96-480: Eskaton is a defunct vanity record label created by Coil , exclusively for albums put out by the group and their friends. Its brother labels are Threshold House and Chalice . The record label is often associated with the symbol of the "Chaos Cross" and the "Twisted Chaos Cross", symbols which have appeared on several Eskaton releases, such as Gold Is The Metal with the Broadest Shoulders . The symbol of
192-415: A vanity label (compare vanity press ) is a record label founded as a wholly or partially owned subsidiary of another, larger, and better established (at least at the time of the vanity label's founding) record label, where the subsidiary is (at least nominally) controlled by a successful recording artist, designed to allow this artist to release music by other artists they admire. The parent label handles
288-503: A Gold Record award, and is cited as being the fastest-selling LP ever released in the US up to that time. Sherman also scored a hit single in late 1963 with a cut from his third WBR album, My Son, The Nut , when his song "Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah" (which satirized the American summer camp tradition) became a surprise novelty hit, peaking at #2. Bill Cosby broke through soon after and he continued
384-410: A US No. 1 with " Windy ", and they reached No. 8 on the album chart with their first Warner Bros. album Insight Out . Their next single " Never My Love " also topped the charts in autumn 1967 (No. 2 Billboard , No. 1 Cashbox ), and now ranks as one of the most successful of all Warner Bros. recordings—it became a radio staple and is now accredited by BMI as the second most-played song on US radio in
480-596: A dinner, he recalled that Warner effusively greeted him as "the man who saved Warner Brothers Records". Despite the turnaround in the label's commercial and critical fortunes at the start of the new decade, Jim Conkling was unexpectedly forced out as CEO during 1961. The ostensible reason for his ousting was that Warner and the studio executives doubted Conkling's commitment to the label, after they discovered that he had sold his shares of Warner Bros stock, netting him around $ 1 million. However, label biographer Warren Zanes and former WBR executive Stan Cornyn both opined that this
576-434: A few local radio and TV appearances. His break came thanks to a friend, local DJ Dan Sorkin, who knew Warner CEO Jim Conkling. Sorkin arranged for Newhart to make a demo tape of a few of his original sketches, which Conkling heard and liked. Equally remarkably, Newhart revealed that he had never performed in a club prior to recording the album. Warners arranged to record him at a Houston, Texas club called The Tidelands, where he
672-410: A freelance producer for some of Autumn's acts including The Tikis (who later became Harpers Bizarre ), The Beau Brummels , and The Mojo Men , and for these recording sessions he brought in several musician friends who were then becoming established on the L.A. music scene: composer/musicians Randy Newman (a childhood friend), Leon Russell , and Van Dyke Parks . Together they became the foundation of
768-567: A generous retainer of $ 200 per week. Hanging out around Laurel Canyon , Wickham scouted for new talent and established a rapport with the young musicians Warner Bros. was seeking to sign. Like Lenny Waronker, Wickham's youth, intelligence and hip attitude allowed him to bridge the "generation gap between these young performers and the older Warner 'establishment'". He played a major role in signing Eric Andersen , Jethro Tull , Van Morrison , and Joni Mitchell (who signed to Reprise), whom Wickham successfully recommended to Ostin in his first week with
864-412: A high profile in the industry thanks to songs he wrote that were covered by other acts like Three Dog Night and Alan Price . Although Warner Bros. spent large sums on albums that sold poorly, and there were some missteps in its promotion strategy, the presence of unorthodox acts like The Grateful Dead and critically acclaimed 'cult' performers like Newman and Parks, combined with the artistic freedom that
960-453: A major reorganization of the entire Warner-Seven Arts music division. Mike Maitland was promoted to Executive Vice-president of both the recorded music and publishing operations, and George Lee took over from Victor Blau as operational head of the recording division. The restructure also reversed the reporting arrangement put in place in 1960, and from this point the Warner publishing arm reported to
1056-430: A meeting with Jerry Wexler , and Ahmet and Nesuhi Ertegun , co-owners of leading independent label Atlantic Records , which eventually resulted in the purchase of Atlantic in 1968. In June 1967, Mo Ostin attended the historic Monterey International Pop Festival , where The Association performed the opening set. Ostin had already acquired the US rights to The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's recordings, sight unseen, but he
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#17330855648921152-479: A new four-year production and distribution deal with local label Festival Records without informing Warner Bros. During 1969, the rivalry between Mike Maitland and Ahmet Ertegun quickly escalated into an all-out executive battle, but Steve Ross favored Ertegun, and the conflict culminated in Maitland being dismissed from his position on January 25, 1970. He declined an offer of a job with Warner Bros. Pictures and left
1248-569: A seat on the Warner/Reprise board; Warner Bros. Records head Mike Maitland became the president of the new combine and Mo Ostin was retained as manager of the Reprise label. Reprise was heavily in debt at the time of the takeover, and the Warner Records management team was reportedly dismayed at their balance sheet being pushed back into the red by the acquisition, but they were given no choice in
1344-5173: A similar label, The Null Corporation Grand Royal Beastie Boys 1992 Beastie Boys Bis At the Drive-In Jimmy Eat World Atari Teenage Riot Sean Lennon Luscious Jackson Bran Van 3000 Capitol Records dissolved in 2001. Back catalogue distributed by GR2 Records , created when a group of fans purchased Grand Royal's assets. Total Vegas Recordings Terrorvision 1992 Terrorvision EMI Records Pearl Records Garth Brooks 1992 Garth Brooks Liberty Records / Capitol Records under EMI (1992 - 2005) RCA Records (2005 - 2016) Independent (2016–present) inactive; partnership with Liberty/Capitol/EMI ended in 2005, and partnership with RCA ended in 2016. Now an independent label. Discipline Global Mobile Robert Fripp 1992 Robert Fripp King Crimson The ProjeKcts Fripp & Eno David Sylvian & Robert Fripp Adrian Belew BPM&M Bill Bruford Bruford Levin Upper Extremities California Guitar Trio Europa String Choir Trey Gunn Peter Hammill John Paul Jones Tony Levin Bill Nelson E.G. Records / Virgin Records (1992-2002) Sanctuary Records (2002-2007) Independent (2007–present) active Peak Records Russ Freeman 1994 David Benoit Eric Marienthal The Rippingtons Russ Freeman Concord Music Group active (2007) Gotee Records TobyMac 1994 Out of Eden Family Force 5 House of Heroes Deepspace5 EMI Christian Music Group inactive Moonfog Productions Satyricon 1994 Darkthrone , Satyricon , DHG , Khold Tatra Records active (2009) SYUN Susumu Hirasawa 1994 Syun P-MODEL Phnonpenh MODEL Pre P-MODEL Tadahiko Yokogawa Shifukudan Fukō Project PEVO Teruo Nakano DIW inactive since 1996 Never Broke Again NBA Youngboy Cash Money Records active (2022) Roswell Records Dave Grohl 1995 Foo Fighters Probot originally Capitol Records , then RCA Records (Foo Fighters) Southern Lord Records (Probot) active (2012) Palace Records Will Oldham 1996 Bonnie 'Prince' Billy Will Oldham Papa M Matt Sweeney Drag City active (2007) TESLAKITE Susumu Hirasawa 1996 Susumu Hirasawa P-MODEL Wataru Kamiryo KAKU P-MODEL Mandrake Susumu Hirasawa + InhVmaN Nippon Columbia (1996-1998) MAGNET Records (1999) Chaos Union (2000–present) active (2012) Melankolic Records Massive Attack 1996 Alpha Horace Andy Craig Armstrong Day One Lewis Parker Sunna Virgin Records active (2007) Aftermath Entertainment Dr. Dre 1996 Eminem Game 50 Cent Cashis Busta Rhymes Slim da Mobster Hayes Kendrick Lamar Universal Music Group under Interscope Records active (2008) Vapor Records Neil Young 1996 Neil Young Jonathan Richman Tegan and Sara Los Abandoned Spoon Acetone originally Sanctuary Records , then Universal Music active (2007) Hellcat Records Tim Armstrong 1997 Rancid Joe Strummer & The Mescaleros Transplants The Slackers Dropkick Murphys The Distillers Epitaph Records active (2007) Adeline Records Billie Joe Armstrong 1997 Green Day AFI The Living End Jesse Malin Warner Music Group active (2007) Elementree Records Korn 1997 Videodrone Orgy Deadsy Epic Records dissolved after Korn 's departure from Epic ATO Records Dave Matthews 1997 Ben Kweller David Gray My Morning Jacket Crowded House Gov't Mule Gomez Sony BMG active (2007) Mötley Records Mötley Crüe 1997 Mötley Crüe Hip-O Records (former), Warner Music Group (current) active Tool Dissectional Tool 1999 Tool Volcano Entertainment / Zomba active Way Moby "Weird Al" Yankovic 1999 "Weird Al" Yankovic Volcano Entertainment / Zomba active E Works Eels 2000 Eels DreamWorks active Big Brother Recordings Oasis 2000 Oasis Happy Mondays Sony BMG active Honest Jon's Damon Albarn 2000 The Good,
1440-419: A substantial advance of $ 30,000 and, most significantly, it set a new benchmark for recording contracts by stipulating that the trio would have complete creative control over the recording and packaging of their music. Soon after, Grossman and Mogull signed a publishing deal that gave Witmark one of its most lucrative clients, Bob Dylan . Grossman bought out Dylan's previous contract with Leeds Music and signed
1536-491: A successful production partnership with noted British studio Hammer Films . Hyman's purchase of Jack L. Warner's controlling share of the Warner group for US$ 32 million stunned the film world—Warner Records executive Joe Smith later quipped that it was ... as if the Pasadena Star-News bought The New York Times . As ludicrous as that." The newly merged group was renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (often referred to in
1632-469: Is co-credited with the band on the album). The group and their concert sound engineer Dan Healy then took over production of the album themselves, taking the unusual step of intermixing studio material with multitrack recordings of their concerts. Anthem of the Sun proved to be the least successful of The Grateful Dead's 1960s albums—it sold poorly, the extended sessions put the band more than $ 100,000 in debt to
1728-441: Is different from Wikidata Articles needing additional references from November 2007 All articles needing additional references Misplaced Pages articles in need of updating from March 2021 All Misplaced Pages articles in need of updating Articles with multiple maintenance issues Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (known as Warner Bros. Records Inc. until 2019) is an American record label . A subsidiary of
1824-542: The Billboard Hot 100 . It was nominally performed by Warner contract actor Edd Byrnes , who played the wisecracking hipster character Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III on Warner's TV detective series 77 Sunset Strip . The story behind the recording illustrates the sharp practices often employed by major recording companies. Actress and singer Connie Stevens (who appeared in the Warner TV series Hawaiian Eye ) spoke on
1920-638: The Best Comedy Performance–Spoken Word category, and Newhart himself won Best New Artist , the first time in Grammy history that a comedy album had won Album of the Year, and the only time a comedian has won Best New Artist. Interviewed for the official Warner Bros Records history in 2008, Newhart recalled that at the time he signed with the label he was totally unknown outside Chicago, he was still working full-time as an accountant, and he had done only
2016-551: The Columbia label, reverted to Warner Bros. Warner Bros. sold Brunswick a second time (along with Brunswick's back catalog up to 1931) in 1941, this time along with the old Brunswick pressing plants Warner owned, to Decca Records (which formed its American operations in 1934) in exchange for a financial interest in Decca. The heavy loss it incurred in the Brunswick deal kept the studio out of
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#17330855648922112-490: The Compo Company . This was the origin of Warner Music Canada. In November 1966 the entire Warner group was taken over by and merged with Seven Arts Productions , a New York-based company owned by Eliot Hyman . Seven Arts specialized in syndicating old movies and cartoons to TV, and had independently produced a number of significant feature films for other studios, including Stanley Kubrick 's Lolita , as well as forging
2208-734: The Sex Pistols . At the end of the silent movie period, Warner Bros. Pictures decided to expand into publishing and recording so that it could access low-cost music content for its films. In 1928, the studio acquired several smaller music publishing firms which included M. Witmark & Sons , Harms Inc., and a partial interest in New World Music Corp., and merged them to form the Music Publishers Holding Company. This new group controlled valuable copyrights on standards by George and Ira Gershwin and Jerome Kern , and
2304-2458: The Verve brand re-issued on Reprise Records Apple Records The Beatles 1968 The Beatles John Lennon Paul McCartney / Wings George Harrison Ringo Starr Badfinger Mary Hopkin Yoko Ono David Peel Ravi Shankar John Tavener James Taylor EMI , under Parlophone in the UK and Capitol Records in the US active; revived in 1989 for Beatles recordings. See also Apple Corps Threshold Records The Moody Blues 1969 The Moody Blues Blue Jays The Graeme Edge Band London Records (now Decca Records ) — Kling Klang Kraftwerk 1970 Kraftwerk EMI Warner Music active Grunt Records Jefferson Airplane 1971 Jefferson Airplane , Jefferson Starship , Starship RCA Records defunct after 1987 Rolling Stones Records Rolling Stones 1971 Rolling Stones Peter Tosh Atlantic Records ( WEA ) (now Warner Music Group ) albums now released by Universal Music Group The Rocket Record Company Elton John 1973 Elton John Kiki Dee Cliff Richard Stackridge Neil Sedaka Various, including Island Records (UK; 1973-1978) and MCA Records (US; 1973-1978) inactive Manticore Records Emerson, Lake and Palmer 1973 Emerson, Lake and Palmer Greg Lake John Greaves Atlantic Records , 1973-1975; Motown Records , 1976-1977 closed (1977), relaunched (2017) Swan Song Records Led Zeppelin 1974 Led Zeppelin Bad Company Dave Edmunds Atlantic Records ( WEA ) (now Warner Music Group ) closed (1983) ARC (American Recording Company) Earth, Wind and Fire 1978 Earth, Wind and Fire Deniece Williams The Emotions Columbia Records inactive Modern Records Stevie Nicks 1980 Stevie Nicks Rick Vito Natalie Cole Atlantic Records ( WEA ) (now Warner Music Group ) closed (1999) Qwest Records Quincy Jones 1980 Joy Division / New Order (in
2400-719: The Warner Music Group , it is headquartered in Los Angeles , California . It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros. Artists who have recorded for Warner Records include Madonna , Prince , Linkin Park , Zach Bryan , Van Halen , Kylie Minogue , ZZ Top , Gorillaz , Bette Midler , Grateful Dead , Jane's Addiction , Duran Duran , Fleetwood Mac , Rod Stewart , Funkadelic , James Taylor , Red Hot Chili Peppers , Mac Miller , R.E.M. , Bob James , David Sanborn , and
2496-545: The 20th century, surpassing both " Yesterday " by the Beatles and " Stand by Me " by Ben E. King . The group's 1968 Greatest Hits album was also a major hit, reaching No. 4 on the US album chart. In 1968, Mason Williams ' instrumental composition " Classical Gas " reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart, selling more than a million copies, and Williams won three Grammys that year. Another notable Warner release from this period
2592-3583: The Bad & the Queen The Ailerons Blur Parlophone active (2007) Shady Records Eminem 2000 Eminem D12 Obie Trice 50 Cent Cashis Slim da Mobster Slaughterhouse Yelawolf Universal Music Group active Flawless Records Fred Durst 2000 Puddle of Mudd She Wants Revenge Big Dumb Face Universal Music Group under Geffen Records active (2007) Serjical Strike Records Serj Tankian 2001 Axis of Justice Bad Acid Trip Buckethead Death by Stereo Fair to Midland Kittens for Christian Serart Serj Tankian Universal Music Group under The Universal Motown/Universal Republic Group active (2009) UTP Records Juvenile 2001 Juvenile Young Buck (until 2002) 2 Pistols Partners-N-Crime Warner Music Group active 1st & 15th Entertainment Lupe Fiasco 2001 Lupe Fiasco Sarah Green Pooh Bear a.k.a. MDMA Warner Music Group under Atlantic Records active (2012) US Records Usher 2002 One Chance Rico Love Ryon Lovett Justin Bieber J Records active (2007) Brushfire Records Jack Johnson 2002 Jack Johnson Matt Costa G. Love & Special Sauce Rogue Wave Animal Liberation Orchestra Universal Music Group under Universal Republic active (2007) Grand Hustle Records T.I. 2003 T.I. Young Dro B.o.B DJ Drama Big Kuntry King Iggy Azalea 8Ball & MJG Warner Music Group under Atlantic Records active (2010) Jaded Records Jay Sean 2003 Jay Sean Universal Music Group under Cash Money Records active Attack Records Morrissey 2003 Morrissey Nancy Sinatra Damien Dempsey Jobriath James Maker Kristeen Young Remma Sanctuary Records active (2005) G.O.O.D. Music Kanye West 2004 Common Kid Cudi Pusha T Cyhi Tha Prynce Big Sean Mr Hudson John Legend Mos Def Consequence Sony Music Entertainment and Atlantic Recording Corporation (2005-2011) Universal Music Group under Def Jam Recordings (2011–present) active (since 2005) Machine Shop Records Mike Shinoda and Brad Delson of Linkin Park 2004 Linkin Park Fort Minor Skylar Grey Alexa Ray Joel Army of Anyone Warner Bros. Records active (2012) Heiress Records Paris Hilton 2004 Paris Hilton Warner Bros. Records inactive DC Flag Records Joel and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte 2004 Hazen Street Lola Ray MC Chris Epic Records active Knockout Entertainment Ray J 2005 Ray J Brandy Shorty Mack Willie Norwood Michael Copon TKO E1 Music active (2008) Konichiwa Records Robyn 2005 Robyn Zhala Universal Music Group active Decaydance Records Pete Wentz 2005 Fall Out Boy Gym Class Heroes Four Year Strong Panic! at
2688-2421: The Disco The Academy Is... Cobra Starship Lifetime The Cab The Hush Sound Warner Music Group under Fueled By Ramen active (2009) Axtone Records Axwell 2005 Axwell Thomas Gold Hard Rock Sofa NEW_ID Universal Music Group active Big Orange Clown Records Shawn Crahan 2005 Gizmachi Sanctuary Records active (2008) Raybaw Records Big & Rich 2005 James Otto Cowboy Troy Warner Bros. Nashville dissolved in 2008 Liberty & Lament Records Lucero 2005 Lucero Warner Bros. active (2007) Young Money Entertainment Lil Wayne Mack Maine 2005 Lil Wayne Nicki Minaj Drake Mack Maine Tyga Gudda Gudda Jae Millz Christina Milian Lil Chuckee Lil Twist T Streets Short Dawg Cory Gunz Shanell aka SnL Porcelain Black Cash Money Records active Helium-3 Muse 2006 Muse Warner Bros. active (2007) Born & Bred Records Dropkick Murphys 2007 Dropkick Murphys Warner Bros. active (2007) Ragged Flag The Prodigy 2007 The Prodigy Cooking Vinyl inactive Sergeant Records Douglas Vale 2007 Douglas Vale Tyler Hilton Kejsi Tola Sunrise Avenue Macklemore Pharoahe Monch Warner Music Group active (since 2008) Tennman Records Justin Timberlake 2007 Esmée Denters Interscope Records active (since 2007) RBMG Usher 2008 Justin Bieber Island Def Jam Music Group active (2013) 1017 Brick Squad Gucci Mane 2008 Waka Flocka Flame OJ Da Juiceman Frenchie Wooh Da Kid Slim Dunkin Warner Bros. active (2009) Average Joes Entertainment Colt Ford 2008 Colt Ford Montgomery Gentry Bubba Sparxxx Average Joe's Entertainment Group, LLC active Take Me to
2784-528: The Ertegun brothers and Wexler between them 66,000 shares of Warner Bros.' common stock. On June 1, 1968, Billboard announced that Warner Bros. Records' star comedy performer Bill Cosby had turned down a five-year, US$ 3.5 million contract renewal offer, and would leave the label in August of that year to record for his own Tetragrammaton Records label. Just over one month later (July 13) Billboard reported on
2880-1306: The Hospital The Prodigy 2008 The Prodigy Cooking Vinyl active Tass Radio Records T-Beats and Unkgeta 2008 T-Beats Unkgeta AmphetamineThaEmcee Universal Music Group under Interscope Records active N.E.E.T. Recordings M.I.A. 2008 Nguzunguzu Sleigh Bells Rye Rye XL Recordings , Interscope Records inactive, founding artist now signed to Interscope Search & Destroy Fightstar 2009 Fightstar Gut Records active (2009) Roc Nation Jay-Z 2009 Jay-Z J. Cole Wale Grimes Meek Mill Jay Electronica Rita Ora Normani Rihanna Shakira The-Dream Jaden Sony Music Entertainment / Atlantic Recording Corporation active (since 2009); partnership with Sony/Atlantic ended in 2013, currently in partnership with Universal Music and owned by Live Nation . Hell, etc. Marilyn Manson 2010 Marilyn Manson Cooking Vinyl — Juonbu Records Babymetal 2010 Babymetal Toy's Factory inactive; replaced by BMD Fox Records in 2013 when Babymetal graduated from Sakura Gakuin and
2976-461: The US (said rights previously being held by Laurie Records ). Clark soon scored a No. 1 US hit with " Downtown ". Warner also released other Pye artists in the US market such as the Kinks. Another significant development in the label's history came in 1966 when Ostin hired young independent producer Lenny Waronker as an A&R manager, beginning a strong and enduring mentor/protegé relationship between
Eskaton - Misplaced Pages Continue
3072-451: The US and selling more than eight million copies, and their debut Warner Bros. album It's Everly Time reached No. 9 on the album chart. In late 1959, Warner Bros signed a virtually unknown Chicago-based comedian, Bob Newhart , marking the beginning of the label's continuing involvement with comedy. Newhart provided the label's next major commercial breakthrough — in May 1960, three months after
3168-1338: The US) Frank Sinatra George Benson A&;M Records Warner Bros. Records active (2007) Duck Records Eric Clapton 1983 Eric Clapton Reprise Records ( WEA ) (now Warner Music Group ) active Es Paranza Records Robert Plant 1983 Robert Plant Atlantic Records (WEA) (now Warner Music Group ) — Respond Records Paul Weller 1983 Tracie Young The Questions A Craze Vaughn Toulouse Polydor Records closed (1986) Paisley Park Records Prince 1986 Prince Sheila E. George Clinton Warner Bros. Records (WEA) (now Warner Music Group ) closed (1994) UZI Suicide Guns N' Roses 1987 Guns N' Roses Hanoi Rocks Geffen inactive; owned by Geffen Death Row Records Dr. Dre Suge Knight 1992 Dr. Dre Snoop Dogg 2Pac Tha Dogg Pound Nate Dogg The Lady of Rage Crooked I Danny Boy Interscope Records Priority Records original defunct in 2008; revived by Snoop Dogg since 2022 Maverick Records Madonna 1992 Madonna Alanis Morissette Deftones The Prodigy (in
3264-682: The US) Michelle Branch Mest Story of the Year The Rentals Tantric Meshell Ndegeocello Candlebox Erasure Warner Bros. Records inactive (managed by Warner Bros. Records since 2006) Nothing Records Trent Reznor 1992 Nine Inch Nails Marilyn Manson Meat Beat Manifesto 12 Rounds Pop Will Eat Itself The The Universal Music Group under Interscope Records defunct as of 2004. Reznor has now formed
3360-484: The Warner family of labels were The Jimi Hendrix Experience 's Are You Experienced , Van Morrison 's Astral Weeks , The Grateful Dead 's Anthem of the Sun , The Doobie Brothers ' Toulouse Street , Tiny Tim 's God Bless Tiny Tim , and Joni Mitchell 's Clouds , which set off a trend of musicians creating the artwork for their own record sleeves. In 1973, when Frank Sinatra emerged from retirement with his comeback album, Thrasher shot candid photographs for
3456-561: The Warner group in the years ahead– National Periodical Publications (which included DC Comics and All American Comics ), the Ashley-Famous talent agency, and Panavision . In the summer of 1969, Atlantic Records agreed to assist Warner Bros. Records in establishing overseas divisions, but when Warner executive Phil Rose arrived in Australia to begin setting up a subsidiary there, he discovered that just one week earlier Atlantic had signed
3552-514: The album would be released, he was amazed to be told that the label was rushing all available copies to Minneapolis, because radio DJs there had broken it, and it had become so popular that a local newspaper was even printing the times that tracks would be played on air. He recalled that the success of the album almost instantly kick-started his career, and that he was soon being deluged with appearance offers, including The Ed Sullivan Show . A few months later, when Newhart met Conkling and Jack Warner at
3648-518: The band presented Warner Bros. with a planned live double album that they wanted to call Skull Fuck , but Ostin handled the matter diplomatically. Rather than refusing point-blank to release it, he reminded The Grateful Dead that they were heavily in debt to Warner's and would not see any royalties until this had been repaid; he also pointed out that the provocative title would inevitably hurt sales because major retailers like Sears would refuse to stock it. Realizing that this would reduce their income,
3744-454: The band voluntarily changed the title to Grateful Dead, known generally as Skull and Roses . Some of Warner Bros.' biggest commercial successes during this period were with " Sunshine Pop " acts. Harpers Bizarre scored a No. 13 Billboard hit in April 1967 with their version of Simon & Garfunkel 's " The 59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin' Groovy) ", and a month later The Association scored
3840-476: The band was ultimately signed by Atlantic Records , they eventually became part of the Warner Bros. catalogue after Atlantic was purchased by Warner Bros. Records. In 1967, Warner Bros. took over Valiant Records , which added hit-making harmony pop group The Association to the Warner roster. This acquisition proved to be another huge money-maker for Warner Bros.; The Association scored a string of major hits in
3936-1139: The chaos cross was used almost exclusively in the times of Coil's side projects. It is a dominant symbol which can be found on a number of releases and merchandise. Vanity label Subsidiary record label [REDACTED] This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . ( Learn how and when to remove these messages ) [REDACTED] This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Vanity label" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( November 2007 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) [REDACTED] This article needs to be updated . Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. ( March 2021 ) ( Learn how and when to remove this message ) Informally,
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4032-419: The company. Over the next thirty years, Wickham became one of Warner's most influential A&R managers, signing such notable acts as Emmylou Harris , Buck Owens , and Norwegian pop trio a-ha . During this formative period, Warner Bros. made several other notable new signings including Randy Newman and Van Dyke Parks . Newman would not make his commercial breakthrough until the mid-1970s but he achieved
4128-545: The concert, Warner A&R manager Joe Smith took the stage and announced, "I just want to say what an honor it is to be able to introduce the Grateful Dead and its music to the world," which prompted a cynical Jerry Garcia to quip in reply, "I just want to say what an honor it is for the Grateful Dead to introduce Warner Bros. Records to the world." Also in 1967, Warner/Reprise established its Canadian operation Warner Reprise Canada Ltd., replacing its distribution deal with
4224-453: The cover and also devised the album title Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back , which was widely used to promote Sinatra's return to recording and touring. Besides his work on album covers, Thrasher art-directed many of Warner Bros.' ads and posters from 1964 to 1979. In 1964, Warner Bros. successfully negotiated with French label Disques Vogue and Warner Bros.' British distributor Pye Records for the rights to distribute Petula Clark 's recordings in
4320-439: The creative salon that centered on Waronker at Warner Bros. and which, with Ostin's continuing support, became the catalyst for Warner Records' subsequent success as a rock music label. Initially, Waronker looked after the acts that Warner Bros. took over when they bought Autumn Records for $ 10,000, but during the year he also avidly pursued rising Los Angeles band The Buffalo Springfield . Although (much to his and Ostin's chagrin)
4416-418: The financial year 1961–62 in the black for the first time since its founding. In August 1963, Warner Bros. made a "rescue takeover" of Frank Sinatra 's ailing Reprise Records as part of a deal to acquire Sinatra's services as a recording artist and as an actor for Warner Bros. Pictures. The total deal was valued at around US$ 10 million, and it gave Sinatra a one-third share in the combined record company and
4512-471: The hit record, rather than Hunter's latest Warner movie. In 1958, the studio signed Hunter as its first artist to its newly formed record division, although his subsequent recordings for the label failed to duplicate his success with Dot. Warner Bros. agreed to buy Imperial Records in 1956 and, although the deal fell apart, it marked the breaking of a psychological barrier: "If the company was willing to buy another label, why not start its own?" To establish
4608-426: The hits by Sinatra and his daughter Nancy , and the label also secured the US distribution rights to the recordings of the Kinks and Jimi Hendrix . Most importantly for the future of the company, the merger brought Reprise manager Mo Ostin into the Warner fold and "his ultimate value to Warner Bros. would dwarf Sinatra's." Ostin's business and musical instincts, and his rapport with artists were to prove crucial to
4704-457: The industry standard of the day. The duo were fielding offers from all the major labels as their Cadence contract wound up, but Warners eventually won out because the brothers harboured ambitions to branch out into film, and the label's connection to the movie studio provided the perfect opportunity. Luckily, the Everlys' first Warner Bros. single " Cathy's Clown " was a smash hit, climbing to No. 1 in
4800-415: The introduction of television in the late 1940s. Legal changes also had a major impact on their business—lawsuits brought by major stars had effectively overthrown the old studio contract system by the late 1940s and, beginning in 1949, anti-trust suits brought by the U.S. government forced the five major studios to divest their cinema chains. In 1956, Harry Warner and Albert Warner sold their interest in
4896-427: The label afforded them, proved significant in building Warner Bros.' reputation and credibility. Bob Krasnow , who briefly headed Warner Bros.' short-lived 'black' label Loma Records, later commented that The Grateful Dead "...were really the springboard. People said, 'Wow, if they'll sign The Dead, they must be going in the right direction.'" Although not widely known to the general public at that time, Van Dyke Parks
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#17330855648924992-498: The label's creation was the music career of Warner Bros. actor Tab Hunter . Although Hunter was signed to an exclusive acting contract with the studio, it did not prevent him from signing a recording contract, which he did with Dot Records , owned at the time by Paramount Pictures . Hunter scored several hits for Dot, including the US No. 1 single , " Young Love " (1957) and, to Warner Bros.' chagrin, reporters were primarily asking about
5088-499: The label's dream run with comedy LPs into the late 1960s, releasing a string of highly successful albums on Warner Bros. over the next six years, alongside his groundbreaking career as a TV actor. The label's fortunes had finally turned around by 1962 thanks to the Everly Brothers , Newhart , folk stars Peter, Paul & Mary , jazz and pop crossover hit Joanie Sommers and comedian Allan Sherman , and Warner Bros. Records ended
5184-792: The label's roster happy and as a venue to bring fellow artists to the public's attention. Prominent vanity labels [ edit ] Vanity Label Founding Artist Founded Notable Artists Released Parent Label (at founding) Status Reprise Records Frank Sinatra 1960 List of Reprise Records artists Independent Purchased by Warner Bros. Records in 1963; shuttered in 1976, but relaunched in 1987 and active since then. Brother Records The Beach Boys 1966 The Beach Boys Brian Wilson & Mike Love The Flames Stephen Kalinich Capitol Records active Bizarre Records Frank Zappa 1967 The Mothers of Invention Alice Cooper Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer , under
5280-530: The label, and Warner Bros. executive Joe Smith later described it as "the most unreasonable project with which we have ever involved ourselves." The Grateful Dead's relationship with Warner Bros. Records was stretched even further by the making of their third album Aoxomoxoa (1969), which also took around seven months to record and cost $ 180,000, almost twice as much as its predecessor. It sold poorly and took almost thirty years to be accredited with gold-record status. There were further difficulties in 1971 when
5376-516: The label, the company hired former Columbia Records president James B. Conkling; its founding directors of A&R were Harris Ashburn, George Avakian , and Bob Prince . Conkling was an able administrator with extensive experience in the industry—he had been instrumental in launching the LP format at Columbia and had played a key role in establishing the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences
5472-480: The late 1960s, and their 1967 hit " Never My Love " went on to become the second-most-played song on American radio and TV in the 20th century. During the year, the label also took its first tentative step into the burgeoning rock market when they signed leading San Francisco psychedelic rock group The Grateful Dead . Warner Bros. threw the band a release party at Fugazi Hall in San Francisco's North Beach . During
5568-404: The mainstream audience, and Warner Bros. took an early (though largely unsuccessful) lead in recording stereo LPs that targeted the new " hi-fi " market. The catalogue in this period included: Some albums featured jokey or self-deprecating titles such as: Almost all were commercial failures; and the only charting album in Warner Bros.' first two years was Warren Barker's 'soundtrack' album for
5664-489: The matter. Ben Kalmenson, a Warner Bros. company director and close aide to Jack Warner , summoned the label's directors to a meeting in New York and explicitly told them that both he and Warner wanted the deal and that they expected them to vote in favor of it. Despite these misgivings, the purchase ultimately proved very beneficial to the Warner group. Reprise flourished in the late 1960s thanks to Sinatra's famous comeback and
5760-470: The most expensive 'pop' albums ever made up to that time. It sold very poorly despite rave critical reviews, so publicist Stan Cornyn (who had helped the label to sign The Grateful Dead) wrote an infamous tongue-in-cheek advertisement to promote it. The ad cheekily declared that the label had "lost $ 35,509 on 'the album of the year' (dammit)," suggested that those who had purchased the album had probably worn their copies out by playing it over and over, and made
5856-403: The new division was soon earning solid profits of up to US$ 2 million every year. In 1930, Music Publishers Holding Company (MPHC) paid US$ 28 million to acquire Brunswick Records (which included Vocalion ), whose roster included Duke Ellington , Red Nichols , Nick Lucas , Al Jolson , Earl Burtnett , Ethel Waters , Abe Lyman , Leroy Carr , Tampa Red and Memphis Minnie , and soon after
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#17330855648925952-437: The offer that listeners could send these supposedly worn-out copies back to Warner Bros., who would exchange it for two new copies, including one "to educate a friend with." Incensed by the tactic, Parks accused Cornyn of trying to kill his career. Cornyn encountered similar problems with Joni Mitchell—he penned an advertisement that was meant to convey the message that Mitchell was yet to achieve significant market penetration, but
6048-554: The opportunity to use the company's cars, which were idle at night, he founded a successful car hire operation, which he later merged with the Kinney parking garage company. Ross took the company public in 1962, and from this base it expanded rapidly between 1966 and 1968, merging with National Cleaning Services in 1966 to form the Kinney National Company, and then acquiring a string of companies that would prove of enormous value to
6144-746: The original on 14 August 2018 . Retrieved 7 September 2022 . ^ "Slash's Label Leads the List of Silly Vanity Imprint Names" . Archived from the original on 2013-12-03 . Retrieved 2012-06-04 . ^ "Katy Perry launches record label, Metamorphosis Music" . TheGuardian.com . 18 June 2014. "Vanity labels: good business or an ego boost?" New York Times , 5/10/92 "Vanity Labels" "SoundShots", 29/12/2020 Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Vanity_label&oldid=1257637896 " Category : Vanity record labels Hidden categories: Articles with short description Short description
6240-442: The original on 2011-03-07 . Retrieved 2011-04-04 . ^ "Terrorvision Discography" . Discogs . Retrieved 30 April 2016 . ^ "Garth Splits with Capitol" . Billboard . 3 June 2005. ^ "Garth Brooks parts with RCA, looks for promo team" . The Tennessean . ^ Burchard, Jeremy. "Garth Brooks Leaves Label, Announces Independent Albums" . Wide Open Country . Archived from
6336-470: The previous year. However, Conkling had decidedly middle-of-the-road musical tastes (he was married to Donna King of vocal trio the King Sisters ), and was thus rather out of step with emerging trends in the industry, especially the fast-growing market for rock 'n' roll music. Warner Bros. Records opened for business on March 19, 1958. Its early album releases (1958–1960) were aimed at the upscale end of
6432-488: The price of records from 75 to 35 cents. In December 1931, Warner Bros. offloaded Brunswick to the American Record Corporation (ARC) for a fraction of its former value, in a lease arrangement which did not include Brunswick's pressing plants. Technically, Warner maintained actual ownership of Brunswick, which with the sale of ARC to CBS in 1939 and their decision to discontinue Brunswick in favor of reviving
6528-416: The production and distribution and funding of the vanity label, but the album is usually released with the vanity brand name prominent. Usually, the artist/head of the vanity label is signed to the parent label, and this artist's own recordings will be released under the vanity brand name. Creating a vanity label can be an attractive idea for the parent label, primarily as a "perk" to keep a successful artist on
6624-578: The profits from Warner/Reprise, W7 purchased Atlantic Records for $ 17.5 million, including the label's valuable archive, its growing roster of new artists, and the services of its three renowned executives Jerry Wexler , Nesuhi Ertegun and Ahmet Ertegun . However, the purchase again caused rancor among the Warner/Reprise management, who were upset that their hard-won profits had been co-opted to buy Atlantic, and that Atlantic's executives were made large shareholders in Warner-Seven Arts—the deal gave
6720-442: The record business booming – sales had topped US$ 500 million by 1958 – Semnenko argued that it was foolish for Warner Bros. to make deals with other companies to release its soundtracks when, for less than the cost of one motion picture, they could establish their own label, creating a new income stream that could continue indefinitely and provide an additional means of exploiting and promoting its contract actors. Another impetus for
6816-423: The record business for almost 20 years, and during this period it licensed its film music to other companies for release as soundtrack albums. Warner Bros. returned to the record business on March 19, 1958, with the establishment of its own recording division, Warner Bros. Records. By this time, the established Hollywood studios were reeling from multiple challenges to their former dominance—the most notable being
6912-488: The record division under Maitland. The Billboard article also noted the enormous growth and vital significance of W7's music operations, which were by then providing most of Warner-Seven Arts' revenue—during the first nine months of that fiscal year, the recording and publishing divisions generated 74% of the corporation's total profit, with the publishing division alone accounting for over US$ 2 million of ASCAP 's collections from music users. In 1969, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts
7008-547: The right. Below the shield in white Rockwell font, it read "VITAPHONIC HIGH FIDELITY;" this 45 label was used for two years, 1958 – 1960. This initial 45 label was soon replaced by a new, all-red label with the WB shield logo at 9 o'clock and a number of different-colored arrows (blue, chartreuse, and yellow) surrounding and pointing away from the center hole. The first hit was the novelty record " Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb) ", with words and music by Irving Taylor, which reached No. 4 on
7104-500: The sale to Warner Bros., the label signed rising radio and recording stars Bing Crosby , Mills Brothers , and Boswell Sisters . Unfortunately for Warner Bros., the dual impact of the Great Depression and the introduction of broadcast radio greatly harmed the recording industry—sales crashed, dropping by around 90% from more than 100 million records in 1927 to fewer than 10 million by 1932 and major companies were forced to halve
7200-604: The song's chorus, but although her record contract entitled her to a five-percent royalty rate, the label arbitrarily defined her contribution to be a favor to Byrnes, and assigned her just 1% royalty on the song, despite the fact that, as she soon discovered, her name was being prominently displayed on the single's label. Warner Bros. also charged her for a share of the recording costs, which was to be recouped from her drastically reduced royalty. When Stevens scored her own hit single with " Sixteen Reasons " in 1960, Warner Bros. refused to allow her to perform it on Hawaiian Eye because it
7296-498: The studio and the board was joined by new members who favored a renewed expansion into the music business—Charles Allen of the investment bank Charles Allen & Company, Serge Semenenko of the First National Bank of Boston and investor David Baird. Semenenko in particular had a strong professional interest in the entertainment business and he began to push Jack Warner on the issue of setting up an 'in-house' record label. With
7392-407: The studio's hit series 77 Sunset Strip , which reached No. 3 in 1959. Tab Hunter's " Jealous Heart " (WB 5008), which reached No. 62, was Warner Bros.' only charting single during its first year. Early Warner Bros. singles had distinctive pink labels, with the WB logo at the top center and "WARNER" in white Hellenic font to the left of the WB shield and "BROS." in the same color and style font to
7488-505: The success of "Cathy's Clown", Newhart's debut album The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart unexpectedly shot straight to No. 1 in the US, staying at the top for fourteen weeks, charting for more than two years and selling more than 600,000 copies. Capping this commercial success, Newhart scored historic wins in three major categories at the 1961 Grammy Awards — he won Album of the Year for Button-Down Mind , his quickly released follow-up album, The Button-Down Mind Strikes Back (1960) won
7584-528: The success of the Warner labels over the next two decades. In 1964, Warner Bros. launched Loma Records , which was meant to focus on R&B acts. The label, run by former King Records promotion man Bob Krasnow , would release over 100 singles and five albums, but saw only limited success and was wound down in 1968. An important addition to the Warner Bros. staff in this period was Ed Thrasher , who moved from Columbia Records in 1964 to become Warner/Reprise's head art director. Among his design credits for
7680-405: The tag-line "Joni Mitchell is 90% Virgin" reportedly reduced Mitchell to tears, and Cornyn had to withdraw it from publication. Warner Bros. also struggled with their flagship rock act, The Grateful Dead who, like Peter, Paul and Mary , had negotiated complete artistic control over the recording and packaging of their music. Their debut album had been recorded in just four days, and although it
7776-560: The then-unknown singer-songwriter to Witmark for an advance of $ 5000. Two years later in 1963, Peter, Paul & Mary scored two consecutive Top 10 hits with Dylan songs, launching Dylan's career, and this was followed by many more hits by artists covering Dylan's songs, alongside the growing commercial success of Dylan himself. Grossman benefited enormously from both deals, because he took a 25% commission as Dylan's manager, and he structured Dylan's publishing deal so that he received 50% of Witmark's share of Dylan's publishing income —a tactic that
7872-416: The trade press by the abbreviation it adopted for its new logo, "W7"). Although Warner Bros. Pictures was faltering, the purchase coincided with a period of tremendous growth in the music industry, and Warner-Reprise was now on its way to becoming a major player in the industry. Hyman's investment banker Alan Hirshfeld, of Charles Allen and Company, urged him to expand the company's record holdings, and arranged
7968-407: The two. Waronker, the son of Liberty Records founder Simon Waronker , had previously worked as an assistant to Liberty producer Snuff Garrett . Later he worked with the small San Francisco label Autumn Records , founded by disc jockeys Tom Donahue , Bobby Mitchell , and Sylvester Stewart (who would soon become famous as a musician under his stage name Sly Stone). Waronker had been hired as
8064-435: The verge of signing with Atlantic Records , but before the deal could be completed they were poached by Warner Bros. Artie Mogull (who worked for one of Warner Bros.' publishing companies, Witmark Music) had introduced their manager Albert Grossman to Herman Starr, and as a result the group signed a recording and publishing deal with Warner Bros. Grossman's deal for the group broke new ground for recording artists — it included
8160-431: Was Astral Weeks , the second solo album by Van Morrison (his first was on Bang ), who signed with the label in 1968. Although it sold relatively poorly on its first release (and did not reach gold record status until 2001), it has been widely acclaimed by musicians and critics worldwide, has featured on many "Best Albums of All Time" lists, and has remained in release almost continuously since 1968. During 1968, using
8256-480: Was a figure of high repute on the L.A. music scene thanks to his work as a session musician and songwriter (notably with the Byrds and Harper's Bizarre ), and especially because of his renowned collaboration with Brian Wilson on the legendary unreleased Beach Boys album Smile . In 1967, Lenny Waronker produced Parks' Warner debut album Song Cycle , which reportedly cost more than $ 35,000 to record, making it one of
8352-588: Was because the Warner board was reluctant to write off the additional $ 2 million the label was owed in outstanding receivables and inventory. After a restructure, Conkling was obliged to report to Herman Starr; he rejected a buyout offer by Conkling and a group of other record company employees but agreed to keep the label running in exchange for heavy cost-cutting—the staff was reduced from 100 to 30 and Conkling voluntarily cut his own pay from $ 1000 to $ 500. Warner Bros. now turned to rock 'n' roll acts in hopes of advancing its sales but their first signing, Bill Haley ,
8448-449: Was booked for a two-week residency as the opening act, beginning February 12, 1960, and Newhart freely admitted to being "terrified" on his first night. He quickly realised that he had only enough material for one side of an album, but by the time Warner A&R manager George Avakian arrived for the recording, Newhart had hastily written enough new material to fill both sides of an LP. When Newhart contacted Warners in April to find out when
8544-540: Was by then past his prime and failed to score any hits. The label was more fortunate with its next signing, the Everly Brothers , whom Warner Bros. secured after the end of their previous contract with Cadence Records . Herman Starr effectively gambled the future of the company by approving what was reputed to be the first million-dollar contract in music history, which guaranteed the Everly Brothers $ 525,000 against an escalating royalty rate of up to 7 percent, well above
8640-472: Was later emulated by other leading artist managers such as David Geffen . Meanwhile, the label enjoyed further major success with comedy recordings. Comedian Allan Sherman (who had been signed on the personal recommendation of George Burns ), issued his first Warner LP My Son, the Folk Singer in 1962. The album, which satirized the folk boom, became a major hit, selling over a million copies, and winning
8736-901: Was launched as a standalone unit. Ticker Tape Radiohead 2011 Radiohead XL Recordings active Blackened Recordings Metallica 2012 Metallica Rhino Entertainment (North America), Universal Music (worldwide) active K-BAHN Backstreet Boys 2013 Backstreet Boys BMG Rights Management , RED Music active BMD Fox Records Babymetal 2013 Babymetal Toy's Factory active; preceded by 重音部 Records. Unsub Records Katy Perry 2014 Ferras Cyn Capitol Records active Nash Icon Music Scott Borchetta 2014 Reba McEntire Ronnie Dunn Martina McBride Big Machine Records inactive References [ edit ] ^ "Rock Star Vanity Labels - Blog - Mojo" . Archived from
8832-514: Was merely a pretext, and that the studio effectively scapegoated Conkling for the label's earlier failures, pointing to the fact that Conkling's successor had been selected well before Conkling was terminated. Conkling resigned in the fall of that year, and was replaced by Mike Maitland, another former Capitol Records executive. Around the same time, Joe Smith was appointed as head of promotions. Warner Bros. made another prescient signing in folk group Peter, Paul & Mary . The trio had been on
8928-649: Was not a major hit, it cracked the US Top 50 album chart and sold steadily, eventually going gold in 1971. For their second album, The Grateful Dead took a far more experimental approach, embarking on a marathon series of recording sessions lasting seven months, from September 1967 to March 1968. They started the album with David Hassinger , who had produced their first album, but he quit the project in frustration in December 1967 while they were recording in New York City (although he
9024-400: Was not published by MPHC, and they also prevented her from singing it on The Ed Sullivan Show , thereby robbing her of nationwide promotion (and a $ 5000 appearance fee). With only two hits to its credit in two years, the label was in serious financial trouble by 1960, having lost at least US$ 3 million and music historian Fredric Dannen reports that the only reason it was not closed down
9120-475: Was reportedly unimpressed by Hendrix's now-famous performance. During his visit he met Andy Wickham , who had come to Monterey as an assistant to festival promoter Lou Adler . Wickham had worked as a commercial artist in London , followed by a stint with Andrew Loog Oldham 's Immediate Records before moving to Los Angeles to work for Adler's Dunhill label. Ostin initially hired Wickham as Warner's "house hippie" on
9216-521: Was taken over by the Kinney National Company , headed by New York businessman Steve J. Ross , who would successfully lead the Warner group of companies until his death in 1992. The US$ 400 million deal created a new conglomerate that combined the Warner film, television, recording, and music publishing divisions with Kinney's multi-faceted holdings. Ross had founded the company in the late 1950s while working in his family's funeral business—seeing
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