George Paxton and Marvin Cane formed Coed Records, Inc. in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1958, and had offices at 1619 Broadway in the

Brill Building The Brill Building is an office building at 1619 Broadway on 49th Street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, just north of Times Square and farther uptown from the historic musical Tin Pan Alley neighborhood. The Brill Building hous ...

. George Paxton produced many of the songs on this label, most of which were of the East Coast

Doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

group style, and some of these became hit songs of the day. Between 1958 and 1965, Coed's biggest acts included

the Crests The Crests are an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, " 16 Candles", rose to #2 on the ' ...

, the Rivieras,

the Duprees The Duprees are an United States, American musical group of doo-wop style who had a series of top-ten singles in the early 1960s. Their highest-charting single, "You Belong to Me (1952 song), You Belong to Me" reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 1 ...

the Harptones The Harptones are an American doo-wop group which formed in Manhattan, New York in 1953. The group never had a top forty pop hit, or a record on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart, yet they are known for both their lead singer Willie Winfield and ...

Trade Martin Trade Martin is an American musician, songwriter and producer. Martin worked with Johnny Power in the late 1950s, recording as Johnny & the Jokers and together launching the label Rome Records, active from 1960 to 1962. The label signed the g ...

and Adam Wade, among others. Frequently working with

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestrat ...

& songwriter Fred Weismantel, Paxton's big-band background came in particularly handy with

, who combined group vocals with deliberately nostalgic swing orchestra backing on hits like " You Belong to Me" and "

Why Don't You Believe Me "Why Don't You Believe Me?" is a popular song written by Lew Douglas, King Laney, and Roy Rodde and published in 1952. A recording by Joni James (MGM Records catalog number 11333) reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' charts for four weeks in No ...

." allmusic ((( The Best of Coed Records > Overview )))/ref> Other highlights include

The Crests The Crests are an American doo-wop group, formed by bass vocalist J.T. Carter in the mid 1950s. The group had several Top 40 hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Coed Records. Their most popular song, " 16 Candles", rose to #2 on the ' ...

' " 16 Candles" and three songs from the group's so-called "angel series," "The Angels Listened In," "Pretty Little Angel," and "Trouble In Paradise". Coed Records' final singles were released in 1965. Future co-founder of

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

Jerry Moss Jerome Sheldon Moss (May 8, 1935 – August 16, 2023) was an American recording executive, best known for being the co-founder of A&M Records, along with trumpet player and bandleader Herb Alpert. Music career Early stages (1958–60) After gr ...

, began his music career promoting

' " 16 Candles" record for Coed. In April 2010, the Coed Records catalogue was acquired by Los Angeles-based rights-management firm Beach Road Music, LLC.Baptista, Todd (March 2011). “Lost and Found”, ''

Goldmine Goldmine may refer to: * A location where gold mining takes place * ''Goldmine'' (magazine), a music collectibles magazine * ''Goldmine'' (album), by Gabby Barrett, 2020 * "Goldmine" (George Fox song), 1989 * "Goldmine" (Kimbra song), 2015 * ...

'', Volume 37, Issue 797, Page 97. In January 2011, Beach Road released the album ''From The Vault: The Coed Records Lost Master Tapes Volume 1.''

References

{{Authority control 1958 establishments in New York City American record labels Defunct record labels of the United States Doo-wop Record labels established in 1958 Record labels disestablished in 1965 Rhythm and blues record labels

See also

References