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31-463: ATCO Records was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic Records' founders, Herb Abramson , who had returned to the company from military service. The label was also intended as a home for acts that did not fit the format of the main Atlantic brand, which was releasing blues , jazz , rhythm and blues and soul . The planned name for the label was Atlas. But it was changed to ATCO when it

62-513: A US solo deal with Atlantic. This release differs from the UK release with a different structure/edit (the break comes in after the first verse vs. second), a substitute lyric ("I try walking forward but my feet walk back" in place of "I look all white but my dad was black"). During the 1970s, Atlantic Records began to broaden the range of its own roster, causing ATCO to become deemphasized as many of its acts would eventually have their material released under

93-472: A brief period, the previous members, Margie, Sheila, and Mari reunited to form their own version of Sweet Sensation without lead singer Betty Lebron after sisters Margie and Mari applied for—and then obtained—the trademark rights to the name Sweet Sensation. This led to a case before the trial and appeals board of the US Trademark Patent Office that later canceled the original trademark obtained by

124-524: A demo called "Could It Be", which was recorded in Romeo's home studio by Betty. It was re-recorded at Unique Recording in New York City with Ted Currier of Platinum Vibe Productions as producer. It was at this time that a new chorus was added, and the song was re-titled "Hooked on You." Once the song was finally completed, a girl group was formed. Margie and her sister Mari joined Betty in the group. Sweet Sensation

155-400: A meeting at Intergalactic Studios with Shepherd. Coincidentally, the act recording in the studio that day was a rap group called The Boogie Boys . One of the members of the group, Joseph "Romeo J.D." Malloy, would later become one of Sweet Sensation's main songwriters, penning several songs on their debut album, Take It While It's Hot . Romeo's first song after meeting Margie and Betty was

186-403: A pregnant girlfriend who became his second wife. Ahmet Ertegun and Abramson formed Atco Records in 1955 as a division of Atlantic. Abramson ran the label on his own. He found success with The Coasters but was unable to get a hit with Bobby Darin . When he announced that he was dropping Darin from the label, Ertegun recorded three tracks with Darin and two of them turned into hits: " Queen of

217-658: A single in the US by the Beatles , " Ain't She Sweet " (flip side "Nobody's Child", with lead singer Tony Sheridan ), which had been recorded in Hamburg in 1961. With lead vocals by John Lennon , "Ain't She Sweet" reached No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in August 1964. ATCO also released an album entitled Ain't She Sweet which featured the other two tracks by Sheridan and The Beatles from

248-552: A solo career, and the group disbanded. In 2004, Sweet Sensation was ranked #391 in the Rock on the Net web site's Top 500 Pop Artists of the Past 25 Years. In 2005, the dance single "My Body Tu Cuerpo," credited as Dynamix Presents Sweet Sensation, was released on Kult Records featuring Betty LeBron on lead vocals (billed as Betty Dee), and produced by Eddie Cumana and Beppe Savoni of Dynamix . For

279-494: A week in 1990. Sweet Sensation was originally formed in 1985. A suggestion by Margie Fernandez led Betty Lebron to meet with David Sanchez, who was co-managing a group called Sly Fox with Cherrie Shepherd. One afternoon, David came by to meet Betty at Margie's home in Manhattan with a boombox . He recorded Betty singing a capella and passed this recording on to Shepherd. A few weeks later, on March 15, 1985, Margie and Betty had

310-475: The Billboard Hot 100 . In 1991, a remix album was released, Time to Jam [The Remix Album] , which turned out to be their last album. That year, Margie and Sheila left the group. Auditions were done to find new members to complete the gigs that the previous members and Betty had been booked for, Belle Ritter, Jeanette "Jenae" Colón, and a girl named Mya were chosen, making them a quartet. They continued performing together until 1993, when Betty LeBron embarked on

341-716: The Chatty Cathy talking doll. Abramson set up his own recording studio in the early 1960s, A-1 Sound Studios (Atlantic-1) at 234 West 56th Street in Manhattan. With engineer Jim Reeves he produced: Sidney Barnes, Don Covay , the Darling Sisters, John Davidson , Luther Dixon , J. J. Jackson , Linda and the Vistas, Mr. Wiggles , Johnny Nash , Pigmeat Markum, Ruby & the Romantics , Eddie Singleton, The Supremes , Titus Turner , and

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372-674: The 76th Street studio in 1973. Jonathan Thayer, later of Vanguard Recording Studios, engineered for Abramson, as did Rob Fraboni and maintenance engineer Mike Edl, who replaced Carl Lindgren in April 1969. A-1 Sound was managed by his third wife, Barbara, who was with him to the end. He died in Henderson, Nevada, in 1999, at age 82. In 1998, he received the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation . Sweet Sensation (trio) Sweet Sensation

403-632: The Hamburg session and filled out by eight other songs covered by The Swallows . In 1966, ATCO released " Substitute " by the Who . The song was issued through an arrangement with UK Polydor Records because of the dispute The Who was having with their producer, Shel Talmy , and their contract with US Decca Records and UK Brunswick Records . This would be the only Who recording to appear on ATCO, although Pete Townshend and John Entwistle would eventually sign to ATCO as solo artists, and Roger Daltrey later signed

434-596: The Hop " and " Splish Splash ". Abramson left Atlantic Records in December 1958, selling his stake in the company to ex-wife Miriam Bienstock , (who married music publisher Freddy Bienstock ) and Nesuhi Ertegun. Ahmet Ertegun became president of the company. Abramson started new record labels including Triumph , Blaze , and Festival . His most successful post-Atlantic recording was producing " Hi-Heel Sneakers " by Tommy Tucker (released on Checker Records ) still able to compete in

465-587: The Thymes. He moved A-1 Sound to 76th Street on the ground floor of a hotel off Broadway. Musicians who recorded demos in the studio include: Richie Cordell , Hank Crawford , Barry Manilow , Bette Midler , James Moody , Patti Smith , Les Fradkin and Muddy Waters . The Godz recorded their first three albums at the West 56th Street studio in 1966, 1967 and 1968, and their fourth album at 76th Street in 1973. Jim McCarthy from The Godz also recorded his solo album ( Alien ) at

496-458: The aegis of Atlantic Records, where it was relaunched. On February 14, Billboard announced that Atlantic Records President of A&R Pete Ganbarg was appointed president of the newly relaunched ATCO Records. Ganbarg's first ATCO signing is Philadelphia-based alternative act Zero 9:36. The following is a list of artists who have recorded for ATCO Records. Herb Abramson Herbert Charles Abramson (November 16, 1916 – November 9, 1999)

527-633: The creative end of the business, and Miriam handled the economics. In 1953, Abramson was drafted. Jerry Wexler filled in and joined Atlantic as a partner, though Abramson retained the title of president. When Abramson returned from the Army in 1955, he found Atlantic a changed company. Ertegun's brother, Nesuhi , joined Atlantic in 1955 as a partner and was enjoying great success in selling jazz albums. Ertegun and Wexler were recording R&B hits which crossed over into pop . His failing marriage to Miriam would end in divorce. Abramson returned home from Germany with

558-624: The decade to come, the ATCO name and logo would be occasionally used on reissues of past material, but the imprint itself was now dormant. In 2005, after more than a decade in hibernation, ATCO (in a joint venture with Rhino Records ) released the soundtrack of the Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea , which starred Kevin Spacey and featured his renditions of Darin's songs. This led to Warner Music Group reactivating

589-401: The early 1960s, Atlantic began to license material from international sources, leading to instrumental hit singles from Jorgen Ingmann , Acker Bilk and Bent Fabric . Starting in the mid-1960s, ATCO moved into rock-and-roll with Sonny and Cher , Buffalo Springfield , Vanilla Fudge , Iron Butterfly and Cream (the latter under license from British label Polydor ). In 1964, ATCO released

620-406: The industry as an independent label. Abramson developed a method of cutting concentric grooves for a record so a different recording could be heard depending on which groove the tonearm landed on. That process was used on a series of "Magic Records" that Abramson produced which were marketed for children. After leaving Atlantic, Abramson sold the patent to Mattel which used the process to develop

651-531: The label in 2006 in conjunction with Rhino. Scarlett Johansson , Keith Sweat and Art Garfunkel were among the first artists signed to the label. Garfunkel issued Some Enchanted Evening on January 30, 2007. Johansson issued Anywhere I Lay My Head on May 20, 2008. Queensrÿche released its American Soldier album on ATCO on March 31, 2009. The New York Dolls released its album Cause I Sez So on ATCO on May 5, 2009. Shortly thereafter, ATCO would become dormant again. In 2020, ATCO returned to

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682-426: The main Atlantic brand. In the middle 1970s, ATCO became increasingly used for hard rock acts and some British and European bands. During this time, the label issued early albums from AC/DC . Starting in 1978, however, AC/DC releases were issued on Atlantic until their contract with the label ended in the 1990s. In 1980, ATCO's visibility rose with strong chart performances from Pete Townshend's Empty Glass album and

713-529: The merger of ATCO with Atlantic's fledgling EastWest Records America label and briefly operated the combination as Atco/EastWest Records. By 1994, however, the ATCO name was dropped and the label reverted to the EastWest Records America branding. During this time, EastWest moved its operations to Atlantic's sister label Elektra Records . As a result of Elektra's takeover of EastWest, ATCO's back catalog and retained artists were now under its control. In

744-456: The song " Cars " by Gary Numan . As the 1980s wore on, ATCO continued to have streamlined success with artists such as Sweet Sensation , JJ Fad and Michel'le (the latter who were signed to the label in conjunction with Ruthless Records), while steadily becoming less active overall. The last number one hit on ATCO was " If Wishes Came True " by Sweet Sensation in 1990. The following year, Atlantic Records Senior VP Sylvia Rhone orchestrated

775-399: Was a freestyle - dance music girl group from The Bronx , New York City . The group was originally composed of Betty "Dee" LeBron and sisters Margie and Mari Fernandez. Sheila Vega replaced Mari in 1988, all of Puerto Rican descent. The group was formed in 1986 and released albums until 1992. Their song "If Wishes Came True" is their biggest hit, topping the Billboard Hot 100 list for

806-495: Was an American record executive, record producer, and co-founder of Atlantic Records . Abramson was born in 1916 to a Jewish family in Brooklyn. He studied to be a dentist but got a job working for Al Green at National Records producing: Clyde McPhatter , The Ravens , Billy Eckstine , and Big Joe Turner . He founded Jubilee Records in 1946 with Jerry Blaine , intending to record jazz , R&B , and gospel music . Blaine

837-558: Was discovered there was already an Atlas Records. The ATCO name is an abbreviation of AT lantic CO rporation. ATCO also provided distribution for other labels, including RSO , Volt , Island , Modern , Ruthless , Hansa , and Rolling Stones . For most of its history, ATCO was known for pop and rock music, but during its early years, it produced some jazz albums. These included Harry Arnold , Betty Carter , King Curtis , Herb Geller , Roland Hanna , and Helen Merrill . ATCO's rock era began with Bobby Darin and The Coasters . In

868-466: Was having some success recording Jewish novelty songs , but this genre did not interest Abramson, so he sold his interest in Jubilee to Blaine. Abramson and his wife Miriam were close friends with jazz fan Ahmet Ertegun , who recognized Abramson's talent. He approached Abramson with a label proposal, and they founded Atlantic Records in 1947, with Abramson president and Ertegun vice president. Both handled

899-456: Was released. The album peaked at #63 on the Billboard pop albums chart and spawned five singles: "Hooked on You" (#23), "Victim of Love (Goodbye Baby)," "Take It While It's Hot," " Never Let You Go " (which reached #1 on the U.S. Dance chart), and "Sincerely Yours" (#14). In late 1988, Mari left the group and was replaced by Sheila Vega. The artwork of their debut album, a photograph of the trio,

930-497: Was signed to a production deal with Platinum Vibe Productions, and recording started on their first album, with Betty Lebron on lead vocals. Using "Hooked on You" as an introduction, the trio was signed to Next Plateau Records . "Hooked on You" was released on the Next Plateau label, along with their second single, "Victim of Love (Goodbye Baby)." In 1987, they were picked up by Atco , and their debut album, Take It While It's Hot ,

961-453: Was updated to reflect this change. The original album cover featured Betty, Margie, and Mari, but in the 1989 re-pressing of their album, new member Sheila Vega replaced Mari on the cover. The vocals on the album weren't re-recorded after the personnel change, however. In 1990, their second album, Love Child , was released, containing what would turn out to be their biggest hit, the ballad " If Wishes Came True ," which reached Number One on

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