110-509: Jack K. Pleis (May 11, 1917 – December 5, 1990) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, conductor, composer and producer. He recorded on London and Decca Records in the 1950s, and Columbia Records in the 1960s. During the course of his career, Pleis worked with many artists, including Louis Armstrong , Harry Belafonte , Bing Crosby , Sammy Davis Jr. , Benny Goodman , Earl Grant , Brenda Lee , and Joe Williams . Between 1950 and 1976, more than 150 songs were arranged by Pleis. His surname
220-400: A Woman ", " There Is No Greater Love ", " Gee, Baby, Ain't I Good to You ", " This Little Girl of Mine ", " Till Then ", and " Mess Around ". The 1960s brought a move to Columbia Records . In 1961, Pleis and Orchestra backed Brazilian singer Maysa Matarazzo on her album Maysa Sings Songs Before Dawn , he conducted for Billy Butterfield 's album, The Golden Horn , and arranged several of
330-505: A distribution deal with American Decca until 1962 when distribution switched to MGM Records . Éditions de l'Oiseau-Lyre is a wholly owned subsidiary specialising in European classical music of the 15th to 19th centuries. American Decca's jazz catalogue is managed by GRP Records , an imprint of Verve Records . The American Decca rock/pop catalogue is managed by Geffen Records . American distribution of British Decca's rock/pop catalogue
440-434: A financial interest in the new label. In 1934 Guy Lombardo also recorded for Decca. Decca became a major player in the depressed American record market thanks to its roster of popular artists, particularly Bing Crosby , the shrewd management of former US Brunswick general manager Jack Kapp , and the decision to price Decca at 35 cents. The US label also brought back the discontinued Champion label (from Gennett), as well as
550-578: A full roster of stars, including Cecilia Bartoli and Renée Fleming . Its back catalogue includes several landmarks and critically acclaimed recordings, such as the Solti Ring , voted the greatest recording of all time by critics with the BBC Music Magazine , and Luciano Pavarotti remained an exclusive Decca artist throughout his recording career. In 2017, Universal Music revived Decca's American classical music arm as Decca Gold under
660-408: A greatly enhanced frequency range (high and low notes) to be captured on recordings. Critics regularly commented on the startling realism of the new Decca recordings. The frequency range of ffrr was 80–15000 Hz, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 60 dB. While Decca's early ffrr releases on 78-rpm discs had some noticeable surface noise , which diminished the effects of the high fidelity sound,
770-670: A look at the Stones, who he had just seen live for the first time a couple of weeks earlier. Rowe saw the Stones and quickly signed them to a contract. Decca also released the first recording of Rod Stewart in 1964, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl"/"I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town". Decca also signed up many rock artists ( The Moody Blues , The Zombies , The Applejacks , Dave Berry , Lulu , Alan Price ), The Marmalade , with varying degrees of success. Staff producer Hugh Mendl (1919–2008) worked for Decca for over 40 years and played
880-529: A major hit label on the US R&;B and pop charts as Bill Haley's popularity started to fade, in the late 1950s. Decca's strong country catalogue did very well throughout this period and they had several crossover-to-pop hits, as well as the blockbuster success of Brenda Lee , but many R&B and rock music artists passed through Decca with little success ( The Flamingos , Billy Ward and his Dominoes , Bobby Darin , The Shirelles , etc.) American Decca embraced
990-404: A modified IVC model 826P open-reel 1-inch VTR , connected to a custom codec unit with time code capability (using a proprietary time code developed by Decca), as well as outboard DAC and ADC units connected to the codec unit. The codec recorded audio to tape in 18-bit linear PCM at 48 kHz, with a maximum of eight channels. Later versions of the system used 20-bit recording. Except for
1100-691: A new contract with Coral Records , recording under her new name, Karen Chandler . Her debut for Coral, backed by Pleis' orchestra, was the song " Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me ," and it became an enormous hit. Selling over a million copies, it peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard charts . In 1953, Pleis and orchestra backed her on her third Coral release, "I'd Love to Fall Asleep (And Wake Up in Your Arms)"/"Goodbye, Charlie, Goodbye". In mid-1953 Pleis joined Decca Records under Milt Gabler . Pleis and Orchestra released "The Eighteenth Variation"/"Mr. Peepers" under
1210-421: A new generation of high-resolution and multi-channel recordings, including Super Audio CD (SACD) and DVD-Audio (DVD-A) formats. Decca is now routinely mastering new recordings in these formats. Decca Special Products developed products for the audio marketplace and a line of home audio equipment. American Decca bought Universal-International in 1952, and eventually merged with MCA Inc. in 1962, becoming
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#17327835929071320-581: A non-reciprocal right to license and issue American Decca recordings in the UK on their Brunswick (US Decca recordings) and Coral (US Brunswick and Coral recordings) labels; this arrangement continued until 1967 when a UK branch of MCA was established utilizing the MCA Records label, with distribution fluctuating between British Decca and other English companies over time. In Canada, the Compo Company
1430-589: A pianist, arranger, conductor, and composer. He was one of Jan Savitt 's Top Hatters , playing piano and doing arrangements, a position he left in 1942 to enlist in the Army during World War II . In 1947, the Jack Pleis Trio provided instrumental support for Larry Laurence (with The Quintones providing vocal harmonies). By 1948, Pleis was working at the RCA Victor studios on 24th Street , appearing on
1540-619: A recording studio in Blomfield Road , West London; there may have been another in London's West End. In 2010, Universal Music reclaimed ownership of the London Records trademark. Even Universal Music again owned this trademark, Warner Music Group licensed it to be used on its reissues of London's catalogue controlled by Warner Records 90 company. On 1 July 2011 Universal Music reclaimed the London Records name and relaunched it under
1650-568: A reversal of the usual situation, in which American Decca had released original Broadway cast albums of three Rodgers and Hammerstein shows, this was the only film soundtrack album of a Rodgers and Hammerstein show ever released by Decca, while the Broadway cast album had been released by Columbia Masterworks. The American RCA label severed its longtime affiliation with EMI 's His Master's Voice (HMV) label in 1957, which allowed British Decca to market and distribute Elvis Presley 's recordings in
1760-605: A semi-independent label within the PolyGram group operated by Roger Ames. In the 1990s, Tracy Bennet became President and Colin Bell, Managing Director. When Ames moved to the Warner Music Group , he took the label with him, and so almost all of London's recent back catalogue was acquired by Warner, which also acquired the London name and trademark from Decca (which still owns most of the pre-1980 back catalogue). The name
1870-482: A series of recordings with Paddy Roberts (best known for "The Ballad of Bethnal Green"), numerous "original cast" and soundtrack albums including Oh! What a Lovely War and even an LP record of the 1966 Le Mans 24-hour race, inspired by his lifelong passion for motor racing. Mendl was a driving force in the establishment of Decca's progressive Deram label, most notably as the executive producer of The Moody Blues ' groundbreaking 1967 LP Days of Future Passed . He
1980-456: A short-lived version of the Broadway label. The following year, the pressing and Canadian distribution of US Decca records was licensed to Compo Company Ltd. in Lachine, Quebec , a breakaway and rival of Berliner Gram-o-phone Co. of Montreal , Quebec. (Compo was acquired by Decca in 1951 although its Apex label continued in production for the next two decades.) By 1939, Decca and EMI were
2090-496: A significant role in its success in the popular field from the 1950s to the late 1970s. His first major production credit was pianist Winifred Atwell . He produced Rock Island Line , the breakthrough skiffle hit for Lonnie Donegan , and he is credited as the first executive to spot the potential of singer-actor Tommy Steele . Mendl's other productions included the first album by humorist Ivor Cutler , Who Tore Your Trousers? (1961), Frankie Howerd at The Establishment (1963),
2200-615: A sublabel until Because Music acquired the trademark license in 2017. In July 2017, Because Music announced that it would acquire Warner Records 90 , a subsidiary of Warner Music UK that reissued most London Records artists from the post-1980 era, plus very few titles from the post-1998 era, when Warner Music owned the label. Because completed the deal in August 2017, which includes the rights to over fifty London artists (including Bananarama and Happy Mondays ), but excluding Slash Records , London-Sire Records , All Saints , New Order , and
2310-672: A subsidiary company under MCA. Dissatisfied with American Decca's promotion of British Decca recordings and because American Decca held the rights to the name Decca in the US and Canada, British Decca sold its records in the United States and Canada under the label London Records beginning in 1947. In Britain, London Records became a mighty catch-all licensing label for foreign recordings from the nascent post-WW II American independent and semi-major labels such as Cadence, Dot, Chess, Atlantic, Imperial and Liberty. Conversely, British Decca retained
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#17327835929072420-485: A twenty-minute version of Moby Dick , with Charles Laughton as Captain Ahab, and The Littlest Angel , narrated by Loretta Young . British Decca released on LP, in 1968, the most complete version of Man of La Mancha ever put on vinyl records, a 2-LP album featuring most of the dialogue and all of the songs, performed by the show's original London cast. Keith Michell starred as Don Quixote and Cervantes, and Joan Diener
2530-663: Is There to Say", "I'll Always Be in Love with You"/" Caravan ", and "Le Petite Valse"/"Ragamuffin", and the orchestra backed Snooky Lanson on his 1950 London single "You Wonderful You"/"Honestly I Love You". In June 1950, Pleis married Eve Young, and the March birth of their daughter Michelle was noted in an April 1951 Billboard . The Orchestra backed Eve on her single "Just for Tonight"/"Would I Love You?" In 1952, Pleis and orchestra worked with The Bell Sisters and continued working with Teresa Brewer. Pleis left London Records, and Eve signed
2640-524: Is branching out into pop music from established recording stars: in 2007 its Motown: A Journey Through Hitsville USA by Boyz II Men reached No. 27 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart. In 2007 they won the race to sign English teen jazz sensation Victoria Hart and released her first album Whatever Happened to Romance in July. In December 2007, it was announced that Morrissey would be joining
2750-925: Is credited with battling against Decca's notorious parsimonious treatment of their artists, ensuring that the Moody Blues had the time and resources to develop beyond their beat group origins into progressive rock, and he also used profits for pop sales to cross-subsidise recordings by avant-garde jazz artists like John Surman . British Decca lost a key source for American records when Atlantic Records switched British distribution to Polydor Records in 1966 for Atlantic to gain access to British recording artists which they did not have under Decca distribution. The Rolling Stones left Decca in 1970, and other artists followed. Decca's deals with numerous other record labels began to fall apart: RCA Records , for instance, abandoned Decca to set up its own UK office in June 1969, just before
2860-417: Is handled by Island Records . The Decca Broadway imprint is used for both newly recorded musical theatre songs and Universal Music Group's vast catalogues of musical theatre recordings from record labels UMG and predecessor companies acquired over the years. On 10 January 2011, Universal Music Group, which owns the masters to Decca Records, announced that it was donating 200,000 of its master recordings from
2970-524: Is now Universal Music Group (UMG). The UK and US divisions of the former Decca label were combined under UMG in 1998 and the MCA brand was retired in 2003 (with the exception of the American MCA Nashville country music imprint). The name dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons. The name "Decca"
3080-619: Is pronounced "Pleece" (to rhyme with "fleece"). Jack Pleis was born in Philadelphia on May 11, 1917. Starting at the age of four, he began his training in classical piano. He first performed in concert when he was seven. By the time he was eleven, he appeared on radio programs for children. Pleis enrolled in college intending to study medicine. To support his studies, he played piano in jazz and popular music bands. Eventually he left school and moved to New York City , where he began his musical career. In New York, Pleis became successful as
3190-402: Is still used, mainly for UK-based artists, and for ex- Factory Records artists. Notable artists released by that incarnation of London, called London Records 90, include New Order (initially on their own CentreDate Co. Ltd label), Happy Mondays , A , and Shakespears Sister . After PolyGram took over British Decca, classical-music albums recorded by British Decca continued to be released on
3300-476: The Boyd Neel ensemble (Purcell Club, 14 sides, issued February 1936 ); and Henderson's famous pupil Kathleen Ferrier was recorded and issued by Decca through the period of transition from 78 to LP (1946–1952). Heinrich Schlusnus made pre-war lieder recordings for Decca. Decca's emergence as a major classical label may be attributed to three concurrent events: the emphasis on technical innovation (initially
3410-666: The Kalin Twins ' song " When ", which spent five weeks at No. 1 on the UK charts. In 1960, Pleis conducted for The Castilians' album, Valentino Tangos . Pleis and Orchestra backed Sammy Davis Jr. on a dozen tracks for Decca, including " What Kind of Fool Am I? " (which won the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in 1963), " The Lady Is a Tramp ", " I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues ", " Do Nothin' Till You Hear From Me ", " I Got
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3520-585: The New York Stock Exchange as Decca Records Inc. Therefore, the two Deccas became separate companies and remained so until American Decca's parent company bought British Decca's parent company in 1998 (during this time, US Decca artists were issued in the UK on the Brunswick label until 1968 when MCA Records was launched in the UK). In 1940, American Decca released the first album of songs from
3630-594: The 1920s to the 1940s to the United States Library of Congress. The collection of master recordings will be cleaned and digitised. Included in this group are Bing Crosby's original recording of 'White Christmas' and thousands more by Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Judy Garland, Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, the Andrews Sisters, and other famous and lesser-known musicians who recorded during this time. Because of this transaction, once
3740-482: The 1939 film The Wizard of Oz . However, it was not a soundtrack album but a cover version featuring only Judy Garland from the film, with other roles taken by the Ken Darby Singers. In 1942, American Decca released the first recording of " White Christmas " by Bing Crosby . He recorded another version of the song in 1947 for Decca; to this day, Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" for Decca remains
3850-648: The 1960s and 1970s, the company developed its "Phase 4" process which produced even greater sonic impact through even more interventionist engineering techniques. Big-band leader Ted Heath was an early pioneer of the Decca "Phase 4" sound. Decca recorded some quadrophonic masters that were released in Sansui 's quadraphonic system called QS Regular Matrix. Starting in late 1978, British Decca developed its own digital audio recorders used in-house for recording, mixing, editing, and mastering albums. Each recorder consisted of
3960-589: The 1990s, London signed Madchester indie band The High and ended up being fined £50,000 by the BPI in 1991, for suspected chart hyping in the UK Singles chart in regards to this band, with the suspicion that their chart position may have been bought by the record company and not due to fans purchasing their record, "More". MCA , the owner of American Decca, merged with PolyGram in 1999, which formed Universal Music ; however, by this time, London Records had become
4070-531: The American company developed the concept of cast albums in the musical genre. In 1947, following World War II, British Decca re-established distribution in the United States through its new subsidiary London Records . The London trademark name has also been used in other countries such as Canada , Mexico , Germany and Japan . In 1973, the US Decca label became MCA Records , which formed half of what
4180-675: The April issue of The American Magazine . Pleis and His Orchestra began releasing singles of Disney film songs (also collected and released on the album Music from Disneyland ), and also released " Lies "/" Hey There " and "Pauline"/" The Trouble With Harry ", the title tune for Alfred Hitchcock 's film, The Trouble with Harry . In 1956, Pleis and His Orchestra again backed Karen Chandler, this time on her first Decca release, and Pleis released another album, Strings and Things . The orchestra backed Bobby Darrin on his single " Rock Island Line "/"Timber". In October, Pleiss' song "Giant", theme of
4290-573: The Decca label, Linfair Records also distributes V2 Records' releases and some independent labels. However, Linfair Records' releases outside Taiwan will continue to be released internationally via Universal Music. The Decca label is currently in use by Universal Music Group worldwide; this is possible because Universal Studios (which officially dropped the MCA name after the Seagram buyout in 1996) acquired PolyGram, British Decca's parent company in 1998, thus consolidating Decca trademark ownership. In
4400-728: The Decca label. The orchestra backed Karen Chandler again on " Why? "/"Flash From the Blue". 1954 saw the release of the orchestra's Decca singles, "Frenchman in St. Louis"/"Pagan in Paris", "Ah Ri Rung", and "For Always"/" Beyond the Blue Horizon ", and the orchestra backed the Dinning Sisters on "Steel Guitar Rag", Eileen Barton on "And Then", and Teresa Brewer on her album A Bouquet of Hits . 1955 saw Pleis scheduled to be profiled in
4510-563: The Decca roster. In August 2009, it was revealed that American Idol alum, Clay Aiken , had signed with Decca. It reentered the American country music scene in 2008. There are two Universal Music label groups now using the Decca name. The Decca Label Group is the US label whereas the London-based Decca Music Group runs the international classical and pop releases by such world-famous performers as Andrea Bocelli and Hayley Westenra . The London Records pop label that
Jack Pleis - Misplaced Pages Continue
4620-764: The FFRR (Full Frequency Range Recordings) brand (which became part of WMG's Parlophone label). Because is distributed by another UMG division Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, formerly Caroline Distribution. Warner Records 90 was renamed London Music Stream, and later London Recordings. The label is now operating as London Records again (as part of Because Music Group). The label has reissued many classics by acts such as Bronski Beat, Bananarama, Orbital, Goldie and Happy Mondays. They have also released new music by Blancmange, Shakespears Sister and Orbital. This includes Orbital's 'Optical Delusion' which charted at No 6 in
4730-630: The Grimethorpe Colliery Band , as well as the composers themselves. For many years, Decca's British classical recordings had been issued in the US under the London Records label because the existence of the American Decca company precluded the use of that name on British recordings distributed in the US. The practice was no longer necessary when the MCA and PolyGram labels merged in 1999 and created Universal Music. Today Decca makes fewer major classical recordings but still has
4840-557: The IVC VTRs (which were modified to Decca's specifications by IVC's UK division in Reading ), all the electronics for these systems were developed and manufactured in-house by Decca (and by contractors to them as well). These digital systems were used for mastering most of Decca's classical music releases to both LP and CD and were used well into the late 1990s. After the start of the new century, Decca became actively involved in pioneering
4950-634: The Kinks , the Who , and Manfred Mann . Decca had earlier accepted London-born pioneer rock'n'roll singer Terry Dene , who was later known as the British Elvis Presley, and another Merseyside singer, Billy Fury . The turning down of The Beatles led indirectly to the signing of one of Decca's biggest 1960s artists, The Rolling Stones . Dick Rowe was judging a talent contest with George Harrison , and Harrison mentioned to him that he should take
5060-652: The Library has organised and cleaned the collection, the public will eventually have some degree of access to thousands of recordings that have been commercially unavailable for decades. According to the Los Angeles Times , "[a]s part of the agreement between UMG and the library, Universal retains ownership of the recording copyrights and the right to exploit the cleaned-up and digitized files for commercial purposes." Today, Decca distributes UMG's jazz holdings led by Blue Note Records and Verve Records along with
5170-509: The London label in the U.S., with a logo similar to the Decca classical label logo, until American Decca owner MCA merged with British Decca owner PolyGram in 1999 and formed Universal Music, after which they were all reissued on the original British Decca label in the US. The London pop music catalogue owned by Universal Music is now managed by Polydor Records , with United States distribution handled by Island Records after absorbing former distributor Mercury Records in 2014. Decca Records had
5280-585: The Moon ", while he was an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge, and Edward Lewis recruited him as his personal assistant and "talent spotter". But contemporary punk rock signings such as Slaughter & the Dogs and the pre-stardom Adam and the Ants (whose sole single with Decca, " Young Parisians ", would later be a UK Top 10 hit on the back of the band's success at CBS ), were second division when compared to
5390-505: The Orchestra backed Georgie Shaw on " One More Sunrise ", Sammy Davis Jr. on "The Golden Key", and Merv Griffin on "I'll Be Thinking of You". "(But As They Say) That's Life" charted at #69 in June 1957. In 1958, the Orchestra backed Carmen McRae on her album Mad About the Man , as well as Toni Arden and also backed The Four Aces on their album Swingin ' Aces . He produced
5500-472: The Oscar-winning film, they quickly released a stereo version in 1958. Because American Decca bought Universal Pictures in 1952, many of these soundtrack albums were of films released by what was then called Universal-International Pictures. In June and July 1957, Decca Records released the soundtracks from Hecht-Hill-Lancaster Productions ' film Sweet Smell of Success . It was a landmark event in
5610-462: The Pioneers , Stuart Hamblen , The Ranch Boys, and other popular acts based in both New York and Los Angeles. Louisiana singer/composer Jimmie Davis began recording for Decca the same year, joined by western vocalists Jimmy Wakely and Roy Rogers in 1940. From the late 1940s on, the US arm of Decca had a sizeable roster of country artists. The main architect of Decca's success in country music
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#17327835929075720-512: The Rolling Stones decided to also abandon Decca in favour of forming their label. The Moody Blues were the only international rock act that remained on the label. The company's fortunes declined slightly during the 1970s, and it had few major commercial successes; among those were Dana's 1970 two-million selling single, " All Kinds of Everything ", issued on their subsidiary label Rex Records . Although Decca had set up Deram in 1966,
5830-520: The U.S., as British Decca could not use the "Decca" name there as well as vice-versa. The label was noted for classical albums made in then state-of-the-art stereophonic sound , and such artists as Georg Solti , Joan Sutherland , and Luciano Pavarotti . In a reverse situation, the London name was also used in the UK market by British Decca for releases taken from American labels that were licensed by British Decca, such as Liberty , Imperial , Chess , Dot , Atlantic , Specialty , Essex and Sun , and
5940-470: The UK. There is now a new frontline arm of the label called 'Because London Records' releasing artists such as Alewya, Joalin and Busy Twist. In 2025 the label will release an extensive podcast series telling the story of the imprint. London Records had dozens of subsidiary and distributed labels throughout its existence. Among the labels are: Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis . Its US label
6050-586: The UK. There is now a new frontline arm of the label called 'Because London Records' releasing artists such as Alewya, Joalin and Busy Twist. In 2025 the label will release an extensive podcast series telling the story of the imprint. The label is now operating as London Records again (as part of Because Music Group). The label has reissued many classics by acts such as Bronski Beat, Bananarama, Orbital, Goldie and Happy Mondays. They have also released new music by Blancmange, Shakespears Sister and Orbital. This includes Orbital's 'Optical Delusion' which charted at No 6 in
6160-517: The UK. on the RCA label (later RCA Victor). British Decca had several missed opportunities. In 1960, they refused to release " Tell Laura I Love Her " by licensed artist Ray Peterson and even destroyed thousands of copies of the single. In 1962, Decca famously turned down a chance to record The Beatles , believing "guitar groups are on the way out." Other refusals of note include the Yardbirds ,
6270-538: The US, the Decca country music label was shut down and the London classical label was renamed as it was able to use the Decca name for the first time because of the merger that created Universal Music. In 1999, Decca absorbed Philips Records to create the Decca Music Group (half of Universal Music Classics Group in the US, with Deutsche Grammophon being the other half). Today, Decca is a leading label for both classical music and Broadway scores although it
6380-801: The Waterfront ", and " For Once in My Life ". Under the moniker The Sounds of Our Times, Pleis co-produced and penned two songs for the 1967 easy listening, psychedelic instrumental LP Music of the Flower Children . Pleis produced several of Harry Belafonte 's albums, Belafonte by Request (1970), The Warm Touch (1971), and Calypso Carnival (1971). Pleis also produced several of Jack Jones ' albums, A Jack Jones Christmas (1969), A Time for Us (1970), and Christmas With Jack Jones (1973). He produced Hugo Montenegro 's album, Colours Of Love (1970). In 1976, Pleis put out what would be
6490-667: The World on a String ", and Pleis released his own single "Ragging the Scale"/"Story of the Stars", the B-side of which ranked at number 10 on "The Disk Jockeys Pick" in Billboard . In early May 1950, he accompanied his future wife, London recording artist Eve Young , on a promotional tour prior to her opening show. Pleis released several more singles, "Time Alone (Can Heal a Broken Heart)"/"What
6600-519: The band signed with that label). In the 1960s and 1970s London Records got involved in then innovative quadraphonic sound techniques and launched vinyl LPs. Beginning with their "Phase 4" series of immersive, spatialized STEREO sound (which was NOT quadraphonic despite claims to the contrary) which, along with their "FFRR - Full Frequency Range Recording" series and appellation, gained them a well earned reputation on their sound quality. Phase 4 recordings were originally made on then-novel 4-track tape, but
6710-434: The best-selling single worldwide of all time. In 1943, American Decca ushered in the age of the original cast album in the United States, when they released an album set of nearly all the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Oklahoma! , performed by the same cast who appeared in the show on Broadway , and using the show's orchestra, conductor, chorus, and musical and vocal arrangements. The enormous success of this album
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#17327835929076820-428: The classical music field in 1950 with distribution deals from Deutsche Grammophon and Parlophone . American Decca began issuing its classical music recordings in 1956 when Israel Horowitz joined Decca to head its classical music operations. To further American Decca's dedication to serious music, in August 1950, Rackmill announced the release of a new series of disks to be known as the "Decca Gold Label Series" which
6930-424: The conductor had led at its first performance in 1919. John Culshaw , who joined Decca in 1946 in a junior role, quickly rose to become a senior producer of classical recordings. He revolutionised recording – of opera , in particular. Hitherto, the practice had been to put microphones in front of the performers and simply record their performance. Culshaw was determined to make recordings that would be 'a theatre of
7040-823: The cover of the January 1, 1949, issue of Billboard playing piano at the studio's holiday party. His orchestra backed Teresa Brewer and Bobby Wayne on their 1949 single "Copper Canyon"/"'Way Back Home". Pleis was also part of the Dixieland All-Stars group which backed Brewer's breakout hit (and signature song) " Music! Music! Music! " in late 1949. Pleis joined the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 1950. He began work as arranger and composer at London Records under Tutti Camarata . The orchestra backed Ralph Young on his 1950 London single "Please Treat Her Nicer"/" I've Got
7150-522: The development of the full frequency range recording [ffrr] technique, followed by the early adoption of stereo recording), the introduction of the long-playing record , and the recruitment of John Culshaw to Decca's London office. Decca released the stereo recordings of Ernest Ansermet conducting L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, including, in 1959, the first complete stereo LP recording of The Nutcracker , as well as Ansermet's only stereo version of Manuel de Falla 's The Three-Cornered Hat , which
7260-451: The executive team of Nick Raphael (president) and later Jo Charrington (senior vice president of A&R) who together previously ran Epic Records for Sony Music Entertainment since 2001. Both had started their careers at London Records in the Ames era in the 1990s. When Nick Raphael became president of Capitol Records 's UK division in 2013, London Records moved there, and operated as
7370-862: The famous Decca tree , a stereo microphone recording system for big orchestras. Decca started the first actual stereophonic recording on 13–28 May 1954, at Victoria Hall , Geneva, the first European record company to do so; only two months before, RCA Victor had begun the first actual stereophonic recording in the US, 6–8 March 1954. Decca archives show that Ernest Ansermet and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande recorded Antar by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (Decca's official first actual stereo recording); Stenka Razin by Alexander Glazunov ; Tamara by Mily Balakirev ; Anatoly Liadov 's Baba-Yaga , Eight Russian Folksongs , Kikimora ; and Le Martyre de saint Sébastien by Claude Debussy . These performances were initially issued only in monaural sound; and in 1959,
7480-519: The ffrr recordings to be transferred to disc very realistically. In 1949, in both the UK and the US, Decca took up the LP promptly and enthusiastically giving the British arm an enormous advantage over EMI, which for some years tried to stick exclusively to the old format, thereby forfeiting competitive advantage to Decca, both artistically and financially. British Decca recorded high-fidelity versions of all
7590-694: The film Giant , debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #93, peaking at #91 in December, and the song "I'll Always Be In Love With You" charted at #65, also in December. Pleis also produced Bing Crosby 's album, Songs I Wish I Had Sung the First Time Around . 1957 saw the release of singles "(But As They Say) That's Life"/"Goodnight Waltz", "Search for Paradise"/"Serenade to Michelle", and "The Carefree Heart"/"Serenade in Soft Shoe", and
7700-516: The first of the British "progressive" labels, with such stars as the Moody Blues, Cat Stevens and Ten Years After , Decca in the 1970s became increasingly dependent on re-releases from its back catalogue. It had some renewed pop success in the late 1970s despite the growth of punk rock , with hits by acts such as John Miles , novelty creation Father Abraham and the Smurfs , and productions by longtime Decca associate Jonathan King . King had achieved an early hit with Decca in 1965, " Everyone's Gone to
7810-412: The first two UK releases from Motown . By the 1960s more licensing deals had been made with Big Top , Monument , Parrot , Philles , and Hi , and subsidiary labels were London Atlantic, London Dot and London Monument (the last featuring Roy Orbison , who remained with London in the UK even after he signed for MGM Records in the U.S.). The lead person in arranging the distribution deals at that time
7920-477: The influence of these releases in the recording of theatrical shows in the US continues to this day – in Decca's home country, the UK original cast albums had been a fixture for years. Columbia Records followed with musical theatre albums, starting with the 1946 revival of Show Boat . In 1947, RCA Victor released the original cast album of Brigadoon . By the 1950s, many recording companies were releasing Broadway show albums recorded by their original casts, and
8030-576: The innovation was in the special scoring used to maximize the technology. Normally in recording techniques of the mid-60s, in order to get the kind of layered sound realized in Phase 4 recordings, required multiple overdubs over multiple reels of tape, bouncing down and bouncing across to different recorders. This increased the level of tape hiss on the final master, something which Phase 4 engineers could not tolerate. So they achieved in their scoring techniques what could be recorded in one pass what everybody else
8140-415: The introduction of long-playing records in 1949 made better use of the new technology and set an industry standard that was quickly imitated by Decca's competitors. Nonetheless, titles first issued on 78rpm remained in that form in the Decca catalogues into the early 1950s. The ffrr technique became internationally accepted and considered a standard. The Ernest Ansermet recording of Stravinsky 's Petrushka
8250-404: The label's roster. However, Culshaw was not the first to do this. In 1951, Columbia Records executive Goddard Lieberson partnered with Broadway conductor Lehman Engel to record a series of previously unrecorded Broadway musical scores for Columbia Masterworks , including what Engel, in his book The American Musical Theatre: A Consideration , termed "Broadway opera," and in 1951, they released
8360-832: The last album released under his own name, I Play the Songs the Whole World Sings , on Ranwood Records . Pleis was married to singer Karen Chandler . He died on December 5, 1990, in Palm Springs, California , at the age of 73. London Records London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream ) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London name – as London American Recordings, often shortened to London American –
8470-409: The likes of PolyGram , CBS, EMI, and newcomer Virgin's rosters of hitmakers. Ultimately Decca's founder Edward Lewis "was unable to appoint a successor or relinquish control of the business. As a consequence, in 1980, days before his death, the business, then in the grip of a serious financial crisis, was sold." PolyGram acquired the remains of Decca UK within days, and British Decca's pop catalogue
8580-655: The management of Verve Music Group . In Britain, Decca bought out the bankrupt UK branch of Brunswick Records in 1932, which added such stars as Bing Crosby and Al Jolson to its roster. Decca also bought out the Melotone and Edison Bell record companies. In late 1934, a United States branch of Decca was launched. In establishing the American unit, the founders bought the former Brunswick Records pressing plants in New York City and Muskegon, Michigan , which were shut down in 1931, from Warner Bros. in exchange for
8690-406: The mind,' offering listeners at home not merely a second-best alternative to being in the opera house , but an entirely distinct experience. To that end, he had the singers move about in the studio as they would onstage, used discreet sound effects and different acoustics, and recorded in long, continuous takes. His skill, coupled with Decca's sound engineering capabilities, elevated the label into
8800-467: The most complete Porgy and Bess recorded up to that time. Far from being a mere rendering of the score, the 3-LP album set used sound effects to realistically recreate the production as if the listener were watching a stage performance of the work. Until 1947, American Decca issued British Decca classical music recordings. Afterward, British Decca took over distribution through its new American subsidiary London Records. American Decca actively re-entered
8910-485: The music through Decca Records. The first soundtrack LP featured the jazz score composed by Elmer Bernstein , while the second soundtrack LP featured music composed and performed by the Chico Hamilton Quintet , a band that appears in the film. In 1961, American Decca released the soundtrack album of Flower Drum Song , Universal Pictures' film version of the 1958 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical. In
9020-475: The new post-war record formats adopting the LP in 1949 and the 45 rpm record around a year later while continuing to sell 78s. During the 1950s, American Decca released several soundtrack recordings of popular motion pictures, notably Mike Todd 's production of Around the World in Eighty Days (1956) with the music of veteran film composer Victor Young . Since Decca had access to the stereo tracks of
9130-420: The new technique was a distinctive feature of Decca. Even after stereo became standard and into the 1970s, Decca boasted a special sound quality, characterized by aggressive use of the highest and lowest frequencies, novel use of tape saturation and out-of-phase sound to convey a livelier hall ambiance, plus considerable bar-to-bar rebalancing by the recording staff of orchestral voices, known as "spotlighting". In
9240-443: The only record companies in the UK. That same year, British Decca head Edward Lewis completed a three-year sale of his interest in American Decca to avoid a potential freeze on his foreign investments due to the threat of World War II . In 1941, American Decca acquired Brunswick Records and its sublabel Vocalion Records from Warner Bros. , which had a financial interest in Decca. In 1942, stock in American Decca began trading on
9350-496: The recording of original cast albums had become standard practice whenever a new show opened. Decca throughout the 1930s and early to mid-1940s was a leading label of blues and jump music with such best-selling artists as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Louis Jordan (who was the best-selling R&B artist of the 1940s). In 1954, American Decca released " Rock Around the Clock " by Bill Haley & His Comets . Produced by Milt Gabler ,
9460-555: The recording was initially only moderately successful, but when it was used as the theme song for the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle , it became the first international rock and roll hit, and the first such recording to go to No. 1 on the American musical charts. According to the Guinness Book of Records , it went on to sell 25 million copies, returning to the US and UK charts several times between 1955 and 1974. But due to management and promotion decisions, Decca lost its place as
9570-503: The songs "Strange Feelings" and "The Blues I Got Comin' Tomorrow" for the soundtrack of the 1961 film, Force of Impulse . Pleis composed and conducted the music for the 1964 film, Diary of a Bachelor . He also composed music for the television shows Family Affair (1966), Gunsmoke (1967), The Wild Wild West (1967–1969), and Dusty's Trail (1973–1974). Pleis arranged the songs on side one of Johnny Hartman 's 1967 album, I Love Everybody , including " If I Had You ", " I Cover
9680-413: The soundtrack industry; the first time that a film had two separate soundtracks, each featuring completely different music. All of the music from Sweet Smell of Success was published by Calyork Music , a music publishing company founded by the film's producers Harold Hecht and Burt Lancaster , along with Hecht's brother-in-law, established music publisher Loring Buzzell , who secured the releasing of
9790-517: The stereo version of Le Martyre de saint Sébastien was issued only in the US as London OSA 1104 (OS 25108); and stereo versions of others were finally issued from the late 1960s to the beginning of the 1970s as part of the "Ace of Diamonds" series and ""Decca Eclipse"" series (in the UK) or "Stereo Treasury" series (in the US on the London label). The Decca stereo format was called (in succession to ffrr) "ffss", i.e. "full frequency stereophonic sound". With most competitors not using stereo until 1957,
9900-583: The symphonies of Ralph Vaughan Williams except for the ninth, under the personal supervision of the composer, with Sir Adrian Boult and the London Philharmonic Orchestra . Benjamin Britten conducted recordings of many of his compositions for Decca, from the 1940s to the 1970s; most of these recordings have been reissued on CD. The British Decca recording engineers Arthur Haddy, Roy Wallace, and Kenneth Wilkinson developed in 1954
10010-652: The top tier of recording companies. His pioneering recording (begun in 1958) of Wagner 's Der Ring des Nibelungen conducted by Georg Solti was a huge artistic and commercial success (to the chagrin of other companies). Solti recorded throughout his career for Decca, and made more than 250 recordings , including 45 complete opera sets. Among the international honours given to Solti (and Decca) for his recordings were 31 Grammy Awards – more than any other recording artist, whether classical or popular. Following Decca's success, artists such as Herbert von Karajan , Joan Sutherland and later Luciano Pavarotti were keen to join
10120-467: The tracks on Lionel Hampton 's album, Soft Vibes Soaring Strings . Pleis also produced Les Elgart 's album, "It's De-Lovely" For Dancing and Listening , and released an EP, Medley from The Musical "Through The Years" , and an LP, Stage Left, Stage Right . In 1963, he conducted for Peter Nero 's album, Born Free , and Pleis and Orchestra backed Liza Minnelli on her single, "One Summer Love"/"How Much Do I Love You?". Pleis and His Orchestra performed
10230-497: The world, calling itself "The Supreme Record Company". Decca bought the UK branch of Brunswick Records and continued to run it under that name. In the 1950s, the American Decca studios were located in the Pythian Temple in New York City. In classical music, Decca had extensive work from its roots to be equals with the established HMV and Columbia labels (later merged as EMI ). The pre-war classical repertoire on Decca
10340-511: Was Mimi Trepel . An unusual feature was the letter code in the numbering system. From the late 1950s until 1973, the label bore the logo "London American Recordings", and on Radio Luxembourg it was known as "London American". In America, the label was best known as the American imprint of the pre–1971 recordings of the Rolling Stones (now owned by ABKCO ). The label also originally issued some early LPs and singles by Texas-based band ZZ Top (whose catalog went to Warner Bros. Records when
10450-558: Was Owen Bradley , who joined Decca in 1947 and was promoted to vice president and head of A&R for the Nashville operations in 1958. Full frequency range recording (ffrr) was a spin-off devised by Arthur Haddy of British Decca's development, during the Second World War , of a high fidelity hydrophone capable of detecting and cataloguing individual German submarines by each one's signature engine noise, and enabled
10560-471: Was Aldonza/Dulcinea. Around 1970, American Decca enjoyed success with LPS of soundtrack dialogue excerpts from the films of W.C. Fields , the Marx Brothers , and Mae West . The Fields and Marx Brothers albums were narrated by radio personality and cartoon voice actor Gary Owens . In 1934, Jack Kapp established a country & western line for the new Decca label by signing Frank Luther , Sons of
10670-509: Was achieving with multiple overdubs. Similar scoring techniques were used with sound pioneer Enoch Light and his Project 3 Records label around the same period. In the late 1970s, London signed deals with Bomp! Records and with Big Sound in Connecticut, U.S. This changed the label in the eyes of many from a backwater into something a little more "edgy" compared to the pedestrian contemporary releases from parent company Decca. The label
10780-403: Was also used by British Decca in the UK market, for releases taken from American labels, which British Decca licensed. The label is owned by Because Music , which also owns most of the label's 1980s and 1990s UK catalogue. London arose from the split in ownership between the British and American branches of Decca Records . The American branch of London Records released British Decca records in
10890-496: Was coined by Wilfred S. Samuel by merging the word " Mecca " with the initial D of their logo "Dulcet" or their trademark "Dulcephone". Samuel, a linguist, chose "Decca" as a brand name as it was easy to pronounce in most languages. That company was eventually renamed the Decca Gramophone Co. Ltd. and then sold to former stockbroker Edward Lewis in 1929. Within years, Decca Records was the second-largest record label in
11000-545: Was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp (the first president of the Decca Record company of the USA) and Milton Rackmil , who later became American Decca's president too. In 1937, anticipating Nazi aggression leading to World War II , Lewis sold American Decca, and the link between the UK and US Decca label was broken for several decades. The British label was renowned for its development of recording methods, while
11110-483: Was established in the UK in 1990, run by Roger Ames, and distributed by PolyGram became part of Warner Music Group in 2000 when he was hired to run that company. Universal Music reacquired trademark rights in 2011, and Warner Records 90 Ltd. (formerly London Records 90), a company that controlled most of London's post-1980 catalogue, was acquired by French company Because Music in 2017. They started licensing "London Recordings" name and logo from UMG, and Warner Records 90
11220-476: Was followed by original cast recordings of Carousel and Irving Berlin 's Annie Get Your Gun , both featuring members of the original casts of the shows and utilising those shows' vocal and choral arrangements. Because of the technical restrictions of recording on 78 rpm records , none of these scores were recorded completely; they were shorter than cast albums made after LPs were introduced. But Decca had made history by recording Broadway musicals, and
11330-572: Was key in the development of full frequency range records and alerting the listening public to high fidelity in 1946. The long-playing record was launched in the US in 1948 by Columbia Records (not connected with the British company of the same name at the time). It enabled recordings to play for up to half an hour without a break, compared with the three to five minutes playing time of the existing records. The new records were made of vinyl (the old discs were made of brittle shellac ), which enabled
11440-537: Was not extensive but was select. The 3-disc 1929 recording of Delius 's Sea Drift , arising from the Delius Festival that year, suffered by being crammed onto six sides, being indifferently recorded and expensive; following issue in July they were already withdrawn by October the same year. However, it won Decca the loyalty of the baritone Roy Henderson , who went on to record for them the first complete Dido and Aeneas of Purcell with Nancy Evans and
11550-486: Was renamed London Music Stream Ltd. It is also the distributing label of POINT Music , a joint venture between Universal and Philip Glass 's Euphorbia Productions that folded shortly after the merger that created Universal Music. Ironically, the American Decca classical music catalogue is managed by sister Universal label Deutsche Grammophon . They include the recordings of guitarist Andrés Segovia . Before Deutsche Grammophon founded its own American branch in 1969, it had
11660-452: Was reorganized into MCA Records (Canada) in 1970. The Decca name was dropped by MCA in America in 1973 in favor of the MCA Records label. The first-run American Decca label's final release, " Drift Away " by Dobie Gray (label No. 33057), reached No. 5 on the Billboard chart and received gold record status. PolyGram acquired the remains of Decca UK within days of Sir Edward Lewis's death in January 1980. British Decca's pop catalogue
11770-458: Was staffed by Graham Baker, Keith Gooden, Mike Horsham and Liz Roff at that time. Decca's Geoff Milne was in overall control. The president of London Records in the 1970s was D. H. Tollerbond. After British Decca was acquired by PolyGram in 1980, London followed a more independent course with subsidiary labels such as Slash , Pete Tong 's Essential Records and FFRR (London's dance music label, named after part of London's logo design). In
11880-453: Was taken over by Polydor Records . Ironically, PolyGram descended from British Decca's former Dutch distributor Hollandsche Decca Distributie. In Taiwan, PolyGram acquired 60% of Linfair Magnetic Sound (founded in 1961) in 1992 and renamed it Decca Records Taiwan. The name remained until 2002, when it decided to sell its 60 percent stake, and changed its name to Linfair Records, making the company independent from Universal Music. In addition to
11990-502: Was taken over by Polydor. American Decca also released several notable spoken word albums, such as a recording of Charles Dickens 's A Christmas Carol starring Ronald Colman as Scrooge, and a recording of the Christmas chapter from The Pickwick Papers read by Charles Laughton . These two separate 78-RPM albums were later combined into one LP. Other spoken word albums included Lullaby of Christmas , narrated by Gregory Peck ,
12100-948: Was to be devoted to "symphonies, concertos, chamber music, opera, songs and choral music." American and European artists were to be the performers. Among the classical recordings released on Decca's "Gold Label" series were albums by Leroy Anderson , the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra conducted by Max Rudolf and guitarist Andrés Segovia . American Decca shut down its classical music department in 1971. Between 1973 and 1980, Decca championed new music through its Headline imprint. Works given their recorded premiere included pieces by Peter Maxwell Davies , Harrison Birtwistle , Luciano Berio , Hans Werner Henze , Witold Lutoslawski , Toru Takemitsu , David Bedford , Thea Musgrave , Andrzej Panufnik , Iannis Xenakis , Brian Ferneyhough and John Cage . Performers included Roger Woodward , Stomu Yamash'ta , Salman Shukur , and
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