Bigtop Records was an American

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, ...

started by music executive Johnny Bienstock (brother of Freddy Bienstock) and the major music publisher Hill & Range Music and was co-owned along with Big Top Record Distributors (sic). Hit artists included

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one ''Billboard'' hit " Runaway", which was covered la ...

, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Lou Johnson, Sammy Turner,

Don Covay Donald James Randolph (March 24, 1936 – January 31, 2015), better known by the stage name Don Covay, was an American R&B, rock and roll, and soul singer-songwriter most active from the 1950s to the 1970s. His most successful recordings incl ...

, Don and Juan and Toni Fisher. Big Top Record Distributors also distributed Paul Case's Dunes Records label in the early 60's, which had hits from Ray Peterson (" Corrina, Corrina") and Curtis Lee (" Pretty Little Angel Eyes"), both records produced by

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

. By 1964,

ABC-Paramount Records ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...

distributed Bigtop's output.

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

briefly distributed Bigtop prior to the label closing, around 1965. Bigtop also released two ''Mad'' magazine music parody themed albums; ''Mad Twists Rock 'n' Roll'' and ''Fink Along with Mad'' in 1963. In the UK, Bigtop licensed its records to

London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...

. Its current UK licensees are Ace Records (United Kingdom). There was a subsidiary, Big Hill Records, which issued a few singles by Lou Johnson after Bigtop closed.

References

External links

Bigtop DiscographyBigtop singles discography
Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1958 Record labels disestablished in 1966 1958 establishments in the United States {{US-record-label-stub

See also

References

External links