Memory Records was an Italian

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

in Italy.

History

It was founded in 1983 by Alessandro Zanni (executive producer) and Stefano Cundari (art producer). Since the very beginning, Memory Records took special care for the instrumental synthesizer productions, launching artists such as Hipnosis, Koto and Cyber People. Besides these, the main label artists were J.D. Jaber, Mike Cannon, Duke Lake, Baby's Gang,

Ken Laszlo Gianni Coraini (born 18 July 1954), known by his stage name Ken Laszlo, is an Italian singer, songwriter and musician. Laszlo was interested in music at a young age and his career began in 1980 when he played and sang in discos, bowling alleys, a ...

, Alan Ross, Brian Ice, Roy, and Swan. Aside from having a main studio in Italy, Memory Records had branches in Spain and Germany. Digital Records was a sub-label of Memory from 1985 until 1988. It was formerly branded as Plexi-Glass Productions for a short time from 1985 to 1986.

Partnership with ZYX Records

ZYX Records ZYX Music GmbH & Co. KG is a German record label founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski. It is one of the most successful German record labels of the 1980s and 1990s. Until 1992, the label was known as Pop-Import Bernhard Mikulski. The label speci ...

became a partner since the first releases, licensing almost the entire catalogue for the German market. By 1984, the company of Bernhard Mikulski even started to use the Memory Records logos and similar catalogue matrix.

Popularity loss and closure

After 4 years, the beginning of the end arrived in 1987, when Italo disco was fading out in Europe and its business suffered drastic decline due to the increasingly strong popularity of

house music House is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 115–130 beats per minute. It was created by DJs and music producers from Chicago's underground ...

. The label, like many others, then tried to survive changing its style towards house and

Eurobeat Eurobeat refers to two styles of dance music that originated in Europe: one is a British variant of Italian Eurodisco-influencedAng, Ien & Morley, David (2005). "Cultural Studies: Volume 3, Issue 2". ''Routledge''. pgs. 171, 173, 170. . "Eurorec ...

with discrete results. In 1989, Memory closed shop in 1989. Zanni and Cundari went on to form MCE Records to produce techno house music, but ceased its operations after Cundari's death in 1993. Its back catalogs are currently owned by

ZYX Music ZYX Music GmbH & Co. KG is a German record label founded in 1971 by Bernhard Mikulski. It is one of the most successful German record labels of the 1980s and 1990s. Until 1992, the label was known as Pop-Import Bernhard Mikulski. The label speci ...

References

External links

* Italian record labels Record labels established in 1983 Record labels disestablished in 1989 Italo disco {{Italy-record-label-stub