Island Records is a Jamaican multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s. Island Records operates four international divisions: Island US, Island UK, Island Australia, and Island France. Current key people include Island US president Darcus Beese, and MD Jon Turner. Partially due to its significant legacy, Island remains one of UMG's pre-eminent record labels.
Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its US label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president too. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca, and the link between the UK and US Decca label was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while the American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre.
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz records. In the United States, it is operated through Republic Records; in the United Kingdom and Japan, it is distributed by EMI Records.
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational major music record label and entertainment company formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records. The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to the inventor of the flat disc gramophone, Emil Berliner.
Tabu Productions was an American record label founded by Clarence Avant in 1975. It focused on R&B and funk.
Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently focuses on dance and electronic music under the direction of Brett Alperowitz.
The Gap Band was an American R&B and funk band that rose to fame during the 1970s and 1980s. The band consisted of three brothers: Charlie, Ronnie, and Robert Wilson, along with other members; it was named after streets in the historic Greenwood neighborhood in the brothers' hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo, Hurrah, Grand Prix, and children's records on the Cricket and Happy Time labels.
Yarbrough and Peoples was an American urban contemporary duo from Dallas, Texas. The duo’s biggest-selling release was "Don't Stop the Music," a US Billboard R&B chart topper in 1981.
A&M Records is an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in late 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distributing releases from Polydor Ltd. from the UK.
Gap Band IV is the sixth studio album by the Gap Band, released in 1982 on Total Experience Records. The album reached No. 1 on the Black Albums chart and No. 14 on the Pop Albums chart, achieved platinum status, and is considered their most successful project.
The Gap Band III is the fifth studio album by American R&B band the Gap Band, released in 1980 on Mercury Records. It was produced by Lonnie Simmons. It was their first album to achieve platinum status. The album was remastered by PTG Records in 2009 including the radio edit of "Burn Rubber On Me ".
Lonnie Simmons was an American record producer from Los Angeles, California. He was founder and president of the now-defunct Total Experience Records. As a composer, he co-wrote several #1 R&B songs for his label's major acts, The Gap Band and Yarbrough and Peoples.
The Gap Band II is the fourth studio album by the Gap Band, released in 1979 on Mercury Records. It is their second major label release, and produced by Lonnie Simmons.
Gap Band V- Jammin' is the seventh album by the Gap Band, released in 1983 on Total Experience Records. The album was reissued on CD in 1997 by Mercury Records. In 2009, the album was remastered by PTG Records.
Call Me Goodie is the debut album by R&B singer Robert "Goodie" Whitfield, released in 1982 on Total Experience Records. It was produced by label owner Lonnie Simmons, famous for his work with the Gap Band, while the song "Come Into My Life" was written and produced by the Gap Band's Ronnie Wilson.
The Two of Us is the debut album by the R&B duo Yarbrough & Peoples, released in 1980 on Mercury Records. It was produced by LA based producer Lonnie Simmons, who would go on to form Total Experience Records the following year, and veteran songwriter Jonah Ellis.
Gap Band VI is the eighth album by the Gap Band, released in 1984 on Total Experience Records. It was originally intended to be lead singer Charlie Wilson's first solo album, and the first Gap Band album released under Total Experience's new distribution deal with RCA Records. The album reached #1 on the Black Albums chart for 2 weeks in March 1985. On October 29, 2012 the remastered and expanded album including 5 bonus tracks was released by Big Break Records.
LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achieved its greatest commercial success during the 1990s, dealing largely in the field of urban music. It was originally distributed by its co-creator Arista Records from 1989 through 2001, after which it was shuttered and absorbed into Arista. In 2004, the label was rebooted, and it began operating through Jive Records until both were absorbed into RCA Records in 2011. Today, the label's back catalog and reissues are managed by Legacy Recordings.
An independent record label is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented by trade associations in their country or region, which in turn are represented by the international trade body, the Worldwide Independent Network (WIN).
