Colpix Records
Encyclopedia
Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures
–Screen Gems
. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958
, and was based in New York City
. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R. Lester Sill
later headed the label, after breaking with Philles Records
partner Phil Spector
.
Artists for the label included Lou Christie
, James Darren
, Paul Petersen
, Shelley Fabares
(the latter two also costars of The Donna Reed Show
), Freddie Scott
, and the Marcels. Two of the label's best known number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100
Singles Charts were "Blue Moon
" by the Marcels in the spring of 1961
(also a number one in the UK, where Colpix was licenced to Pye International
),
and Shelley Fabares' "Johnny Angel
" in the spring of 1962.
Bernadette Castro
also recorded for the label, "Get Rid of Him"/"A Girl in Love Forgives" and "His Lips Get in the Way"/"Sportscar Sally". Singer Jo Ann Greer
, who dubbed several of the actresses at Columbia Pictures
, recorded two albums with the studio's musical director, Morris Stoloff
: Soundtracks, Voices and Themes and The Naked City, an original film noir
musical that also featured the label's James Darren
.
Colpix also released a soundtrack album of Hanna-Barbera
cartoons. It included actual dialogue tracks from Huckleberry Hound
, Yogi Bear
, and Pixie and Dixie, and the recording was narrated by Daws Butler
, speaking in the voice of Huckleberry Hound.
In the wake of President Kennedy's
assassination
on November 22, 1963, numerous tribute albums were released the following year. Colpix's contribution, in association with United Press International
, was Four Days That Shocked The World, including radio coverage of the President's arrival at Dallas Love Field, the moment of the shooting in Dealey Plaza
, and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald
two days later. The album was released in a gatefold cover and included a booklet with UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the assassination.
The label was discontinued in 1966
and was promptly replaced by Colgems Records
, which was primarily used for releases by The Monkees
during their four-year existence. Prior to their involvement with the Monkees, Davy Jones
and Michael Nesmith
(under the pseudonym Michael Blessing) had each signed to Colpix Records as solo artists.
Colpix was the first big label for singer and pianist Nina Simone
, after having made her debut on Bethlehem Records
. She recorded albums for the label from 1959 (The Amazing Nina Simone
) through 1964 (Folksy Nina
). In 1966 they released Nina Simone with Strings
, an album of left-overs with strings added, when Simone was already signed to Philips Records
.
Rhino Records issued a double compact disc
compilation, The Colpix-Dimension Story, in 1994, which also included selections from Dimension Records
, a related label.
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
–Screen Gems
Screen Gems
Screen Gems is an American movie production company and subsidiary company of Sony Pictures Entertainment's Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group that has served several different purposes for its parent companies over the decades since its incorporation....
. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). It was founded by Jonie Taps and Harry Cohn in 1958
1958 in music
-Events:*February - 45,000 peoplein one week watch performances of "rokabirī" music by Japanese singers at the first Nichigeki Western Carnival....
, and was based in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R. Lester Sill
Lester Sill
Lester Sill was an American record label executive, best remembered as Phil Spector's partner in Philles Records , and also as the head of both Colpix Records and the later Colgems Records...
later headed the label, after breaking with Philles Records
Philles Records
Philles Records was a record label formed in 1961 by Phil Spector and Lester Sill, the label taking its name from a hybrid of their first names. Initially, the label was distributed by Jamie/Guyden in Philadelphia...
partner Phil Spector
Phil Spector
Phillip Harvey "Phil" Spector is an American record producer and songwriter, later known for his conviction in the murder of actress Lana Clarkson....
.
Artists for the label included Lou Christie
Lou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
, James Darren
James Darren
James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
, Paul Petersen
Paul Petersen
William Paul Petersen is an American movie actor, singer, novelist, and activist. Primarily known for his character-type roles in the 1960s and 1970s, as an adult Petersen established the organization A Minor Consideration to support child stars and other child laborers through legislation,...
, Shelley Fabares
Shelley Fabares
Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares is an American actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, Mary Stone, on The Donna Reed Show , and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She also was Elvis...
(the latter two also costars of The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show
The Donna Reed Show is an American sitcom starring Donna Reed as the upper middle class housewife Donna Stone. Carl Betz appears as her pediatrician husband Alex, and Shelley Fabares and Paul Petersen as their teenage children Mary and Jeff. The show originally aired on ABC at 10 pm from September...
), Freddie Scott
Freddie Scott
Freddie Scott was an American soul singer and songwriter. His biggest hits were "Hey, Girl", a top ten US pop hit in 1963, and "Are You Lonely For Me", a no.1 hit on the R&B chart in early 1967.-Life and career:...
, and the Marcels. Two of the label's best known number one hits on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
Singles Charts were "Blue Moon
Blue Moon (song)
"Blue Moon"'s first crossover recording to rock and roll came from Elvis Presley in 1956. His cover version of the song was included on his self-titled debut album Elvis Presley....
" by the Marcels in the spring of 1961
(also a number one in the UK, where Colpix was licenced to Pye International
Pye International Records
Pye International Records was a record label founded in 1958, as a subsidiary of Pye Records. The company distributed many American labels in the UK, including Chess, Kama Sutra, Buddah, Colpix and King...
),
and Shelley Fabares' "Johnny Angel
Johnny Angel (song)
"Johnny Angel" is the debut pop single by Shelley Fabares released in 1962 on the Colpix label.It was the first single taken from her debut solo album Shelley! which was produced and arranged by Stu Phillips. "Johnny Angel" was written by Lyn Duddy and Lee Pockriss. The single premiered on an...
" in the spring of 1962.
Bernadette Castro
Bernadette Castro
Bernadette Castro is a New York politician and businesswoman who served in the Cabinet of former Governor George Pataki. She was the heir and former President and Chief Executive Officer of Castro Convertibles, a sofa business in New Hyde Park, New York. Castro sold the company to Krause...
also recorded for the label, "Get Rid of Him"/"A Girl in Love Forgives" and "His Lips Get in the Way"/"Sportscar Sally". Singer Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer
Jo Ann Greer had one of the most distinctive and elegant voices, yet least-known faces of all the successful jazz and pop singers in show business....
, who dubbed several of the actresses at Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
, recorded two albums with the studio's musical director, Morris Stoloff
Morris Stoloff
Morris Stoloff was a musical composer.Stoloff worked as a music director at Columbia Pictures from 1936 to 1962...
: Soundtracks, Voices and Themes and The Naked City, an original film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
musical that also featured the label's James Darren
James Darren
James William Ercolani , known by his stage name James Darren, is an American television and film actor, television director, and singer.-Career:...
.
Colpix also released a soundtrack album of Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
cartoons. It included actual dialogue tracks from Huckleberry Hound
Huckleberry Hound
The Huckleberry Hound Show is a 1958 syndicated animated series and the second from Hanna-Barbera following The Ruff & Reddy Show, sponsored by Kellogg's. Three segments were included in the program: one featuring Huckleberry Hound; another starring Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo; and a third...
, Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear
Yogi Bear is a fictional bear who appears in animated cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera Productions. He made his debut in 1958 as a supporting character in The Huckleberry Hound Show. Yogi Bear was the first breakout character created by Hanna-Barbera, and was eventually more popular than...
, and Pixie and Dixie, and the recording was narrated by Daws Butler
Daws Butler
Charles Dawson "Daws" Butler was a voice actor originally from Toledo, Ohio. He worked mostly for Hanna-Barbera and originated the voices of many famous animated cartoon characters, including Yogi Bear, Quick Draw McGraw, Snagglepuss, and Huckleberry Hound.Daws Butler trained many working actors...
, speaking in the voice of Huckleberry Hound.
In the wake of President Kennedy's
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
assassination
John F. Kennedy assassination
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, was assassinated at 12:30 p.m. Central Standard Time on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dealey Plaza, Dallas, Texas...
on November 22, 1963, numerous tribute albums were released the following year. Colpix's contribution, in association with United Press International
United Press International
United Press International is a once-major international news agency, whose newswires, photo, news film and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines and radio and television stations for most of the twentieth century...
, was Four Days That Shocked The World, including radio coverage of the President's arrival at Dallas Love Field, the moment of the shooting in Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza
Dealey Plaza , in the historic West End district of downtown Dallas, Texas , is the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963...
, and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald
Lee Harvey Oswald was, according to four government investigations,These were investigations by: the Federal Bureau of Investigation , the Warren Commission , the House Select Committee on Assassinations , and the Dallas Police Department. the sniper who assassinated John F...
two days later. The album was released in a gatefold cover and included a booklet with UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the assassination.
The label was discontinued in 1966
1966 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Hullabaloo shows promotional videos of The Beatles songs "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work it Out".*January 8 – Shindig! airs for the last time on ABC, with musical guests the Kinks and the Who...
and was promptly replaced by Colgems Records
Colgems Records
Colgems Records was a record label which existed from 1966 to 1971. It was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Records, to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated with Screen Gems. The label would also issue soundtrack...
, which was primarily used for releases by The Monkees
The Monkees
The Monkees are an American pop rock group. Assembled in Los Angeles in 1966 by Robert "Bob" Rafelson and Bert Schneider for the American television series The Monkees, which aired from 1966 to 1968, the musical acting quartet was composed of Americans Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork,...
during their four-year existence. Prior to their involvement with the Monkees, Davy Jones
Davy Jones (actor)
David Thomas "Davy" Jones is an English rock singer-songwriter and actor best known as a member of the Monkees.-Early life:...
and Michael Nesmith
Michael Nesmith
Robert Michael Nesmith is an American musician, songwriter, actor, producer, novelist, businessman, and philanthropist, best known as a member of the musical group The Monkees and star of the TV series of the same name...
(under the pseudonym Michael Blessing) had each signed to Colpix Records as solo artists.
Colpix was the first big label for singer and pianist Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, after having made her debut on Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records
Bethlehem Records was a record label based in New York and Hollywood founded by Gus Wildi in 1953. It was bought by King Records in the early 1960s....
. She recorded albums for the label from 1959 (The Amazing Nina Simone
The Amazing Nina Simone
The Amazing Nina Simone is an album by Jazz singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It was her first album for the label Colpix Records, which would quickly be followed by 8 albums on the same label, before signing with Philips Records in 1964...
) through 1964 (Folksy Nina
Folksy Nina
Folksy Nina is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone . It includes live tracks recorded on the 12th of May, 1963 at Carnegie Hall. The previous album, Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall uses songs from the same concert...
). In 1966 they released Nina Simone with Strings
Nina Simone With Strings
Nina Simone with Strings is an album by Nina Simone. The album was released without her knowing after she had left Colpix Records, and had already made albums for Philips Records...
, an album of left-overs with strings added, when Simone was already signed to Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
.
Rhino Records issued a double compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
compilation, The Colpix-Dimension Story, in 1994, which also included selections from Dimension Records
Dimension Records
Dimension Records was a record label founded in 1962 in New York City by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, owners of Aldon Music. It concentrated on the girl group sound and showcased songs by Goffin and King. Their composition "The Loco-Motion", sung by Little Eva, gave it its biggest hit...
, a related label.