Private Stock Records was a

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, ...

that operated from

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

. The label was founded by

Larry Uttal Lawrence Uttal (December 2, 1921 – November 25, 1993) was an American music business executive who led the Madison Records, Bell and Private Stock record labels in the 1960s and 1970s. He was born in New York City. He joined Bill Buchanan ...

after he left

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 ...

. The label primarily focused on

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

and had numerous

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s, many of them

one-hit wonders A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

, including singles by

David Soul David Soul (born David Richard Solberg; August 28, 1943 – January 4, 2024) was an American-British actor and singer. With a career spanning five decades, he rose to prominence for portraying Detective Kenneth "Hutch" Hutchinson in the Americ ...

of ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a '' Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired ...

'' fame (" Don't Give Up on Us"), Starbuck (" Moonlight Feels Right"), Austin Roberts ("

Rocky ''Rocky'' is a 1976 American independent film, independent sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the first installment in the Rocky (film series), ''Rocky'' franchise and also star ...

"),

Samantha Sang Cheryl Lau Sang (born 5 August 1951), known professionally as Samantha Sang, is an Australian singer. She had an earlier career as a teenage singer under the stage name Cheryl Gray, before adopting the stage name she is more widely known as in ...

Emotion Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...

"),

Walter Murphy Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental " A Fifth of Beethoven", a disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony which topp ...

and the Big Apple Band ("

A Fifth of Beethoven "A Fifth of Beethoven" is a disco instrumental recorded by Walter Murphy and the Big Apple Band, adapted from the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5. The record was produced by production music and sound effects recording pro ...

"), Cyndi Grecco (" Making Our Dreams Come True", a.k.a. the theme song to ''

Laverne & Shirley ''Laverne & Shirley'' is an American television sitcom that ran for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 27, 1976, to May 10, 1983. A spin-off of ''Happy Days'', ''Laverne & Shirley'' stars Penny Marshall and Cindy Wi ...

'') and

Frankie Valli Francesco Stephen Castelluccio (born May 3, 1934), better known by his stage name Frankie Valli, is an American singer and occasional actor, best known as the frontman (lead singer) of The Four Seasons (band), the Four Seasons. He is known for ...

My Eyes Adored You "My Eyes Adored You" is a 1974 song written by Bob Crewe and Kenny Nolan. It was originally recorded by The Four Seasons (band), The Four Seasons in early 1974. After the Motown label balked at the idea of releasing it, the recording was sold to l ...

", " Swearin' to God", "

Our Day Will Come "Our Day Will Come" is a popular song composed by Mort Garson with lyrics by Bob Hilliard. It was recorded by American R&B group Ruby & the Romantics in early December 1962, reaching #1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Ruby & the Romantics' ori ...

"). The label also released Brownsville Station's album with the same name, and the singles "The Martian Boogie" and "(Lady) Put the Light on Me" in 1977. Even during 1976 and 1977 Jose Feliciano released two albums on the label, "Sweet Soul Music" (produced by

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

) and "Angela" (soundtrack of the movie Aaron Loves Angela). More indicative of the label's nature, Private Stock issued for the US in 1976 a compilation of

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

's work with Steampacket and the Hoochie Koochie Men culled from mid-1960s live shows in the UK while the singer was transitioning from Mercury Records to Warner Brothers. In the early 1980s a

Stray Cats Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles in ...

compilation appeared in stores, ostensibly a licensee of

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 ...

but debatable as to whether it was even the same company. Blondie's eponymous debut album—which was not a commercial success at the time—was also originally issued on Private Stock in 1976, as were two final single releases by

Junior Campbell Junior Campbell (born William Campbell Jr., 31 May 1947) is a Scottish composer, songwriter and musician. He was a founding member, lead guitarist, pianist, and singer with the Scottish band Marmalade (band), Marmalade and co-wrote and produced s ...

. Following the demise of Woody Woodmansey's U-Boat, singer/songwriter Phil Murray signed to the label in 1978, and released one single, End Of My Time, before moving on to Mickie Most's label RAK. Singer-songwriter

Tom Paxton Thomas Richard Paxton (born October 31, 1937) is an American folk singer-songwriter whose career spans more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

's 1975 album, ''Something in My Life'' and

Rupert Holmes Rupert Holmes (born David Goldstein; February 24, 1947) is a British-American composer, singer-songwriter, dramatist and author. He is widely known for the hit singles " Escape (The Piña Colada Song)" (1979) and " Him" (1980). He is also know ...

' fourth album, ''Pursuit of Happiness'' were also released by the label.

Peter Lemongello Peter Lemongello (born February 11, 1947) is an American singer known for his double album ''Love '76'', the first album to be sold exclusively through television advertising. Early career Lemongello spent the first part of his career as a caba ...

released one album and a few singles for Private Stock after his debut ''Love '76.'' However, the ''Love '76'' album was never released by Private Stock, and none of his recordings for the label charted. Gospel/soul singer Cissy Houston (mother of singer

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer, actress, film producer, model, and philanthropist. Commonly referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, the Voice", she is List of awards and no ...

) released two albums on the label- 1977's '' Cissy Houston'' and 1978's '' Think It Over''. The label closed down when Uttal moved to

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

; he later returned to New York, where he died in 1993. His son Jai Uttal owned the rights to the catalogue after his father's death, after which he sold to 43 North Broadway, LLC around 2016.

References

External links

Private Stock Records story from BSN Pubs

References

External links

See also