GTO Records was a British

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

which released many hits during the 1970s. It ran from 1974 to 1981 and mainly concentrated on

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

. The acronym represented the Gem Toby Organization.

Background

The record label was co-founded by Bell Records UK's

Dick Leahy Derek Joseph Patrick Leahy (20 May 1937 – 30 August 2020) was a British music industry executive. Leahy first came to prominence as A&R manager at Philips Records in the late 1960s. He managed the Bell Records label in the early 1970s, which ...

and Gem Records's Laurence Myers in 1974, after Myers had set up GTO Films and

Arcade Records Arcade Records was a British record company specialised in multi-artist compilation albums (often in the mid-price or budget price ranges), founded in 1972. In the 1970s, it found itself in direct competition with K-tel and other compilation la ...

in the period between 1972 to 1974. The first GTO release - on 4 July 1974 - was the single "Up in a Puff of Smoke" by

Polly Brown Polly Brown (born 18 April 1947), also known as Polly Browne, is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey H ...

, and the label's focus would remain on pop and disco acts such as

Billy Ocean Leslie Sebastian Charles, (born 21 January 1950), better known by his stage name Billy Ocean, is a British recording artist who had a string of R&B international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the most popular British R&B singer-son ...

The Dooleys The Dooleys were a British male–female pop group comprising at its peak eight members – six of them in the Dooley family. The group achieved several UK chart hits between 1977 and 1981, including top-ten hits " Wanted", "Love of My Life" ...

and

Heatwave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

, and released

Donna Summer LaDonna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the " Queen of Disco", while her mus ...

's albums in the UK, all of which proved to be successful.

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

also briefly recorded for the label. The biggest hit released by the label was Donna Summer's "

I Feel Love "I Feel Love" is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer. Produced and co-written by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, it was recorded for Summer's fifth studio album, ''I Remember Yesterday'' (1977). The album concept was to have ...

", which reached No.1 in 1977. In 1978, the label was sold to

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

after achieving a high level of hits for a new label. From this time, the Donna Summer records moved to

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label currently f ...

, while the hits for other acts began to dry up over the next two years. The label was wrapped up in late 1981 when its roster of acts were either dropped or moved on to

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

- also owned by CBS. Prior to the sale and transfer of artists, Epic distributed many of GTO albums, namely Heatwave's output. The GTO back catalogue is currently owned by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

Hit singles

;Top 40 singles * "Only You Can" -

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

(1975 UK #3) * "Imagine Me Imagine You" - Fox (1975 UK #15) * "

Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar "Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar" is a song written by Keith Potger and Tony Macaulay and performed by Duane Eddy, with vocals by the Rebelettes. The song reached #9 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975 and number 70 in Australia. The song was prod ...

" -

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel- ...

(1975 UK #9) * "Please Tell Him That I Said Hello" - Dana (1975 UK #8) * "It's Gonna Be a Cold Cold Christmas" - Dana (1975 UK #4) * " No Regrets" -

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an United States, American pop music, pop musical ensemble, group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker (singer), Scott Walker), John Walker (musician), Jo ...

(1976 UK #7) * "S-S-S-Single Bed" - Fox (1976 UK #4) * "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" - Dana (1976 UK #31) * "Fairytale" - Dana (1976 UK#13) * "

Love Really Hurts Without You "Love Really Hurts Without You" is a song recorded by British contemporary R&B, R&B recording artist Billy Ocean. The song – written by Ocean under his real name Leslie Charles with the track's producer Ben Findon – was the second single reco ...

" -

(1976 UK #2) * "L.O.D. (Love on Delivery)" - Billy Ocean (1976 UK #19) * "Stop Me (If You've Heard it All Before)" - Billy Ocean (1976 UK #12) * " Love to Love You Baby" -

(1976 UK #4) * "

Winter Melody "Winter Melody" is a song by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer released as a single in early-1977 from her ''Four Seasons of Love ''Four Seasons of Love'' is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. Releas ...

" - Donna Summer (1976 UK #27) * "Red Light Spells Danger" - Billy Ocean (1977 UK #2) * "

" - Donna Summer (1977 UK #1) * "

I Remember Yesterday ''I Remember Yesterday'' is the fifth studio album by American singer-songwriter Donna Summer. It was released on May 13, 1977, seven months after the release of her previous album. Like her previous three albums, it was a concept album, this t ...

" - Donna Summer (1977 UK #14) * " Love's Unkind" - Donna Summer (1977 UK #3) * "

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic fil ...

" -

(1977 UK #2) * "Too Hot to Handle" - Heatwave (1977 UK #15) * "I Can Prove It" - Tony Etoria (1977 UK #21) * "Think I'm Gonna Fall in Love With You" -

(1977 UK #13) * "Georgina Bailey" Noosha Fox (1977 UK #31) * "Love of My Life" - The Dooleys (1977 UK #9) * "Back In Love Again" - Donna Summer (1978 UK #29)) * "

The Groove Line "The Groove Line" is a 1978 single by the Dayton, Ohio/European funk- disco group Heatwave. It was written by Rod Temperton. It was included on Heatwave's second album, ''Central Heating''. History The song charted at number 12 in the UK Singles ...

" - Heatwave (1978 UK #12) * "Mind Blowing Decisions" - Heatwave (1978 UK #12) * " Always and Forever" - Heatwave (1978 UK #9) * "A Rose Has to Die" - The Dooleys (1978 UK #11) * "From East to West" -

Voyage Voyage(s) or The Voyage may refer to: Literature *''Voyage : A Novel of 1896'', Sterling Hayden * ''Voyage'' (novel), a 1996 science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter *''The Voyage'', Murray Bail * "The Voyage" (short story), a 1921 story by ...

(1978 UK #13) * "Honey I'm Lost" - The Dooleys (1979 UK #24) * "Let's Fly Away" - Voyage (1979 UK #38) * "Wanted" - The Dooleys (1979 UK #3) * "The Chosen Few" - The Dooleys (1979 UK #7) * "Love Patrol" - The Dooleys (1980 UK #29) * "Living By Numbers" -

New Musik New Musik were an English synthpop group active from 1977 to 1982. Led by Tony Mansfield, they achieved success in 1980 with the top 20 single " Living by Numbers" which was followed up with the top 40 hits "This World of Water", "Sanctuary" ...

(1980 UK #13) * "This World of Water" - New Musik (1980 UK #31) * "Sanctuary" - New Musik (1980 UK #31) * "Gangsters of the Groove" - Heatwave (1981 UK #19)

Hit albums

* ''

'' - Fox (1975 UK #7) * ''No Regrets'' - The Walker Brothers (1976 UK #49) * '' Love to Love You Baby '' - Donna Summer (1976 UK #16) * ''

A Love Trilogy ''A Love Trilogy'' is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Donna Summer. It was released on March 5, 1976, just eight months after her international breakthrough with the single and album of the same name – " Love to Love ...

'' - Donna Summer (1976 UK #41) * '' Too Hot to Handle'' - Heatwave (1977 UK #46) * ''

'' - Donna Summer (1977 UK #3) * ''

Central Heating A central heating system provides warmth to a number of spaces within a building from one main source of heat. It is a component of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (short: HVAC) systems, which can both cool and warm interior spaces. ...

'' - Heatwave (1978 UK #26) * ''Greatest Hits'' - Donna Summer (1978 UK #4) * ''

'' -

(1978 UK #59) * '' The Best of The Dooleys '' - The Dooleys (1979 UK #6) * '' The Chosen Few '' - The Dooleys (1979 UK #56) * ''

Full House ''Full House'' is an American television sitcom created by Jeff Franklin for ABC. The show is about widowed father Danny Tanner who enlists his brother-in-law Jesse Katsopolis and childhood best friend Joey Gladstone to help raise his three dau ...

'' - The Dooleys (1980 UK #54) * '' From A to B '' - New Musik (1980 UK #35) * ''

Candles A candle is an ignitable wick embedded in wax, or another flammable solid substance such as tallow, that provides light, and in some cases, a fragrance. A candle can also provide heat or a method of keeping time. A person who makes candles i ...

'' - Heatwave (1981 UK #29) * '' Anywhere '' - New Musik (1981 UK #68)

References

{{Authority control British record labels Record labels established in 1974 Record labels disestablished in 1981