Mushroom Records was a Canadian

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

founded in Vancouver, British Columbia with financial backing by brothers Wink and Dick Vogel in 1974.''The History of Metropolitan Vancouver 1974''
Vancouverhistory.ca. Retrieved 2010-03-23. The brothers were sons of businessman and politician Hunter Vogel. Shelly Siegel was the label's vice-president and creative director. Producer

Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American Record producer, music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart (band), Heart.Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...

in Los Angeles, California. Mushroom was distributed in the U.S. through a network of independent distributors, which included Fourth Street East in Chatsworth, California. Some Mushroom recordings were also released abroad through

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

and

Festival Records Festival Records, later known as Festival Mushroom Records, was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to 2005. The com ...

. Mushroom released several successful albums from artists such as Doucette,

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

, and

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( ) is a city of about 100,000 people and in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located about east of the City of Vancouver in the Fraser Valley. The enumerated population is 93,203 in the city and 113,767 in the gr ...

. Mushroom also had a short lived subsidiary, Chanterelle Records, which released records by

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

musician Jim Grady. Flicker left Mushroom during Heart's dispute with Siegel over Heart's second album. Siegel moved to the L.A. office, but suddenly died due to an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...

on 17 January 1979. In late 1980 Mushroom Records went out of business. The same year Gold left Mushroom to co-found Flicker Records with Mike Flicker. Heart's two Mushroom albums were purchased and re-issued by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

when the band moved to that label in 1985. In late 2013 Linus Entertainment released several Mushroom recordings on CD for the first time including albums by Chilliwack and Doucette.

Mushroom Studios

In 1946, Aragon Recording Studios was opened in Vancouver. By 1954, Al Reusch had acquired sole ownership. A studio was built by Aragon in 1966, and under a sponsorship deal, the new facility was initially named Can-Base Studios. In the early 1970s Reusch sold the studio to Jack Herschorn, who appointed

Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American Record producer, music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart (band), Heart.Howard Leese Howard M. Leese (June 13, 1951) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to record and tour as a solo artist, and as guitar ...

as program manager. Charlie Richmond also worked as head technical advisor. Flicker and Leese had earlier worked in Los Angeles studios and later became known for their production and arranging work with the Seattle band Heart. Can-Base went bust and the studio acquired investment funds from the Vogel family. The name was changed to Mushroom Studios. In 1974 the Mushroom Records label was also established in Vancouver. Though the two remained separate business entities, many of Mushroom Records' albums were recorded at Mushroom studios. Mushroom Records went bust in 1980, but Mushroom Studios continued on. In January 2006, the studio was purchased by Hipposonic Studios and renamed Hippowest Music Ltd. In 2011, the studio was moved 3,000 miles cross country, and relocated inside the Play-Dead Mansion on

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original eas ...

in Toronto, where it once again took its current name of Mushroom Studios.

Partial list of artists recording with Mushroom Records (Canada) 1974-1980

Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...

* Doucette *

Susan Jacks Susan Jacks ( Pesklevits; 19 August 1948 – 25 April 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. Career Susan Pesklevits was born on 19 August 1948 to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved to ...

* Paul Horn * Ian Matthews

References

;Citations

External links

* Mushroom artists, mentioning the label.
Mushroom Records Discography (incomplete)
*
A history of Aragon, Mushroom, and Hippowest
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1974 Record labels disestablished in 1979 Canadian independent record labels Rock record labels Defunct record labels of Canada

Mushroom Studios

Partial list of artists recording with Mushroom Records (Canada) 1974-1980

See also

References

External links