ABC Records was an American record label founded in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the

Impulse! Impulse! Records (occasionally styled as "¡mpulse! Records" and "¡!") is an American jazz record company and label established by Creed Taylor in 1960. John Coltrane was among Impulse!'s earliest signings. Thanks to consistent sales and positiv ...

jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels before ABC was sold to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wi ...

in 1979. ABC produced music in a variety of genres:

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

, rock,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed p ...

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

, and polka. In addition to producing records, ABC licensed masters from independent record producers, and purchased regionally released records for national distribution. The label was initially called Am-Par Records (1955), but quickly changed to ABC-Paramount Records (1955–1966), and then renamed ABC Records in 1966.

History

Background

In the 1940s and early 1950s, the

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisd ...

took action against the Anti-competitive practices of movie studios and broadcasting companies, forcing the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) to sell the Blue Network, the sister network of NBC Red Network, in 1943. The Blue Network was purchased by Edward J. Noble, who changed the company's name to the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) in 1946. In 1953, ABC merged with United Paramount Theatres, the divested former exhibition/cinema division of

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, with the newly-merged corporation, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres (AB-PT) chaired by former Paramount Theaters executive Leonard Goldenson and headquartered at 1501 Broadway in New York City, above the Paramount Theater in Times Square.

ABC-Paramount Records

American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres formed a records division, incorporating the Am-Par Record Corporation on with Samuel H. Clark as its first president. By August 1955, the unit was organized with AMPCO (

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

) and PAMCO ( BMI) as subsidiary publishing units. Though the record label was established as Am-Par, no records were released until after the division's name was changed to ABC-Paramount in September 1955. Eydie Gorme was the company's first signed artist. The company recorded its first single record, "Sincerely Yours" and "Come Home", both by Gorme. Alec Templeton's "Smart Alec" was the company's first LP recorded, also in September 1955. One of Gorme's singles was its first release in January 1956. "Chain Gang" by Bobby Scott in February 1956 was the company's first national hit. George Hamilton IV's "A Rose and a Baby Ruth" single was Am-Paramount's first million-selling single in October 1956. In 1957, the company had two million-selling single in June with "Diana" by Paul Anka and in October with "At the Hop" by Danny & the Juniors. Am-Paramount Records in May 1958 debut the Apt subsidiary label with its first million-selling single, "Little Star" by the Elegants, released the same month. Chancellor Records had Am-Par Record Corporation handle its distribution starting in 1957 and started a trend. Chancellor had its first million-selling single in October 1958 with Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee". Am-Par purchased Grand Award Records including the newly formed Command Records label, in 1959. The company started a second label for jazz, Impulse! Records, in November 1960. Impulse released its first four records in January 1961. The company had artists that earned three Grammy Awards in 1960. While in January 1961, the company purchased Westminster Records, a classical label. Thus Am-Par Record had a label for each music genre. Am-Par Record Corporation was renamed to ABC-Paramount Records, Inc. on December 7, 1961. The company opened a Los Angeles office in January 1962.

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

formed Tangerine Records in March 1962 and arranged for ABC-Paramount to distribute Tangerine's records. The company formed Jet Record Distributors based in Long Island City, N.Y. as its local distributor. Also in 1962, the company had acquired Music Guild label and library for Westminster Records. In 1965, Clark was promoted to vice-president in charge of AB-PT's non-broadcast operations. National sales manager Larry Newton was named ABC-Paramount president. On January 4, 1965, vice-president in charge of sales Larry Newton was promoted to president of ABC-Paramount Records. The previous president, Sam Clark was promoted to director of theater operations for American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres. Newton's first action as president was to restart Apt Records as a teen-oriented West Coast base label under Irwin Garr.

ABC Records

In June 1966, the label was renamed ABC Records, and the company acquired New Deal Record Service Corp., a rack-jobbing and record distribution company, along with its affiliates. In 1967,

Dunhill Records Dunhill Records was started in 1964 by Lou Adler, Jay Lasker, Pierre Cossette and Bobby Roberts as Dunhill Productions to release the music of Johnny Rivers on Imperial Records. It became a record label the following year and was distribut ...

was purchased from Lou Adler. In 1970, ABC and Dunhill moved its headquarters to Los Angeles. Newton was promoted to vice-president in charge of

ABC Pictures Walt Disney Television, formerly American Broadcasting Companies, Capital Cities/ABC and Disney-ABC Television Group has formed a number of production companies over the years. ABC Film Syndication, or ABC Films, was ABC's syndication distributio ...

. Dunhill co-owner

Jay Lasker A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...

was named president and referred to the combined operations as ABC/Dunhill. At that time ABC had another five labels: Westminster, Command, Probe, Impulse, and Bluesway. At the August 29, 1970 Directors Guild meeting, ABC/Dunhill launched a number of marketing initiatives. The company planned to have writers create a broader music for the catalog market. Imprints Probe and

Apt Apt. is an abbreviation for apartment. Apt may also refer to: Places * Apt Cathedral, a former cathedral, and national monument of France, in the town of Apt in Provence * Apt, Vaucluse, a commune of the Vaucluse département of France * A ...

were relaunched, Probe as an label which held the international rights to ABC's albums and Apt as a label which released budget cassettes and 8-track tapes. Jazz dropped from Impulse's cover for a new slogan: "University Series of Fine Recording" and two new series were launched: Audio Treasury and Westminster Gold for classic and youth fare respectively. By May 1972, ABC formed the ABC Leisure Group, which included ABC Records, Anchor Records, and ABC Records and Tape Sales, plus a new retail record-store division. Lasker left ABC to join

Ariola America Records Ariola (also known as Ariola Records, Ariola-Eurodisc and BMG Ariola) is a German record label. In the late 1980s, it was a subsidiary label of the Bertelsmann Music Group, which in turn has become a part of the international media conglomerat ...

in 1975. He was succeeded by Jerry Rubinstein, who served as company head until 1977. In November 1972, ABC bought country music company Cartwheel Records. In 1974, ABC switched British distribution from EMI to the EMI-distributed Anchor Records, allowing ABC recordings to be issued on the ABC label in the UK, and Anchor records to be distributed by ABC on the Anchor label in the US. Also in 1974, ABC acquired Famous Music Records Group including Nashville based Dot Records then began releasing ABC country music under the ABC/Dot label until January 1979. As a cost-cutting measure, ABC Records discarded many master tapes in the 1970s to save storage space. When these recordings were reissued on

compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

in the 1980s, CD versions were often taken from master copies which had less than optimal sound quality. The company's last president, Steve Diener, was named to that job in 1977 after serving as head of ABC Records' international division. Because of financial problems except for its Nashville office, ABC Records was sold on January 31, 1979 to MCA Records with ABC Records being its third label likely under a different name. Instead, MCA discontinued ABC Records on March 5, 1979 and albums in the ABC catalog still selling well were reissued on MCA. Diener died in April 2019, aged 80.

Acquisitions

ABC Records sub-labeled

to release singles. In the early 1960s, it bought

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

, a classical music label. For jazz it created

. Led by Creed Taylor and Bob Thiele, Impulse! developed a reputation for innovative releases, including albums by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and rai ...

from 1961 until his death in 1967. ABC created Bluesway for blues music. Tangerine was formed by

to produce his albums and those he produced. ABC Records bought Dunhill in the summer of 1967, forming ABC Dunhill Records. It also bought Don Robey's record labels, including

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, t ...

, Peacock, Back Beat, and Song Bird on May 23, 1973. In 1974 ABC bought the Famous Music record labels from Gulf and Western, the parent company of Paramount. This acquisition gave ABC Dot, Blue Thumb, and a distribution deal with Sire, which released the first album from the

Ramones The Ramones were an American punk rock band that formed in the New York City neighborhood of Forest Hills, Queens, in 1974. They are often cited as the first true punk rock group. Despite achieving a limited commercial appeal in the United ...

. ABC purchased all labels from

Enoch Light Enoch Henry Light (August 18, 1907 – July 31, 1978) was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, and recording engineer. As the leader of various dance bands that recorded as early as March 1927 and continuing through at l ...

in October 1959. It acquired

Audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece ...

, Command,

Colortone Grand Award Records was a pop, jazz, and gospel music record label founded by violinist and conductor Enoch Light in Harrison, New Jersey in 1955. Light used the liner notes to describe how the records were made and to advertise their importance ...

, and Waldorf Music Hall. In 1979, ABC was acquired by

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

for $30 million. It operated briefly as a separate division. MCA was absorbed by the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

, which currently distributes recordings for ABC's current sister company, Disney Music Group, worldwide except for Russia. This is not the same ABC Records that operates in Australia, which is run by the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

, although the Ampar label was distributed in Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, first by W&G Records (1955–60) and then by

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival co ...

. Nor is it the sub-label of Voiceprint.

ABC-Paramount/ABC Records label variations

* 1955–1961: Black label, "ABC-PARAMOUNT" around top perimeter of label in yellow, red, and blue (repeating in that sequence) Venus medium font, with silver print for singles and the company's name in all white letters in Venus medium and silver print for albums and logo consisting of color spectrum

Möbius strip In mathematics, a Möbius strip, Möbius band, or Möbius loop is a surface that can be formed by attaching the ends of a strip of paper together with a half-twist. As a mathematical object, it was discovered by Johann Benedict Listing and A ...

and white jagged line (representing a sound wave). Bottom perimeter of label reads: "A PRODUCT OF AM-PAR RECORD CORP." * 1961–1966: Same label as above, but disclaimer at bottom of label now reads: "A PRODUCT OF ABC-PARAMOUNT RECORDS, INC." * 1966–1967: Label name now shortened to ABC Records. Black label with large white circle at top with "abc" in black letters and the "Möbius strip and sound wave" logo under the letters. This variant was used only for singles. * 1967–1974: Black label with small white "abc" circle logo in color spectrum box at top (In conjunction with this label, a brief interim label was used from 1973 to 1974 consisting of three children's blocks spelling out ABC and one block with the "abc" logo in a white triangle at the top). * 1974–1978: Yellow, orange, red and purple "sunburst" label with "abc Records" (black "abc" circle logo) between two black lines at top. (Note: The other ABC labels would also adopt this label, such as Dunhill, Dot, Blue Thumb with its logo next to the "abc" logo, and Backbeat and Impulse with a green background rather than a yellow background, but the circles were the same.) * 1978–1979: Same multi-colored label as above, but with 1/8 note featuring "abc" inside the bottom of the note. Late pressings show "Mfg. & Dist. by MCA Distributing Corp..." at the bottom perimeter, just before the ABC label was discontinued and its artists transferred to MCA.

Artists associated with ABC Records and its labels

* Amazing Rhythm Aces * Paul Anka * Louis Armstrong * The Atlantics * Kevin Ayers * Florence Ballard *

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and th ...

* Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers (US/Canada) *

Joe Bennett and The Sparkletones The Sparkletones (sometimes credited as Joe Bennett & the Sparkletones) were an American rock and roll/ rockabilly group from Spartanburg, South Carolina, United States. History The Sparkletones formed in 1956 at Cowpens High School in Sparta ...

* Stephen Bishop *

Art Blakey Arthur Blakey (October 11, 1919 – October 16, 1990) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was also known as Abdullah Ibn Buhaina after he converted to Islam for a short time in the late 1940s. Blakey made a name for himself in the ...

* Blood, Sweat & Tears * Bobby Bland * The Brass Ring *

Tom Bresh Thomas Charles Bresh (February 23, 1948 – May 23, 2022), sometimes spelled Tom Bresh, was an American country music guitarist and singer. Active from the 1970s, Bresh charted multiple singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot Country Songs charts. Biog ...

* Charles Brown *

Roy Brown Roy Brown may refer to: Arts, music and entertainment * Roy Brown (blues musician) (1920/25–1981), American blues musician who was a pioneer of rock and roll * Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician) (born 1945), Puerto Rican musician and folk singer ...

* Jimmy Buffett * Solomon Burke *

Shirley Collie Shirley Collie Nelson (born Shirley Angelina Simpson, March 16, 1931 – January 27, 2010) was an American country music and rockabilly singer, yodeler, guitarist and songwriter. From 1963 to 1971, she was the second wife of country star Willie ...

* Carl Carlton *

Betty Carter Betty Carter (born Lillie Mae Jones; May 16, 1929 – September 26, 1998) was an American jazz singer known for her improvisational technique, scatting and other complex musical abilities that demonstrated her vocal talent and imaginative int ...

* Johnny Carver (musician) *

* Kvitka Cisyk * Roy Clark * Ornette Coleman *

* John Conlee * Billy "Crash" Craddock * Jim Croce *

Crosby and Nash In addition to solo careers and within the larger aggregate of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, the musical team of David Crosby and Graham Nash have performed and recorded regularly as a duo, mostly during the 1970s and the 2000s. History After ...

* Crowfoot * The Crusaders * Danny & the Juniors *

Dalton and Dubarri Dalton & Dubarri was an American rock band active in the 1970s, led by Gary Dalton and Kent Dubarri. They mainly played as support acts for artists such as The Beach Boys, Elvin Bishop, The Doobie Brothers, Loggins and Messina, Dave Mason, Boz ...

* James Darren * Billy Davis Jr. * The Del-Vikings * The Dells * Fats Domino * Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods * The Dramatics *

The Dubs The Dubs are an American doo wop vocal group formed in 1956, best known for their songs "Could This Be Magic", "Don't Ask Me to Be Lonely" and "Chapel of Dreams". Original career, 1956-1958 The original members of the Dubs were: :Richard Bl ...

Duke and the Drivers Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ranked ...

* The Elegants * Lu Elliott * Mario Escudero * Donna Fargo * Narvel Felts * Freddy Fender * Ferrante & Teicher *

Mickie Finn's Mickie Finn's (also known as Mickey Finn's) was a nightclub in San Diego, California, established in 1960 by piano player Fred E. Finn (Fred Soetje) and his wife Barbara, who used the stage name "Mickie Finn". Finn later extended the brand to a se ...

* The Floaters * Frank Fontaine * Four Tops * Ferrante & Teicher * The 5th Dimension * Lefty Frizzell *

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብ� ...

Genesis Genesis may refer to: Bible * Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind * Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book o ...

(US/Canada) * Eydie Gormé * The Grass Roots * George Hamilton IV *

Bobby Hammack Robert Vernor Hammack, Jr. (January 22, 1922 Brookston, Texas – March 28, 1990 Riverside, California) was an American musician, originally from Texas, whose principal instrument was jazz piano. He led a prolific career in Los Angeles as a pianis ...

Christian Harmonizers Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρισ ...

* Richard Harris (US/Canada) *

Coleman Hawkins Coleman Randolph Hawkins (November 21, 1904 – May 19, 1969), nicknamed "Hawk" and sometimes "Bean", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist.Yanow, Scot"Coleman Hawkins: Artist Biography" AllMusic. Retrieved December 27, 2013. One of the first p ...

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songw ...

* Roy Head * Hello People * Levon Helm * Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs * Eddie Holman *

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues. Hooker often ...

* Freddie Hubbard * James Gang * The Impressions *

Jackie and Roy Jackie and Roy was an American jazz vocal team consisting of husband and wife singer Jackie Cain (1928-2014) and singer/pianist Roy Kral (1921-2002). They sang together for 56 years and made almost 40 albums. Kral's 2002 obituary in '' The N ...

* Johnny Kidd and the Pirates (US/Canada) * B.B. King *

Kracker Kracker were an American rock band active in the 1970s. Biography The band was originally formed in South Florida in 1970, but moved to Chicago in April 1971, where they were introduced to producer Jimmy Miller. With Miller, they recorded thei ...

* Frankie Laine * Julius La Rosa * Denise LaSalle * Yusef Lateef * Steve Lawrence *

J B Loyd J, or j, is the tenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its usual name in English is ''jay'' (pronounced ), with a now-uncommon varia ...

Eddie Lund Eddie Lund (October 12, 1909 – December 4, 1973) was a pianist and bandleader. He grew up in Vancouver, Washington, USA, and later moved to Oregon where he worked as a pianist. He later moved to Tahiti in either 1936 or 1938 where he stayed ...

* Barbara Mandrell *

The Mamas and the Papas The Mamas & the Papas were a folk rock vocal group formed in Los Angeles, California, which recorded and performed from 1965 to 1968. The group was a defining force in the music scene of the counterculture of the 1960s. The group consisted of Am ...

* Barry Mann * Charles Mann * Shelly Manne * Guy Marks *

The Marvelows The Marvelows were an American soul group from Chicago, formed in 1959. After contacting arranger / producer Johnny Pate, the group signed to the ABC-Paramount label, and recorded four sides: "A Friend", "My Heart", "Hey Hey Baby", and "I Do". Origi ...

* Marilyn McCoo * Brownie McGhee * Barry McGuire * Mighty Clouds of Joy *

Charles Mingus Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz upright bassist, pianist, composer, bandleader, and author. A major proponent of collective improvisation, he is considered to be one of the greatest jazz musicians an ...

The O'Kaysions The O'Kaysions are an American pop band from Kenly, North Carolina that first formed in 1959. They are best known for their 1968 million-seller " Girl Watcher". Career The group first formed under the name The Kays in 1959, and scored a Top 10 ...

* The Oak Ridge Boys * Tommy Overstreet * Pavlov's Dog * Paxton Brothers * Poco * The Pointer Sisters * The Poni-Tails * Lloyd Price * Rare Bird * Jimmy Reed * Emitt Rhodes *

Rhythm Heritage Rhythm Heritage was a 1970s American disco-funk band, best known for their 1976 US number one single " Theme from ''S.W.A.T.''". It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIA ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million s ...

(US/Canada) * Sue Richards * Howard Roberts (Impulse!) * Tommy Roe *

Sonny Rollins Walter Theodore "Sonny" Rollins (born September 7, 1930) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist who is widely recognized as one of the most important and influential jazz musicians. In a seven-decade career, he has recorded over sixty albums as ...

* Jeris Ross * Royal Teens *

Rufus featuring Chaka Khan Rufus is an American funk band from Chicago, Illinois, best known for launching the career of lead singer Chaka Khan. They had several hits throughout their career, including "Tell Me Something Good", " Sweet Thing", "Do You Love What You Feel ...

* Jimmy Rushing * John Wesley Ryles *

Sabicas Sabicas (proper name: Agustín Castellón Campos) (16 March 1912 – 14 April 1990) was a Spanish flamenco guitarist of Romani origin. Biography Sabicas was born in Pamplona, Spain, and began playing guitar at the age of five and made his perfor ...

* Soupy Sales * The Sapphires * Bobby Scott * Jack Scott * Shirley Scott *

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richar ...

(US/Canada) * Archie Shepp * Beverly Sills * Smith (featuring Gayle McCormick) * Soft Machine (Probe/ABC) * Otis Spann * Arnold Stang * Dusty Springfield (US/Canada) * Joe Stampley * Red Steagall *

Silk Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoons. The best-known silk is obtained from the ...

* Steely Dan *

Diane Steinberg Diane may refer to: People *Diane (given name) Film * ''Diane'' (1929 film), a German silent film * ''Diane'' (1956 film), a historical drama film starring Lana Turner * ''Diane'' (2017 film), a mystery film directed by Michael Mongillo * ''D ...

* Steppenwolf * Stepson * Sonny Terry * B. J. Thomas * Three Dog Night * Buck Trent * Joe Turner *

US Radio Band The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

* Eddie Vinson * Bobby Vinton * T-Bone Walker * Joe Walsh * Wha-Koo * Josh White *

Chico Williams Chico () means ''small'', ''boy'' or ''child'' in the Spanish language. It is also the nickname for Francisco in the Portuguese language (). Chico may refer to: Places *Chico, California, a city *Chico, Montana, an unincorporated community *Chic ...

* Lenny Williams * Jimmy Witherspoon *

Bobby Wright John Robert "Bobby" Wright (born March 30, 1942) is an American country music singer. He is the middle child and the only son of country singers Johnnie Wright and Kitty Wells. Biography He was born in Charleston, West Virginia, United States. ...

* O. V. Wright *

The Ziontones ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

Labels associated with ABC Records

* 20th Century Fox Records * Addison Records * Anchor Records * Apt Records *

Back Beat Records Back Beat Records was an American record label launched in 1957, as the Houston-based soul sub-label of Duke Records, when it was run by Don Robey. ABC Records assumed ownership of Back Beat on May 23, 1973, as part of ABC's acquisition of Bac ...

* Bigtop Records * Blue Thumb Records * Bluesway Records *

Boom Records Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfin ...

* Buluu Dunhill Records * Chancellor Records *

Cimarron Records Cimarron (and similar spellings) may refer to: Film and television * ''Cimarron'' (1931 film), an Academy Award-winning film starring Richard Dix * ''Cimarron'' (1960 film), a western film starring Glenn Ford directed by Anthony Mann * ''Cimarr ...

* Colonial Records * Command Records * Dot Records * Duke Records *

* Equinox Records * Fargo Records * Grand Award Records * GTO Records * Hickory Records *

Hot Buttered Soul Records Hot or the acronym HOT may refer to: Food and drink * Pungency, in food, a spicy or hot quality *Hot, a wine tasting descriptor Places *Hot district, a district of Chiang Mai province, Thailand **Hot subdistrict, a sub-district of Hot Distric ...

Hunt Records Hunting is the human practice of seeking, pursuing, capturing, or killing wildlife or feral animals. The most common reasons for humans to hunt are to harvest food (i.e. meat) and useful animal products (fur/ hide, bone/ tusks, horn/antler, ...

* Impulse! Records *

Jerden Records Jerden Records was an independent record label which operated from May 1960 through April 1971. It was based in Seattle and majority owned by Jerry Dennon and Bonnie Guitar, both of whom had been involved with Dolton Records and the careers of Th ...

* LHI Records *

Montel Records Montel is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Montel Vontavious Porter (born 1973), American professional wrestler *Montel Williams (born 1956), American television personality and television/radio talk show ...

* Myrrh Records *

Oliver Records Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver, ...

* Passport Records * Peacock Records *

Probe Records Probe Records was a sub-label of ABC Records. It was started in 1968 as their label for psychedelic rock and progressive rock, but was deactivated in 1970. Between 1970 and 1974, the label was also used for international distribution of materia ...

Senate Records A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

* Shelter Records * Sire Records *

Song Bird Records Song Bird Records (also known as SongBird Records) was started at the end of 1963 as a gospel music subsidiary of Houston, Texas-based Duke/Peacock Records. Significant artists on Song Bird included the powerful contralto Inez Andrews formerly ...

* Tangerine Records *

Westminster Records Westminster Records was an American classical music record label, issuing original recordings until 1965. It was co–founded in 1949 by Mischa Naida (who later founded Musical Heritage Society), the owner of the Westminster Record Shop in New Y ...

Wren Records Wrens are a family of brown passerine birds in the predominantly New World family Troglodytidae. The family includes 88 species divided into 19 genera. Only the Eurasian wren occurs in the Old World, where, in Anglophone regions, it is commonly ...

Management of ABC Records catalog today

The catalogs of ABC Records and its sub-labels are now controlled by Universal Music Group. UMG also distributes Disney Music Group, which is owned by ABC's current parent,

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

, with the following exceptions: * The Paul Anka ABC-Paramount catalog is controlled by Anka himself. Distribution is done by Universal Music Enterprises and its Canadian counterpart UMusic. * The Jim Croce catalog is controlled by the Croce estate and R2M Music is distributed by

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a Music publisher (popular music), music publisher and a rec ...

. * The

catalog is controlled by the Charles estate and is currently licensed to Concord Records. Concord's recordings are distributed by UMG. * The Amazing Rhythm Aces catalog and the recordings that former 5th Dimension members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. made for ABC are controlled by Sony Music. * Lawrence Welk acquired his Dot recordings (prior to ABC acquiring the label) which were reissued on his Ranwood Records label. Like Concord, Ranwood is also distributed by UMG. The following labels manage different genres: * Pop, rock, R&B: Geffen * Jazz: Impulse!, Impulse!/Verve * Country: Universal Music Group Nashville * Classical: Deutsche Grammophon * Musical theater: Decca Broadway These labels also produce releases from labels absorbed into ABC. For example, MCA Nashville's catalog includes country releases on Dot Records. Deutsche Grammophon's catalog includes the Westminster Records catalog, as well as soundtracks released by Dot and Paramount Records.

References

External links

The ABC-Paramount Records story
{{DEFAULTSORT:Abc Records Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1955 Record labels disestablished in 1979 American Broadcasting Company 1955 establishments in New York City