Warlock Records | |
---|---|
Parent company | Phase One Network |
Founder | Adam Levy |
Country of origin | United States |
Location | New York City |
Official website | www |
Warlock Records is a record label based in New York City that was founded in 1985 by Adam Levy (born 1962), whose father was record producer Morris Levy. Artists that recorded for Warlock Records include Jungle Brothers, Royal House, Skinny Boys, C-Bo, Esham, Tuff Crew, Blac Haze, Juvenile, Half a Mill, Poison Clan, The Last Mr. Bigg, and Kim Waters. [1]
In the 1990s Warlock Records acquired the labels Sleeping Bag Records, Fresh Records, Streetwise Records/Party Time, Ligosa Records, Quality Records USA, Dangerous Records, Pump, N-Coded Music, N2K, Strictly Hype, Underground Construction, High Power Records, Aureus, and Cheetah Records. [2]
In September 2009, Warlock Records and all of its acquired labels were sold to Phase One Network, a music-asset management company that now controls over 20 labels in the pop, hip hop, dance, jazz, and R&B genres. These recordings are licensed to Traffic Entertainment for physical distribution.
Phase One Network, has licensed songs to various television shows, commercials, video games, and movies including the following:
London Recordings is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London name – as London American Recordings, often shortened to London American – was also used by British Decca in the UK market, for releases taken from American labels, which British Decca licensed.
Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group.
PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label 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.
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels before ABC was sold to MCA Records in 1979. ABC produced music in a variety of genres: pop, rock, jazz, country, rhythm and blues, soundtrack, gospel, and polka. In addition to producing records, ABC licensed masters from independent record producers, and purchased regionally released records for national distribution.
Warlock was a German heavy metal band founded in 1982 in Düsseldorf by members of the underground bands Snakebite and Beast. The band gained popularity and some commercial success in Europe in the mid-1980s, due to the personality and stage presence of lead vocalist Doro Pesch. Warlock supported successful heavy metal bands on tour, such as W.A.S.P., Judas Priest, Dio and Megadeth.
Bandai Visual Co., Ltd. was a Japanese anime, film production, and distribution company, established by Bandai and a subsidiary of Bandai Namco Holdings. They focused mainly in international distribution of anime properties in North America.
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.
Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004.
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by Alison Krauss and Union Station, George Thorogood, Tony Rice, and Béla Fleck, in addition to re-releases of seminal albums by artists such as the Carter Family, Jelly Roll Morton, Lead Belly, and Woody Guthrie. "Championing and preserving the music of artists whose music falls outside of the mainstream," Rounder releases have won 54 Grammy Awards representing diverse genres, from bluegrass, folk, reggae, and gospel to pop, rock, Americana, polka and world music. Acquired by Concord in 2010, Rounder is based in Nashville, Tennessee. In 2016, The Rounder Founders were inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.
Profile Records was one of the earliest hip hop labels. As well as hip-hop they released disco, dance, and electro records.
Gee Street Records was a British hip hop record label started by Jon Baker, Stereo MC's and DJ Richie Rich in 1985. The label's name came from its original location, a converted warehouse on Gee Street in London.
Just Be Free is a demo album released by Warlock Records featuring music recorded by American singer Christina Aguilera. After finishing her run on The All-New Mickey Mouse Club, a then fifteen-year-old Aguilera began recording the album with New Jersey-based producers Robert Allecca and Michael Brown. The pair gave Aguilera the opportunity to use a recording studio and presented her with demo music.
Warlocks are a Norwegian Hip-hop trio formed in 1992. The group has also been heavily involved in the graffiti and b-boy scene in Oslo. The trio consists of producer Hawk and the rappers Tech Rock and Karma, who are twins. Warlocks released their debut album, Lyrical Marksmen, on a local independent label in 1995, and the street buzz resulted in a contract with Norway's leading rap label Tee Productions.
Morris Levy was an American entrepreneur in the fields of jazz clubs, music publishing, and the independent record industry. Levy was cofounder and owner of Roulette Records, founding partner of the Birdland jazz club and the Roulette Room. He was a prominent subject of investigations into organized crime and the music industry, and was convicted of extortion shortly before his death.
N-Coded Music was a jazz record label in New York City founded by Dave Grusin, Larry Rosen, and Phil Ramone as N2K Encoded Music in 1997.
Oriole Records was a British record label, founded in 1925 by the London-based Levy Company, which owned a gramophone record subsidiary called Levaphone Records.
VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami, London, Kingston, Tokyo, Johannesburg and Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, the label has established a presence in Toronto, Australia and New Zealand.
Fresh Records was a New York City-based independent record label that operated from 1985 to 1992. The label was a subsidiary of Sleeping Bag Records that sold hip hop music. The label's roster included EPMD, Nice & Smooth, Just-Ice and T La Rock; house-music pioneer Todd Terry; and electro artists Hanson & Davis and Chocolette.
Dimension Records was a record label founded in 1962 in New York City by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, owners of Aldon Music. It concentrated on the girl group sound and showcased songs by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Their composition "The Loco-Motion", sung by Little Eva, gave it its biggest hit. Background vocals on that record were by the Cookies, who had their own hits on the label, including "Chains", which was later recorded by the Beatles. In the UK, Dimension was licensed to London Records.
Calla Records was a small, New York City-based independent black owned Soul record label run by Nate McCalla (1930-1980) and active from approximately 1965 to 1977.