The Rocket Record Company is 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, ...

founded by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, songwriter and pianist. His music and showmanship have had a significant, lasting impact on the music industry, and his songwriting partnership with l ...

, along with

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English lyricist and visual artist. He is best known for his songwriting partnership with Elton John, recognised as one of the most successful partnerships of its kind in history. Taupin co-wrote th ...

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after John's hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the UK by

Island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

and in the US by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

, both of which John was also signed to (after 1976).

History

The first artists who signed to the label were the group

Stackridge Stackridge were a British progressive rock/folk rock group which had their greatest success in the early 1970s. History Classic period Stackridge Lemon were formed from the remains of a previous band, Grytpype Thynne, by Andy Davis and James ...

, who completed two albums for The Rocket Record Company after moving from MCA. It also became the home of

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

(whose three most successful U.S. mid-1970s albums were on Rocket),

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band the Zombies, which rel ...

, the

Hudson Brothers The Hudson Brothers were an American musical group formed in Portland, Oregon, consisting of brothers Bill, Brett and Mark Hudson. They were discovered by a record producer while recording music at a local studio, and offered a recording contr ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

Kiki Dee Pauline Matthews (born 6 March 1947), better known by her stage name Kiki Dee, is an English pop singer. Known for her blue-eyed soul vocals, she was the first female singer from the UK to sign with Motown's Tamla Records. Dee is best known f ...

Judie Tzuke Judie Tzuke ( ; born Judie Myers, 3 April 1956) is an English singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1979 hit "Stay with Me till Dawn", which reached number 16 on the UK singles chart. Life and career Early life Tzuke's family relocated ...

The Lambrettas The Lambrettas are an English mod revival band, first active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Named after the iconic Italian Lambretta scooter brand popular among Mods, the band was formed in Brighton, England. Their original line-up cons ...

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 ...

, Brian & Brenda Russell, and the Dutch band

Solution Solution may refer to: * Solution (chemistry), a mixture where one substance is dissolved in another * Solution (equation), in mathematics ** Numerical solution, in numerical analysis, approximate solutions within specified error bounds * Solu ...

. John offered to sign

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter, actor and radio broadcaster. He was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band the Stooges, who were formed in 1 ...

The Stooges The Stooges or Iggy and the Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, were an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave Alexande ...

to the label, but they declined. After John left his British label, DJM, in 1976, his records were also released by The Rocket Record Company on both sides of the Atlantic. The label also attempted to attract talent from all over the UK and submitted an advertisement to ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' for bands to record their sound of today and get it out tomorrow. With an album called "499 2139" (which incidentally was the studio's telephone number) they turned to the talents of

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...

(of

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW and also known as the Hit Factory) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s throug ...

fame). Waterman and his then assistant Tony Keys recorded and produced a unique mixture of music which, although it only grazed the bottom of the album charts, managed to capture a mixture of genres including a track from The Lambrettas called "Go Steady". In the US and Canada, John's residency on his own label was short-lived. After only one album, ''

Blue Moves ''Blue Moves'' is the eleventh studio album by English musician Elton John. It was released on 22 October 1976 through John's own Rocket Record Company (his first for the label), alongside MCA Records in certain countries. John's second double ...

'', and a couple of singles (including the hits "

Don't Go Breaking My Heart "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" is a duet by English musician Elton John and English singer Kiki Dee, released by The Rocket Record Company on 25 June 1976. It was written by John with Bernie Taupin under the pseudonyms "Ann Orson" and "Carte B ...

" and " Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"), he returned to MCA. At this time, The Rocket Record Company switched distribution to

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

after being dropped from MCA. The label was discontinued in the US in the early 1980s, then relaunched in 1995 with John's '' Made in England'' album, distributed by

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...

. 1997's '' The Big Picture'' and "

Candle in the Wind 1997 "Candle in the Wind 1997", also known as "Goodbye England's Rose" and "Candle in the Wind '97", is a threnody by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin, a re-written and re-recorded version of their 1973 song " Candle in the ...

" were distributed in the US by stepsister

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 ...

. In the UK, John's records were released by The Rocket Record Company from 1976 onward. In 1978 the distribution moved to

Phonogram Inc. Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens AG of Germany. It was a holding company f ...

, then to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

in 1995. By this time, John was the only artist on the label. Worldwide distribution rights to Elton John's music were consolidated when MCA Records' then-parent

Seagram The Seagram Company Ltd. (which trade name, traded as Seagram's) was a Canadian multinational beverage and during the last few years of its existence, entertainment Conglomerate (company), conglomerate formerly headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. ...

acquired PolyGram, the owner of Island, Mercury, and A&M, in 1998.

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

, which oversaw Seagram's recording operations, now co-owns the Elton John catalogue with the singer himself, continuing to distribute it worldwide.

Recent history

In 1999, The Rocket Record Company was absorbed by

The Island Def Jam Music Group Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG) was an American record label group formed on December 31, 1998, by Universal Music Group. Before 2014, IDJMG encompassed labels originally established under the umbrella of Island Records and Def Jam Recording ...

, and it operated under IDJ's Mercury Records division. However, the logo was still used on all new Elton John releases until 2007. The name was also resurrected in 2006 for the eponymous

Platinum Weird Platinum Weird is a musical collaboration formed in 2004 between Dave Stewart and Kara DioGuardi. It is also the subject of an elaborate hoax placing the band in 1974, including a half-hour mockumentary produced for television network VH1 and ...

album. In 2011, John formed a company named Rocket Music Entertainment Group. The label still exists today, with just three artists signed to it, as John himself has not released a studio album on Rocket since 2004's '' Peachtree Road'', although the 2010 one-off collaboration with

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock a ...

, '' The Union'' has the Rocket logo from that time. Otherwise, Rocket is primarily a management company handling established artists such as

Ed Sheeran Edward Christopher Sheeran ( ; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...

and Squeeze's

Chris Difford Christopher Henry Difford (born 4 November 1954) is an English musician. He is a founding member and songwriter of the rock group Squeeze. Early life Difford was born in Greenwich, London, on 4 November 1954, the youngest of three sons. His m ...

along with upcoming artists including

Anne-Marie Anne-Marie Rose Nicholson (born 7 April 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. She has attained various charting singles on the UK Singles Chart, including Clean Bandit's " Rockabye", which peaked at number one, as well as "Alarm", " Ciao ...

and Jake Issac.

Notable artists

The following artists have used The Rocket Record Company: *

*Longdancer ( Dave Stewart) *

Davey Johnstone David William Logan Johnstone (born 6 May 1951) is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his long-time collaboration with Elton John as a member of the Elton John Band. Career Johnstone was born in Edinburgh. At the age of s ...

/ China *

Nigel Olsson Nigel Olsson (born 10 February 1949) is an English drummer, best known for being a lifelong member of the Elton John Band. He has had an equally long career as a session musician and composed, recorded and produced albums as a solo artist. Ca ...

*Brian &

Brenda Russell Brenda Russell (née Gordon; born April 8, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, producer, and keyboardist. Russell has a diverse musical range which encompasses Rhythm and blues, R&B, pop music, pop, soul music, soul, dance music, dance, and ...

Alan Hull James Alan Hull (20 February 1945 – 17 November 1995) was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne. Career James Alan Hull was born on Tuesday, 20 February 1945 at 68 Sutton's Dwellings, Adel ...

/ Radiator *

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

* Jo Lemaire & Flouze *

Johnny Warman John Robert Waughman, better known as Johnny Warman, is an English singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 album, '' Walking Into Mirrors'' and the hit single "Screaming Jets". Early life Warman was born in Bethnal Green, London, England, an ...

Dramatis Dramatis are an English synth-pop band formed in the early 1980s. Chris Payne (musician), Chris Payne (Singing, vocals, Keyboard instrument, keyboards), Russell Bell (guitars, keyboards), Cedric Sharpley (Drum kit, drums), and Denis Haines (key ...

Fred Wedlock Peter Frederick Wedlock (23 May 1942 – 4 March 2010) was an English folk singer best known for his UK hit single "The Oldest Swinger in Town", which was covered by German comedian Karl Dall as "Der älteste Popper der Stadt". He performed ...

Randy Edelman Randy Edelman (born June 10, 1947) is an American musician, Record producer, producer, and composer and Conducting, conductor for Film score, film and television. He began his career as a member of Broadway theatre, Broadway's pit orchestras; he ...

Ryan Downe Ryan Downe Karpf is an American musician and audio engineer. His debut album ''The Hypocrite'' was released in 1996 by Elton John's label, The Rocket Record Company. Two music videos were produced to promote this album: "Where Am I Gonna Run To" an ...

* The Moirs *

Mal Pope Maldwyn "Mal" Pope (born 18 May 1960) is a Welsh musician and composer, who is notable for his contribution to music theatre portraying Welsh national identities and themes. He lives in the village of Mumbles, Swansea. He is known for singing bo ...

Jimmie's Chicken Shack Jimmie's Chicken Shack is an American alternative rock band from Annapolis, Maryland. They are best known for their singles "High" and "Do Right". In 1996 they signed to Elton John's Rocket Records and released two major-label albums, '' Pushin ...

Daniel Cartier Daniel Cartier (born June 25, 1969) is an American songwriter, singer, and actor.

References

External links

Rocket Records discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocket Record Company Record labels established in 1973 Record labels disestablished in 1999 British record labels Elton John MCA Records Island Records Pop record labels Vanity record labels

History

Recent history

Notable artists

See also

References

External links