Steed Records was a record label founded by songwriter-record producer

Jeff Barry Jeff Barry (born Joel Adelberg; April 3, 1938) is an American pop music songwriter, singer, and record producer. Among the most successful songs that he has co-written in his career are " Do Wah Diddy Diddy", " Da Doo Ron Ron", " Then He Kiss ...

in 1967 in New York City. The label was active until 1971. It was first distributed by

Dot Records Dot Records was an American record label founded by Randy Wood (record producer), Randy Wood and Gene Nobles that was active between 1950 and 1978. The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee. In 1956, the company moved ...

, then by

Gulf+Western Gulf and Western Industries, Inc. (stylized as Gulf+Western) was an American conglomerate. Originally, the company focused on manufacturing and resource extraction. Beginning in 1966, and continuing throughout the 1960s and 1970s, the company ...

Famous Music Famous Music Corporation was the worldwide music publishing division of Paramount Pictures, a division of Paramount Global since 1994. Its copyright holdings span several decades and includes music from such Academy Award-winning motion pictures ...

Group after it absorbed Dot. Steed's main artist was singer-songwriter Andy Kim, whose biggest hit for the label was " Baby, I Love You" (co-written and produced by Barry) in 1969. Other artists on the label included

Robin McNamara Robin McNamara (May 5, 1947 – October 21, 2021) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. McNamara was born in May 1947 in Newton, Massachusetts. In 1963, while in tenth grade, he formed a rock and roll group with a few school friends; t ...

("Lay a Little Lovin' On Me") and The Illusion ("Did You See Her Eyes"). Other Steed acts included Louis St. Louis and Jacqueline Carol (St. Louis would later produce the "Grease" and "Grease II" soundtracks), The Playhouse, Hank Shifter, Keepers of the Light featuring Alzo Fronte (who also recorded as Alzo + Uddin) and The Rich Kids featuring Danny Belline. Most of Steed's recording sessions took place at Century Sound Studios in NYC. Jeff Barry and Andy Kim's songwriting partnership was a cornerstone of the label's fortunes. Steed Records rode the wave of

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is considered disposable, contrived, or marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States ...

in the late Sixties and early Seventies (although many of its releases were not bubblegum). When musical trends changed, Steed's sales fell off.

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in ...

took over the label with

taking over distribution. Jeff Barry discontinued Steed Records when he relocated to California in 1971. Kim's last two hits, " Rock Me Gently" and "Fire, Baby, I'm on Fire", appeared on

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

in 1974. The Steed catalogue is today controlled by

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

External links

The Steed Singles

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1967 Record labels disestablished in 1971 Pop record labels 1967 establishments in New York City

See also

External links