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David Leonard Miller (July 4, 1925May 24, 1985) was an American
record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...
and the founder of many
budget album Budget albums (also known as unofficially by some collectors as either drugstore records or junk records) were low-priced vinyl LPs of popular and classical music released during the 1950s to 1970s consisting either of previously released materia ...
record companies.


Life and career

Miller was born in
Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
, Pennsylvania, to Albert and Olive Miller. Following
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
service in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
along with his brother-in-law Ralph Joseph, they started recording weddings direct to disc. After briefly working at the
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
record pressing plant in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...
, where he learned more about recording and manufacturing records, he nd his brother Paul formed their first record company with their own savings and those of their father Albert, naming their company Palda Records (a portmanteau">Palda Records">nd his brother Paul formed their first record company with their own savings and those of their father Albert, naming their company Palda Records (a portmanteau of Paul, Albert, and David) in Philadelphia, eventually buying out their father's share.


Essex Records

Miller became the founder of Essex Records in Philadelphia, in 1951. The label had local popular success, being known mostly for its release of the early records by Bill Haley & His Comets. Miller originally changed the name of the group from the "Four Aces of Western Swing" to "Bill Haley and the Saddlemen" then repeated a suggestion that the group change their name to the Comets after
Halley's Comet Halley's Comet is the only known List of periodic comets, short-period comet that is consistently visible to the naked eye from Earth, appearing every 72–80 years, though with the majority of recorded apparitions (25 of 30) occurring after ...
. After Haley and the Comets signed to
Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...
, Haley sued Miller for selling the group's earlier records on his Essex label without paying royalties. As a result, Miller went bankrupt.


Somerset Records

Under his Miller International Company formed in 1957, with his Essex Records office manager George Phillips, he founded Somerset Records and Somerset Stereo Fidelity Records budget albums. His greatest claim to fame was selling large amounts of cheaply priced albums, with Somerset claiming to have manufactured the first stereo
budget album Budget albums (also known as unofficially by some collectors as either drugstore records or junk records) were low-priced vinyl LPs of popular and classical music released during the 1950s to 1970s consisting either of previously released materia ...
s. The name of Somerset
high fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
albums was suggested by Miller International's West Coast distributor, Jimmy Warren, with the name of Stereo Fidelity (
stereo Stereophonic sound, commonly shortened to stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configurat ...
albums) thought of by Wally Hill to capitalize on the public's interest in both
high fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...
and stereophonic sound. The economy came from Miller starting his own record factory in
Swarthmore, Pennsylvania Swarthmore ( , ) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Swarthmore was originally named Westdale in honor of painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to Swarthmore after ...
, using public domain music and non union musicians from outside the United States to record
cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
s of hit songs of the time. Many original tunes were written by Monty Kelly, Robert Lowden, and Joseph Kuhn with the music published by Miller's own music publisher, Chesdel Music created in 1962. Miller had his own distribution channels of his records in supermarkets and drugstores with the cheap albums being sold in metal racks similar to those holding
paperback books A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, also known as wrappers, and often held together with glue rather than stitches or staples. In contrast, hardback (hardcover) books are bound with cardboar ...
or cardboard record holders called "dumps" that could be placed anywhere. Miller's record albums were sold wholesale for 93 cents to salesmen who sold them to merchants who sold them to the public for $1.98. Somerset Records used artist Anthony "Chic" Laganella to create attractive eye catching
album cover An album cover (also referred to as album art) is the front packaging art of a commercially released album, studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to: * the printed paperboard covers typically used to package: ** sets of a ...
s. Miller used the name ''
101 Strings 101 Strings Orchestra was the brand for a highly successful easy listening symphonic music organization, with a discography exceeding 150 albums and a creative lifetime of around 30 years beginning in 1957. 101 Strings had a trademark sound, focus ...
'' for several German orchestras, their first album appearing in September 1957. In 1958 Somerset released 24 ''101 Strings'' titles. Miller International's philosophy after their experience with Essex Records was that recording "hits" was too unstable, and recording for teenagers and "sophisticates" was unprofitable as the two types bought "fads". Miller said that he did not want to record anything that would not sell ten years in the future. In 1959 Miller signed the
London Philharmonic Orchestra The London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) is a British orchestra based in London. One of five permanent symphony orchestras in London, the LPO was founded by the conductors Thomas Beecham, Sir Thomas Beecham and Malcolm Sargent in 1932 as a riv ...
to his label and had his Somerset albums distributed in the United Kingdom by
Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...
.
Disques Vogue Disques Vogue was a jazz record company founded in France by Léon Cabat and Charles Delaunay in 1947, the year after the American Vogue label ceased. They originally specialized in jazz, featuring American performers such as Sidney Bechet, ...
of France followed soon afterwards. Miller sold Somerset to Al Sherman in 1963 but remained credited as a producer on the albums when Sherman changed the name to
Alshire Records David Leonard Miller (July 4, 1925May 24, 1985) was an American record producer and the founder of many budget album record companies. Life and career Miller was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Albert and Olive Miller. Following World ...
, although the name Somerset was still used for some albums. Miller formed
Europa Records Europa (styled as EUROPA) is a German record label, originally owned by Miller International Records Company (Germany). It has since belonged to the MCA Inc. and Bertelsmann Music Group, and is now owned by Sony Corporation of America. It was o ...
in Germany to duplicate the American sales success of Somerset in Europe. Many of the Somerset/Alshire recordings were issued in Europe on the Europa label. He continued to occasionally produce material and in the mid 1970s formed a brief partnership with Marty Wilson to release three albums of heavily orchestrated material for the New York disco scene, also releasing the recordings in European markets.


Stereo Gold Award

Budget label
Stereo Gold Award Stereo Gold Award was a budget label record label owned by producer Dave Miller. It released many budget and exploito type recordings during the 1970s. It was one of the last of Muller's major business ventures. Background The label was a U.K. ...
was one of the last of Miller's major business ventures. It was a U.K. based label. The records were distributed in the U.K. by Record Merchandisers. On this label he often used the pseudonym Leo Muller. Some of the albums he produced and was credited composer for include ''Tamla Hits'' by Dianne And The New Worlds and ''Tribute To Jimi Hendrix'' by The Purple Fox.Discogs
The Purple Fox – Tribute To Jimi Hendrix
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Death

Miller died in London, England, in 1985 at the age of 59.
Retrieved 10 November 2022


See also

*
List of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, ...


Notes


External links

* Somerset Records discography http://forbiddeneye.com/labels/somerset.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Dave 20th-century American businesspeople 1925 births 1985 deaths Record producers from Pennsylvania Businesspeople from Philadelphia American military personnel of World War II