialeah. [3]
TK Records is closely associated with the early rise of disco music, having in 1974 been the label that released the second bona fide disco song (after The Hues Corporation's "Rock The Boat") to reach No. 1 on the pop music charts, namely "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae.[ citation needed ] A little more than a year after McCrae's hit, the record label struck gold with KC & The Sunshine Band, releasing five singles that reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100: including "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", and "Please Don't Go". The KC & The Sunshine Band single "Keep It Comin' Love" reached No. 1 on Billboard's erstwhile Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
TK had numerous subsidiary labels, which included Cat Records, Drive Records, Wolf Records, and Bold Records. At one point, they had established a gospel label named Gospel Roots. [4] Artists signed to TK Records and its subsidiaries included Betty Wright (Alston), Clarence Reid, a.k.a. Blowfly, Benny Latimore (Glades), Peter Brown (Drive), Foxy, Kracker (Dash), Jimmy "Bo" Horne (Sunshine Sound), Timmy Thomas (Glades), Little Beaver, Gwen McCrae (Cat), T-Connection (Dash), Bobby Caldwell (Clouds), and Anita Ward (Juana).
In 1980, TK Records encountered financial problems and the label was acquired by Morris Levy's Roulette Records; a merger of the two labels created Sunnyview Records. [5] The last single to be released on TK Records was "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Another One Rides the Bus" (1981), based on Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust". In 1986, Henry Stone formed Hot Productions with Paul Klein and continued to re-release the TK Records catalog on CD until Sunnyview's acquisition by EMI-Rhino in 1989. [5] Rhino owns the North American rights to the Sunnyview/TK catalog; internationally, the catalog was managed by EMI until 2013, [5] when Rhino's sister label Parlophone took over after Warner Music Group's acquisition of the remaining EMI assets.
On October 12, 2013, Henry Stone received a proclamation from Hialeah's then-mayor, Carlos Hernandez, declaring it TK Records Day every year on October 12. [6] [ citation needed ]
Wolf Records was a jazz subsidiary that released only three albums, each produced by Joel Dorn:
There is a present-day Austrian record label of the same name that was founded in 1982 and specializes in releasing blues music. [7]
KC and the Sunshine Band is an American disco and funk band that was founded in 1973 in Hialeah, Florida. Their best-known songs include the hits "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way ", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", "Keep It Comin' Love", "Boogie Shoes", "Please Don't Go", and "Give It Up". The band took its name from lead vocalist Harry Wayne Casey's last name ('KC') and the 'Sunshine Band' from KC's home state of Florida, the Sunshine State. The group had five number one singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the 1970s.
The music of Florida has diverse influences, with roots in rock, jazz, blues, country, and Latin music. Cities such as Tampa, Gainesville, Orlando, and Miami developed influential rock, punk, and metal scenes in the 1970s–2000s. Miami in particular has a rich tradition of Latin and Caribbean music, which has influenced mainstream pop and hip hop in the 2000s and 2010s.
Gregory Oliver Diamond was an American pianist, drummer, songwriter, and producer who was active in the jazz and disco music scenes of the 1970s.
Roulette Records was an American record company and label founded in 1957 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Kahl, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed director.
Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as well as publishing film soundtracks. The label's name is a pun on the name 'hippo'.
Bessie Regina Norris, better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career in the late 1960s as a teenager, Wright rose to fame in the 1970s with hits such as "Clean Up Woman" and "Tonight Is the Night". Wright was also prominent in her use of whistle register.
George Warren McCrae Jr. is an American soul and disco singer who is most famous for his 1974 hit "Rock Your Baby".
Harry Wayne Casey, better known by his stage name KC, is an American record producer, musician, and songwriter. He is best known for his band, KC and the Sunshine Band, as a producer of several hits for other artists, and as a pioneer of the disco genre of the 1970s.
Charles Stephen Alaimo is an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He later became a record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clark's Where the Action Is in the late 1960s. He had nine singles chart in the Billboard Hot 100 without once reaching the Top 40 in his career, the most by any artist.
The Sound of Sunshine is the third studio album by the American funk and disco group the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by its vocalist Harry Wayne Casey, who did not perform vocals for the album, and Richard Finch. It was released in September 1975 on the TK label.
Part 3 is the fourth studio album by the funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. The album was produced by Harry Wayne Casey and Richard Finch and was released in October 1976 on the TK label.
Do It Good is the debut album by the American funk and disco group KC and the Sunshine Band. Produced by Richard Finch, it was released in 1974 on the TK label.
The music of Miami is a diverse and important field in the world of music. The Greater Miami area has long been a hub for diverse musical genres. For example, South Florida has been a hub for Southern Rap. Miami, in particular, is a "hub" for Latin Music in the United States. Miami bass, a prominent hip-hop genre in the late 1980s and early 1990s, got its start in Miami; Luther "Luke Skyywalker" Campbell and his 2 Live Crew were among the more prominent Miami Bass acts, largely because of an obscenity scandal fomented by Broward County, Florida Sheriff Nick Navarro. Moreover, although not a South Florida native, Jimmy Buffett rose to prominence after moving to Key West, Florida and has long been associated with the "South Florida lifestyle". Other notable South Florida-based musical performers include Gloria Estefan, Marilyn Manson, Mental Crutch, Leslie Grace, Tony Succar, Vanilla Ice, DJ Laz, and Pitbull.
Timothy Earle Thomas was an American R&B singer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer, best known for the hit song, "Why Can't We Live Together".
Gwen McCrae is an American singer, best known for her 1975 hit "Rockin' Chair".
Henry Stone, born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was best known as co-owner and president of TK Records, but reportedly set up more than 100 record labels, and generated more than $100 million in record sales across the world. Stone was described as "an acute businessman who always made sure that contracts and publishing agreements were written in his favor."
Willie George Hale, often known by the name Little Beaver, is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, who has been featured on many hit records since the 1960s.
Richard Raymond Finch is an American songwriter, producer, and arranger. He is best known as the co-founder, producer and former bass guitar player of KC and the Sunshine Band. Along with Harry Wayne Casey, he co-wrote the majority of the KC and the Sunshine Band music catalog, to include five No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits.
Cory Wade is a former record producer, director of A&R, songwriter, publisher, and recording studio manager. He has produced more than 35 gold and platinum records from 1973 to 1982 and has won numerous music industry awards, a Grammy Award nomination, and two American Music Award nominations.
President Records is a British independent record label. It is one of the oldest independent record companies in the UK, originally launched in 1957 by Edward Kassner. During the 1960s and 1970s the label, and its subsidiary Jay Boy, had hits with artists including the Equals, George McCrae and KC & the Sunshine Band, Paintbox, and later focused on releasing back-catalogue compilations as well as occasional new albums by artists such as Robots In Disguise. President Records remains part of the Kassner Music Group.