Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II, Lewis sold American Decca and the link between the U.K. and U.S. Decca labels 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.
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the American Graphophone Company, the successor to the Volta Graphophone Company. Columbia is the oldest surviving brand name in the recorded sound business, and the second major company to produce records. From 1961 to 1991, its recordings were released outside North America under the name CBS Records to avoid confusion with EMI's Columbia Graphophone Company. Columbia is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels, alongside former longtime rival RCA Records, as well as Arista Records and Epic Records.
Japan were an English new wave band formed in 1974 in Catford, South London by David Sylvian, Steve Jansen (drums) and Mick Karn, joined by Richard Barbieri (keyboards) and Rob Dean the following year. Initially a glam rock-inspired band, Japan developed their sound and androgynous look to incorporate electronic music and foreign influences.
Brunswick Records is an American record label founded in 1916.
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo/Cadet. The Chess catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records.
Donat Roy Mittoo, better known as Jackie Mittoo, was a Jamaican-Canadian keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a member of The Skatalites and musical director of the Studio One record label.
Emperor Norton Records was a Los Angeles-based electronica, hip-hop, and dance-music record label. Among the artists featured on the label were Ladytron, Arling & Cameron, Money Mark, Ugly Duckling, and Fantastic Plastic Machine. Additionally, it released the soundtracks to movies including Lost in Translation, CQ and The Virgin Suicides.
The Lemon Pipers were a 1960s American psychedelic rock band from Oxford, Ohio, United States, known chiefly for their song "Green Tambourine", which reached No. 1 in the United States in 1968. The song has been credited as being the first bubblegum pop chart-topper.
Ugly Duckling is an American hip hop group that formed around 1993 in Long Beach, California. Ugly Duckling's members include Dizzy Dustin, Young Einstein and Andy Cooper. The band decided to take the name Ugly Duckling because they felt like outcasts on the Southern California hip hop scene of the mid-1990s. According to the book How to Rap: the Art & Science of the Hip-Hop MC, it is one of the most prominent underground hip hop groups.
Hugo Mario Montenegro was an American orchestra leader and composer of film soundtracks. His best-known work is interpretations of the music from Spaghetti Westerns, especially his cover version of Ennio Morricone's main theme from the 1966 film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. He composed the score for the 1969 Western Charro!, which starred Elvis Presley.
The Lollipop Shoppe was an American garage rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 1966.
Fiction Records is a British record label founded by Chris Parry in 1978, owned by Universal Music Group and based in the United Kingdom. It is best known for being the home of The Cure for over 20 years. It was originally a part of Polydor, but in January 2014, Universal restructured Fiction as a standalone label, removing it from Polydor's corporate affiliation. Fiction repertoire is now released internationally through Caroline.
In The Hollies Style is the second album by the British rock band the Hollies and was released in November 1964 on Parlophone Records. It missed the official Record Retailer album chart in the United Kingdom, which at the time only had a total of 20 available spots. In Canada, it was released on Capitol in October 1965, with an altered track listing.
Mike McKenna is a professional Canadian rock / blues guitarist noted primarily for his electric slide playing.
The Ugly Ducklings were a Canadian five-piece garage rock group based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, most notable during the mid-1960s.
Kevin Stephen Johnson is an Australian singer-songwriter. Popular in the 1970s, his biggest hit is "Rock 'N' Roll ", which peaked at No. 4 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart in 1973. He also had a top 20 hit with "Bonnie Please Don't Go" in 1971. "Rock and Roll" is one of the most covered songs written by an Australian with 27 different artists recording it in 1975 alone. Covers include fellow Australians, Col Joye and Dig Richards, and international artists, Mac Davis, Terry Jacks, Gary Glitter, Joe Dassin, The Cats and Tom Jones. Davis' rendition became the highest charting version on the Billboard Hot 100, reaching No. 15 in 1975.
The Sugar Shoppe was a Canadian sunshine pop vocal group who recorded in the late 1960s and featured actor Victor Garber.
Arc Records, owned by founder Phil G. Anderson through his Arc Sound holding company, was a record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Some of the artists to have their work released on the label include the Abbey Tavern Singers, Terry Black, Dublin Corporation and Marg Osburne.
The Quiet Jungle was a Canadian garage rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1965. At the beginning of the group's recording career, they achieved success with pop and novelty songs. In addition, the band recorded cover albums for Arc Records before venturing into early elements of psychedelic rock with their best-known single "Ship of Dreams" in 1967. The Quiet Jungle released one more single later in the year before disbanding; however, more recordings are rumored to exist.
"Surfin' U.S.A." is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys, credited to Chuck Berry and Brian Wilson. It is a rewritten version of Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen" set to new lyrics penned by Wilson and an uncredited Mike Love. The song was released as a single on March 4, 1963, backed with "Shut Down". It was then placed as the opening track on their album of the same name.
