Colpix Records was the first recording company for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

–

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. ''Screen Gems'' has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the de ...

. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement over the Colpix name. It was founded by Jonie Taps and

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His fath ...

in 1958 and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R.

Lester Sill Lester Sill (January 13, 1918 – October 31, 1994) was a United States record label executive, music publisher and recording artist manager within the West Coast Rock & Roll, West Coast R&B and Surf genres. Sill rose to become the president of ...

later headed the label, after breaking with

Philles Records Philles Records was an American record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia. In 1962, Spector p ...

partner

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 ...

. The label's roster included Lou Christie, James Darren, Paul Petersen, Freddie Scott, Tommy Boyce. Two of the label's best known number one hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Singles Charts were "

Blue Moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

" by

The Marcels The Marcels were an American doo-wop group known for turning popular music songs into rock and roll. The group formed in 1959 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and signed to Colpix Records with lead Cornelius Harp, bass Fred Johnson, Gene Bricker, ...

in the spring of 1961 (also a number one in the UK, where Colpix was licensed to Pye International), and " Johnny Angel" by Shelley Fabares in the spring of 1962. Bernadette Castro recorded for the label "Get Rid of Him"/"A Girl in Love Forgives" and "His Lips Get in the Way"/"Sportscar Sally". Singer Jo Ann Greer, who dubbed several of the actresses at Columbia Pictures, recorded two albums with the studio's musical director, Morris Stoloff: ''Soundtracks, Voices and Themes'' and ''The Naked City'', a film noir musical with James Darren. Colpix released the first LPs from standup comedians Dick Gregory and

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

, and a soundtrack album of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

cartoons. It included dialogue by Yogi Bear and

Pixie and Dixie A pixie (also called pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, piskie, or pigsie in parts of Cornwall and Devon) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are speculated to be particularly concentrated in the high Dartmoor, moorland areas around Devo ...

with narration by

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company and the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. He originated the voices of many familiar Hanna-Barbera ...

in the voice of Huckleberry Hound. In the wake of President Kennedy's

assassination Assassination is the willful killing, by a sudden, secret, or planned attack, of a personespecially if prominent or important. It may be prompted by political, ideological, religious, financial, or military motives. Assassinations are orde ...

on November 22, 1963, numerous tribute albums were released the following year. In association with

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

, Colpix released ''Four Days That Shocked the World'' with radio coverage of the President's arrival at Dallas Love Field, the moment of the shooting in Dealey Plaza, and the shooting of

Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at age 12 for truan ...

two days later. The album included a booklet with UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the assassination. The label was discontinued in 1966 and replaced by Colgems Records, which was primarily used for releases by

The Monkees The Monkees were an American pop rock band formed in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s. The band consisted of Micky Dolenz, Davy Jones (musician), Davy Jones, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork. Spurred by the success of ''The Monkees (TV series), Th ...

. Before their involvement with the Monkees, Davy Jones and

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the Monkees and co-star of their The Monkees (TV series), TV series of the same name (1966–1968) ...

(under the pseudonym Michael Blessing) had each signed to Colpix Records as solo artists. Colpix was the first big label for singer and pianist

Nina Simone Nina Simone ( ; born Eunice Kathleen Waymon; February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003) was an American singer, pianist, songwriter, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, and po ...

after having made her debut on Bethlehem Records. She recorded albums for the label from 1959 ('' The Amazing Nina Simone'') through 1964 ('' Folksy Nina''). In 1966, Colpix released '' Nina Simone with Strings'', an album of left-overs with strings added, when Simone was already signed to

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

Rhino Records A rhinoceros ( ; ; ; : rhinoceros or rhinoceroses), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant taxon, extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates (perissodactyls) in the family (biology), famil ...

, which currently owns the Colpix catalogue, issued a double compact disc compilation, ''The Colpix-Dimension Story'', in 1994, which also included selections from Dimension Records, a related label.

Discography

References

External links

The Colpix/Colgems story
* {{Columbia Pictures Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1958 Record labels disestablished in 1966 1958 establishments in New York City Columbia Pictures American jazz record labels 1966 disestablishments in New York (state)

Discography

See also

References

External links