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82-560: Although the group generated some major record label interest—notably from Mercury Records and Columbia/CBS Records —it ultimately only released a double A-side single on Ork Records in 1977 and a single on Miracle Records in 1978. Its only live performance came at a CBS Records showcase in 1976. In 1977, just as Ork Records released the first single and booked the group at CBGB , Prix broke up due both to Hoehn's unwillingness to remain in New York and to creative differences. In 1978, two of

164-515: A BAFTA Award for best original soundtrack the following year. Yundi's recording of three Beethoven sonatas went platinum in his native China. The label also released Andreas Ottensamer 's debut "Portraits", and the label debut of Brooklyn Rider "A Walking Fire". Milos Karadaglic's "Latino Gold" topped the UK classical charts and entered the pop charts. Banjo soloist and 15-time Grammy Award winner Bela Fleck 's concerto for banjo and orchestra "The Impostor"

246-561: A Secret , The Jack Paar Program , The Red Skelton Show , The Andy Williams Show , The Hollywood Palace , The Dean Martin Show , Hullabaloo , Mickie Finn's , The Danny Thomas Hour , The Jonathan Winters Show , The Carol Burnett Show , Della , The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and several Bob Hope television specials. In 1951, Damone appeared in two movies, The Strip , where he played himself, and Rich, Young and Pretty . From 1951 to 1953, he served in

328-399: A bonus CD containing an interview with Wilma Cozart Fine, and a deluxe booklet detailing the history of Mercury Living Presence. The CD set was issued worldwide and was sold by major retailers. A limited-edition six-LP box set was also issued. The CD set brings back into print dozens of titles that had not been available as manufactured CDs since the early 2000s. In 2013, Decca Classics issued

410-628: A breast-cancer survivor, was a clothing distributor who started the Jones New York clothing store chain in the mid-1970s. Damone lived in Palm Beach County, Florida in his later years. In January 2015, Damone and Rena sold their La Casita home for $ 5.75 million. Damone and Rena moved to a smaller residence, a townhouse in the Sloans Curve Drive neighborhood of Palm Beach. She suffered a stroke in 2011. In 2013, Damone

492-701: A distinctive and fresh perspective to classical music. In its first year, artist signings to the label included Icelandic neoclassical composer Olafur Arnalds , New York-based string quartet Brooklyn Rider , Chinese pianist Yundi , and Austrian clarinetist and Berlin Philharmonic soloist Andreas Ottensamer . The label also oversees the recording career of Montenegrin classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic , and has an ongoing partnership with Tori Amos , which dates back to her work with Buhr on her classically inspired Night of Hunters album for Deutsche Grammophon in 2011. Following Buhr's longstanding relationship with

574-492: A division of PolyGram K.K. (now Universal Music Japan ). In 1995, it was relaunched as Mercury Music Entertainment. It later merged with Kitty Records in 2000 and became Kitty MME. Half of it was merged into the Universal J label in 2002, the other half became known as Universal Sigma in 2004. Its artist roster included Seiko Matsuda , Yūji Oda , Delta, ZIGGY, Kinniku Shōjo Tai , and Takashi Sorimachi . After 13 years,

656-592: A featured oboe player in the late 1940s for Mercury). The first record in this new Mercury Olympian Series was Pictures at an Exhibition performed by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony . The group that became the best known using this technique was the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra , which, under the leadership of conductor Antal Doráti , made a series of classical albums that were well reviewed and sold briskly, including

738-539: A label), hence those labels control US rights to these works (in the case of The Who, they had been on US Decca Records and MCA Records in the past, their prebreakup catalogue is now on Geffen Records in North America). Mercury Classics was relaunched in 2012 as an international classical label by UMGI, appointing musicologist and record executive Dr. Alexander Buhr as managing director. The label aims to identify and work with strong creative individuals who bring

820-679: A merger with a competitor, consolidated all of its Nashville operations under the Mercury name. Mercury Nashville took over management of all of PolyGram's country back catalog from sister labels such as Polydor (including releases once issued by MGM Records), A&M , and the small country back catalog of Motown Records (Motown released these albums under subsidiary labels). All country artists under contract to other PolyGram labels either moved to Mercury or were dropped altogether. Today, Mercury Nashville continues to be an active imprint under Universal Music Group Nashville, where it continues to manage

902-572: A modified Westrex mixer. For the original LPs, the mixer directly fed the custom cutting chain. At Fine Recording in New York City, the Westrex cutter head on a Scully lathe was fed by modified McIntosh 200W tube amplifiers with very little feedback in the system. Older mono records were made with a Miller cutter head. The original LP releases of the classical recordings continued through 1968. The Mercury classical-music catalogue (including

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984-711: A part of the Mercury Music Group, a division of Universal Music Group, which Group controls the French operations of UMG labels Mercury, Fontana Records, Verve Records, Decca Records, Blue Note Records , Island Records, and Virgin Records, among others. Various other national Universal Music Group companies are known to actively use the Mercury Records trademark as an imprint for their local A&R operations, but no other Universal Music Group companies use

1066-451: A salary dispute and also because he did not want to provoke the mob or anger Frank Sinatra, whom Damone profoundly respected. Ultimately, the part of Johnny Fontane was given to Martino. In January 1991, Damone appeared in a television commercial for Diet Pepsi first broadcast during Super Bowl XXV . Damone and other stars, including Jerry Lewis , Tiny Tim , Charo and Bo Jackson , attempt to sing Diet Pepsi's theme song, "You've Got

1148-723: A second singer to provide the "answer" parts to Page, so at Rael's suggestion, she did both voices. Though "overdubbing" had been used occasionally on 78-rpm discs in the 1930s, for Lawrence Tibbett recordings, among others, this became the first documented example of "overdubbing" using tape. The company released an enormous number of recordings under the Mercury label, as well as its subsidiaries ( Blue Rock Records , Cumberland Records, EmArcy Records , Smash Records , and Wing Records , later via Fontana Records and Limelight Records after being absorbed by Philips). In addition, they leased and purchased material by independent labels and redistributed them. Under their own label, Mercury released

1230-714: A second, 55-CD box set, along with a second six-LP box set. The CD box set included two bonus discs: a new reissue of the 1953 monophonic recording of Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" by Dorati with the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, and a first-time-on-CD reissue of the premiere recording of John Corigliano 's Piano Concerto, played by Hilde Somer with the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Victor Alessandro. On January 4, 2015, Mercury co-founder Irwin Steinberg died at

1312-525: A show, believing that it would damage his vocal cords. Bublé responded by saying that he knew what he was doing, but promising that from now on he would always mix his alcohol with soda or orange juice. In 2020, two years after he died, Damone appeared in one of a series of interviews for the documentary Jay Sebring....Cutting to the Truth . Damone suffered a stroke in 2002 and another health scare in 2008. He recovered from both, and lived until 2018. Damone

1394-528: A variety of recording styles from classical music to psychedelic rock. Its subsidiaries, though, focused on their own specialized categories of music. From 1947 to 1952, John Hammond was a vice-president of Mercury Records. Mercury, under its EmArcy label, released LPs by many post-swing and bebop artists, including Clifford Brown and Max Roach , Kenny Drew , Dinah Washington , Nat Adderley , Cannonball Adderley , Ernestine Anderson , Sarah Vaughan , Maynard Ferguson , Walter Benton , Herb Geller . In

1476-799: The Billboard chart. "You Do" reached the same peak. These were followed by a number of other hits. In 1948, he got his own weekly radio show, Saturday Night Serenade . He was booked into the Mocambo nightclub on the Sunset Strip in 1949, residing briefly at the Strip's famed Garden of Allah Hotel . In April 1949 he made his television debut on The Morey Amsterdam Show performing Cole Porter 's " So in Love ". In January 1950 he made his first of several guest appearances on Ed Sullivan 's Toast of

1558-461: The Indianapolis 500 car race. In 1965, Damone next moved to Warner Bros. Records with the albums You Were Only Fooling and Country Love Songs . On Warner Bros., he had one top 100 chart hit: "You Were Only Fooling (While I Was Falling In Love)". The next year, he switched record labels again, moving to RCA Victor and releasing the albums Stay with Me , Why Can't I Walk Away , On

1640-746: The Paramount Theater in Manhattan. Damone met Perry Como while at the Paramount Theater. Damone stopped the elevator between floors and sang for him. Como was impressed and referred him to a friend for an audition. He began his career at the New York radio station WHN when he was 17, singing on the Gloom Dodgers show, which provided light entertainment to fans of the Brooklyn Dodgers . He changed his name at

1722-769: The Raymond F. Kravis Center for the Performing Arts in Palm Beach, Florida . Damone suffered a stroke later in the same year and subsequently retired. Damone did, however, step out of retirement on January 22, 2011, when he once again performed at the Kravis Performing Arts Center in Palm Beach, to a sold-out crowd. He dedicated this performance to his six grandchildren, who had never seen him perform live. Damone stated that "I don't need

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1804-933: The Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award from the Songwriters Hall of Fame . Frank Sinatra said that Damone had "the best set of pipes in the business." For his contribution to the recording industry, Damone has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1731 Vine Street in Los Angeles, California. In 2014, Damone received the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook's first Legend Award in recognition of those who have made

1886-760: The United States Army where he spent a year in Germany with the 7729th Special Services Group and eight months at Fort Sam Houston , Texas. Before going into the service he recorded a number of songs that were released during that time. He served with future Northwest Indiana radio personality Al Evans and country music star Johnny Cash . After leaving the service, he married the Italian actress Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli) in 1954 and made two movies, Deep in My Heart and Athena . In 1955 he played

1968-402: The "Mercury Man", complete with a winged hat similar to its logo, to promote Mercury recordings. Some early Mercury recordings featured a caricature of him as their logo. In 1947, Jack Rael, a musician and publicist/manager, persuaded Mercury to let Patti Page (whom he managed) record a song that had been planned to be done by Vic Damone , "Confess". The budget was too small for them to hire

2050-485: The 1970s, Mercury released hits by musicians such as The Statler Brothers , Paper Lace , Rod Stewart , Bachman-Turner Overdrive , Cledus Maggard and The Citizen's Band , William Bell , Rush , and Reba McEntire . From late 1974 to early 1983, the company's label design featured a painting of three famous buildings that are located in Chicago: Marina City , John Hancock Center , and One IBM Plaza ,

2132-1253: The CBS sitcom The Dick Van Dyke Show , during which he sang "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". In the summers of 1962 and 1963, Damone hosted a television variety series on NBC called The Lively Ones , which showcased current jazz, pop, and folk performers, as well as comedians. His group of musical guests over two seasons included Count Basie , Louie Bellson , Dave Brubeck , Chris Connor , Matt Dennis , Frances Faye , Ella Fitzgerald , Dizzy Gillespie , Buddy Greco , Woody Herman , Jack Jones , Stan Kenton , Gene Krupa , Peggy Lee , Nellie Lutcher , Shelly Manne , Anita O'Day , Ruth Olay and Oscar Peterson . Damone's other notable television work during this time included three guest appearances from 1963 to 1964 on CBS's The Judy Garland Show . He also guested on UK television, among other programs on The Tommy Cooper Hour Christmas special in 1974. In addition to his solo performances, Garland and he sang duet medleys of songs from Porgy and Bess , West Side Story and Kismet . In 1964, he sang " Back Home Again in Indiana " before

2214-569: The Caliph in Kismet . In 1960, he played an effective dramatic role in the war film Hell to Eternity . In 1955, Damone had one song on the charts, "Por Favor", which did not make it above number 73. However, he did have major roles in two movie musicals, Hit the Deck and Kismet . In early 1956, he moved from Mercury to Columbia Records , and had some success on that label with hits such as " On

2296-596: The Deutsche Grammophon label, some of Mercury Classics' early core classical recordings were rereleased under the aegis of sister company Deutsche Grammophon . In 2013, Mercury Classics released Olafur Arnalds ' label debut For Now I Am Winter , which entered the US Classical Chart at number one. It was followed by an EP of Arnalds' soundtrack of the ITV crime series Broadchurch , which received

2378-679: The Easy Part from St. Martin's Press . In the book, Damone claimed he had been held dangling out of a window of a New York hotel by a "thug". Damone claimed he had been engaged to the thug's daughter, but ended the relationship when she insulted Damone's mother. He wrote that his life was spared when, during a Mafia meeting to determine the singer's fate, New York mob boss Frank Costello ruled in Damone's favor. In 2010, Damone called Canadian crooner Michael Bublé talented but "cocky" and criticized him for smoking and drinking "straight alcohol" after

2460-712: The Gang (following the dissolution of De-Lite Records in 1985), the first three albums of the 1979-86 self titled series of the Gap Band (via Total Experience Productions) and Cameo (via distribution of leader Larry Blackmon's label Atlanta Artists Records). And the label released early rapper Kurtis Blow 's hit "The Breaks" (1980) also. Mercury released blues musician Robert Cray. In 1980, Phonogram moved its headquarters from Chicago to New York City. In 1981, Mercury, along with other U.S. PolyGram-owned labels, which included Polydor , RSO Records , and Casablanca , consolidated under

2542-691: The Island Def Jam Music Group (now Island Records). Mercury Records was started in Chicago in 1945 and over several decades, saw great success. The success of Mercury has been attributed to the use of alternative marketing techniques to promote records. The conventional method of record promotion used by major labels such as RCA Victor , Decca Records , and Capitol Records was dependent on radio airplay, but Mercury Records co-founder Irving Green decided to promote new records using jukeboxes instead. By lowering promotion costs, Mercury

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2624-549: The Living Presence catalogue) is currently managed by Decca Label Group through Philips Records, which reissued the recordings on LP and then CD. In turn, Mercury now manages the pop/rock catalog of Philips Records. In 2012, Decca Classics, the current owner of the Mercury Living Presence label, issued a value-priced 51-CD box that included 50 of the 1990s CD titles (remastered by Wilma Cozart Fine),

2706-622: The Mercury Records division of UMG France, the Mercury Studios film division (which absorbed Eagle Rock Entertainment , acquired by UMG in 2014), the classical music label Mercury KX, and catalogue reissues in the United States, United Kingdom, France, Japan, and Brazil, as well. In 2024, Mercury Records became part of Universal Music Group-owned Republic Corps , joining sister labels Republic Records , Island Records ,[Casablanca Records]] and Def Jam Recordings . In 1951, under

2788-628: The Oklahoma-based three-piece Hanson . Mercury, by having Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Kiss, the Scorpions, and various other rock acts on their roster, became a premiere label for hard rock music. Most of these bands were on Vertigo Records in Europe (that label specialized in progressive rock and hard rock including subgenres like glam metal ). In late 1998, PolyGram

2870-591: The Platters , Brook Benton , the Diamonds, and Patti Page . In 1961, Philips , a Dutch electronics company and owner of Philips Records , which had lost its distribution deal with Columbia Records outside North America, played a key role in Mercury's future by signing an exchange agreement with the American record company. A year later, Mercury was sold to Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. (Conelco), which

2952-619: The Right One Baby (Uh-Huh)", which was performed by Ray Charles . Damone's final album was issued in 2002, while some of his previous albums were being repackaged and reissued. In 2003, Vic decided to issue some previously unreleased material and formed Vintage Records with his son, Perry Damone. He originally planned to issue a 7 CD series called The Vic Damone Signature Collection, and in May 2003 released Volume 1, produced by Perry and Frank Sinclair. In May 2004, Vic released his second CD in

3034-646: The Signature Series, again produced by Perry and Sinclair. After this disc was issued, Damone decided to cancel the release of the rest of the collection. During his entire career, Damone recorded over 2,000 songs. He garnered new fans following the launch of the Vic Damone website www.vicdamone.com, in 2002. The website was created by Damone's sons Perry and Sinclair and was ultimately managed by Damone's son-in-law, William "Bill" Karant. On January 19, 2002, Damone made one of his final public performances at

3116-887: The South Side of Chicago , and The Damone Type of Thing . In 1967, Damone hosted The Dean Martin Summer Show , which was rerun in 1971. In 1969, he released his last US chart record, a cover of the 1966 song "To Make A Big Man Cry", which made the Billboard Easy Listening chart. Also in 1965, he appeared on the Firestone album series, Your Favorite Christmas Music, Volume 4 , singing "It Came Upon A Midnight Clear" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". In 1971, Damone began performing in Las Vegas casinos and although he had to declare bankruptcy in

3198-533: The Street Where You Live . Damone did limited acting on television in the early 1960s. He played Stan Skylar in the 1960 episode "Piano Man" of CBS 's The DuPont Show with June Allyson . He was cast as Jess Wilkerson in the 1961 episode "The Proxy" of the ABC Western series The Rebel , starring Nick Adams . In 1962, he played the crooner Ric Vallone in the episode "Like a Sister" on

3280-475: The Street Where You Live " (from My Fair Lady , his final pop top 10) and " An Affair to Remember " (from the movie of the same name ). His six original albums on Columbia between 1957 and 1961 were That Towering Feeling! , Angela Mia , Closer Than a Kiss , This Game of Love , On the Swingin' Side , and Young and Lively . In 1961, he was released by Columbia. Moving over to Capitol Records , he filled

3362-612: The Town , including a duet, the first of many, with the vocalist and future TV hostess Dinah Shore . Over the next 30 years he became a regular featured guest performer on every major variety series on network television. Among the programs on which he appeared are All Star Revue , Texaco Star Theatre with Milton Berle , The Arthur Murray Party , What's My Line? , The Jackie Gleason Show , The Steve Allen Show , The Perry Como Show , The Bell Telephone Hour , The Dinah Shore Chevy Show , The Garry Moore Show , I've Got

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3444-554: The United States, it is operated through Republic Records ; in the United Kingdom and Japan (as Mercury Tokyo in the latter country), it is distributed by EMI Records . Since the separation of Island Records , Motown , Mercury Records, and Def Jam Recordings combining the Island Def Jam Music Group , Mercury Records has been placed under Island Records, although its back catalogue is still owned by

3526-599: The age of 94. This division of Mercury handled US distribution of most pre-1998 Polydor Records pop/rock releases currently under UMG control. Some exceptions remain, however. Some artists based outside the US did not have their releases on Polydor in North America, signing to various other labels, instead. Some of these bands, such as The Who , did sign to a label that also is now part of the UMG family (or later absorbed by such

3608-635: The cannon shots, and the bells of the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial Carillon at the Riverside Church in Chicago. Besides Mercury's mono and stereo versions of the 1812 , only one other classical album rang up gold-record sales in the 1950s in the U.S. The New York Times music critic Howard Taubman described the Mercury sound on Pictures at an Exhibition as "being in the living presence of

3690-415: The company. Philips and German electronics giant Siemens reorganized their joint-ventured record operations, Grammophon-Philips Group, home of Deutsche Grammophon , Philips Records, and Polydor to become PolyGram in 1972. That year, PolyGram bought Mercury from NAPC. Mercury's corporate name was changed to Phonogram Inc. to match a related company in the UK that operated the Mercury label there. During

3772-455: The country back catalog that once belonged to PolyGram (MCA Nashville manages what Universal had already owned at the time of the PolyGram merger). In 1958, Mercury switched its distribution in the UK from Pye to EMI, and in 1964 to Philips. Mercury operated as an imprint in the UK under Phonogram, a division of Dutch electronics company Philips from the mid-1960s until 1998, when Phonogram

3854-434: The direction of recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine and recording director David Hall , Mercury Records initiated a recording technique using a single microphone to record symphony orchestras. Fine had for several years used a single microphone for Mercury small-ensemble classical recordings produced by John Hammond and later Mitch Miller (indeed, Miller, using his full name of Mitchell Miller, made several recordings as

3936-496: The early 1970s, he was earning enough to ease his financial difficulties. He made concert tours of both the US and the UK and recorded more albums for RCA Records . In the UK, he appeared on Tommy Cooper 's Christmas Special television show in 1974. In 1972, Damone was offered the role of Johnny Fontane in The Godfather after singer Al Martino , who had previously been given the role by producer Albert S. Ruddy , had

4018-408: The engine during the ceremony, although Dean later denied doing anything so "dumb". Six years after divorcing Angeli, Damone was arrested on October 15, 1964, on Angeli's charge that he had kidnapped their 9‐year‐old son Perry (named for Perry Como ) and taken him from New York to Los Angeles. He was released three hours later after having pled not guilty to being a fugitive from a kidnapping charge. At

4100-524: The first-ever complete recordings of Tchaikovsky 's ballets Swan Lake , The Sleeping Beauty , and The Nutcracker . Dorati's 1954 one-microphone monaural recording (Mercury MG 50054) and 1958 three-microphone stereo rerecording (Mercury MG 50054) of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture included dramatic overdub recordings of 1812-era artillery and the bells of the Yale University Carillon . A stereo release in 1960 featured new recordings of

4182-500: The gap left by Frank Sinatra's leaving to help found Reprise Records . He lasted at Capitol only until 1965; however, he recorded some of his most highly regarded albums there, including two which made the Billboard chart, Linger Awhile with Vic Damone and The Lively Ones , the latter with arrangements by Billy May , who also arranged another of Damone's Capitol albums, Strange Enchantment . Other original Capitol albums included My Baby Loves to Swing , The Liveliest , and On

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4264-507: The iTunes top 10 in more than 20 countries. Influential classical music website Alto Riot named Mercury Classics its Label of the Year 2013. In 2016, Mercury Classics became Mercury KX and changed its focus to post-classical music Mercury's Nashville unit dates back to 1957, when Mercury formed a joint venture with Starday Records specifically for releasing artists performing country music. Mercury bought out Starday's half in 1958. In 1997, PolyGram, looking to cut costs in anticipation of

4346-420: The label announced it was stopping the production of CD and vinyl singles, and would only release them physically as "rare exceptions". In 2012, signings on Mercury included Pixie Lott , Arcade Fire , Amy Macdonald , Noah and the Whale , Chase & Status , Jake Bugg , and Bo Bruce . In July, Mercury announced that Mike Smith was joining as president of its music division. In March 2013, Mercury UK

4428-522: The label as a key marketing differentiator, nor do they operate frontline divisions based on the Mercury label. The Mercury label was first launched in Japan in 1952, by Taihei Onkyo . The company's name was later changed to Nippon Mercury in 1953, however, the Mercury label started to be handled by King Records in 1957, and later by Nippon Victor . It was relaunched in 1970 by Nippon Victor and Matsushita Corporation , as Nippon Phonogram. It operated several Phonogram labels in Japan. In 1993, it became

4510-521: The label was revitalized under its new name, Mercury Tokyo , under the Universal Music Group and Brands (UMG and Brands) division of Universal Music Japan. K-pop group Monsta X is the first artist or group signed under the newly relaunched label. As of 2022, the label, currently operating under UMJ's EMI Records division, has added K-pop groups Drippin , Golden Child , Loona , and STAYC on its roster. Vic Damone Vic Damone (born Vito Rocco Farinola ; June 12, 1928 – February 11, 2018)

4592-427: The label's history, Mercury opened two pressing plants, one in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri . By hiring two promoters, Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard, they penetrated the pop market with names such as Frankie Laine , Vic Damone , Tony Fontane , and Patti Page . In 1946, Mercury hired Eddie Gaedel , an American with dwarfism, most notable for participating in a Major League Baseball game, to portray

4674-412: The late 1950s, Mercury released jazz recordings of multiple artists, including Max Roach, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young , Dizzy Gillespie , and Buddy Rich. During the 1960s albums were released by artists including Gene Ammons , Quincy Jones , Buddy Rich , Cannonball Adderley , Dinah Washington , Max Roach , Paul Bley and Jimmy Smith. During the 1950s, Mercury released hits of musicians such as

4756-404: The latter which was Mercury's headquarters during that period, having moved from its long-time address at 35 East Wacker Drive . Mercury released soul musicians such as the Dells and Marvin Sease. From the 1970s through the early 1980s, Mercury released albums of funk musicians such as Ohio Players , the Bar-Kays , Con Funk Shun , and Hamilton Bohannon . Mercury released albums by Kool &

4838-622: The money ... But, you know, my six grandkids have never seen me on stage. It will be the first time. I will introduce them. It's going to be exciting for me. Before I die, I want them to have heard me perform at least once". In Brett Ratner 's movie Money Talks , Chris Tucker 's character sees a commercial about Vic Damone and then pretends to be Damone's son. At the time, Vic's real-life son, Perry, had some laughs about that "15 minutes of fame," and made mention of it on his midday radio show on Phoenix radio station KEZ. On June 12, 2009, Vic Damone released his autobiography titled Singing Was

4920-546: The new name PolyGram Records, Inc. (now UMG Recordings ). Under PolyGram, Mercury absorbed the artists and catalogue of Casablanca Records (also home to the 20th Century Records back catalogue), which consisted of hard rockers Kiss and disco stars Donna Summer and the Village People , and primarily became a rock/pop/new wave label with Van Morrison , Thin Lizzy , All About Eve , Julian Cope , Scorpions , Rush , John Cougar Mellencamp , Big Country , Tears for Fears , Bon Jovi , Cinderella , and Def Leppard as well as

5002-483: The newly created Def Soul Records. Mercury's former country unit became Mercury Nashville Records . However, Mercury Records was relaunched in 2007 as a label under The Island Def Jam Music Group, appointing record executive David Massey as the President and CEO of the new venture. The label was defunct in 2015. On April 11, 2022, Republic Records announced that they had acquired Mercury Records, and it will continue as their imprint. The Mercury name also survives on

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5084-554: The orchestra" and Mercury eventually began releasing their classical recordings under the 'Living Presence' series' name. The recordings were produced by Mercury vice president Wilma Cozart , who later married Bob Fine. Cozart took over recording director duties in 1953 and also produced the CD reissues of more than half of the Mercury Living Presence catalog in the 1990s. By the late 1950s, the Mercury Living Presence crew included session musical supervisors Harold Lawrence and Clair van Ausdall and associate engineer Robert Eberenz. Besides

5166-407: The part stripped when Francis Ford Coppola became director and wanted Damone to portray Fontane. According to Martino, after being stripped of the role, he went to Russell Bufalino , his godfather and a crime boss, who then orchestrated the publication of various news articles that claimed Coppola was unaware of Martino being awarded the part by Ruddy. Damone eventually declined the role because of

5248-428: The recordings with the Chicago and Minneapolis orchestras, Mercury also recorded Howard Hanson with the Eastman Rochester Orchestra, Frederick Fennell with the Eastman Wind Ensemble , and Paul Paray with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra . In late 1955, Mercury began using three omnidirectional microphones to make stereo recordings on three-track tape. The technique was an expansion on the mono process—center

5330-440: The release of Yundi's new album Emperor/Fantasy , including Beethoven's 5th Piano Concerto with Berlin Philharmonic and Daniel Harding, Mercury Classics held the top two spots on the UK classical chart. In May 2014, the label released Tori Amos' 14th studio album Unrepentant Geraldines . The album entered the US Billboard top 200 at number seven, charted in UK (number 13), Netherlands (number 10), and Germany (number 15), and hit

5412-470: The same time, a California judge awarded him custody of Perry. However, Angeli ultimately gained custody of Perry and left Hollywood for her native Italy, taking Perry with her. Perry however returned to California after Angeli's death. Perry died of lymphoma aged 59, on December 9, 2014. He married actress Diahann Carroll in 1987. The union, which Carroll admitted was turbulent, had a legal separation in 1991, reconciliation, and divorce in 1996. Damone

5494-465: The songs recorded during the Prix sessions were included on Losing You to Sleep , Hoehn's major label solo debut on London Records . In 2002, the Japanese label Air Mail Music released Historix , a CD-only collection of all eleven songs recorded by Prix, plus four alternate versions. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic described the songs as "11 sparkling, diamond-hard pop gems that will prove to be irresistible to power pop fanatics." In 2015, six of

5576-557: The songs were released on the compilation Ork Records: New York, New York . In 2016, HoZac Records re-released Historix on vinyl and CD. Singles Compilations 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 rock, funk , R&B , doo wop , soul music , blues , pop, rock and roll , and jazz records. In

5658-436: The suggestion of a regular on the show, comedian Morey Amsterdam . Damone entered the talent search on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts and won in April 1947. This led to his becoming a regular on Godfrey's show. He met Milton Berle at the studio and Berle got him work at two night clubs. By mid-1947, Damone had signed a contract with Mercury Records . His first release, " I Have But One Heart ", reached number seven on

5740-403: The three-track tapes or magnetic film, with a 3-2 mix occurring in the mastering room. The same technique—and restored vintage equipment of the same type—was used during the CD reissues. Specifically, three-track tapes were recorded on Ampex 300-3 (½-in, three-track) machines at 15 in/sec. The 35-mm magnetic film recordings were made on three-track Westrex film recorders. The 3-2 mixdown was done on

5822-441: Was 88. Damone died on February 11, 2018, from complications of respiratory illness at the age of 89. In 1997, Damone received his high school diploma from Lafayette High School in Brooklyn when officials with the school granted credits for life experience and asked him to give the commencement address, in which he advised students to "Have spiritual guidance. Don't lose God. There is a God. Trust me." In 1997, Damone received

5904-459: Was able to compete with the more established record labels, and thus became an established record label itself. Mercury Record Corporation was formed in Chicago in 1945 by Irving Green, Berle Adams , Ray Greenberg, and Arthur Talmadge . The company was a major force in R&;B , doo wop , soul music , pop doo wop, pop soul, blues , pop, rock and roll , jazz and classical music . Early in

5986-763: Was absorbed into Virgin EMI by Universal Music. Virgin EMI was rebranded as EMI Records in June 2020. Launched in 1955 exclusively as a full-service local (Australian) A&R operation. Mercury Records first known Australian artist was Keith Potger in 1968, but the label was put into hibernation in 1999 in favour of the Universal label until 2007–2013. Some successful Australian artists on Mercury included: INXS , Kamahl , Bullamakanka , Darren Hayes , Carl Riseley, The Preatures , Tiddas , Dragon, Teen Queens , Melissa Tkautz and Karise Eden . In France, Mercury Records operates as

6068-419: Was an American traditional pop and big band singer and actor. He was best known for his performances of songs such as the number one hit " You're Breaking My Heart ", and other hits such as " On the Street Where You Live " (from My Fair Lady ) and " I Have But One Heart ". When his father was injured at work, Damone had to drop out of Lafayette High School . He worked as an usher and elevator operator at

6150-531: Was an affiliate of Philips under its U.S. Trust division; in 1963, Mercury switched British distribution from EMI to Philips. In 1962, Mercury began marketing a line of phonographs made by Philips bearing the Mercury brand name. In July 1967, Mercury Records became the first U.S. record label to release cassette music tapes ( Musicassettes ). In 1969, Mercury changed its corporate name to Mercury Record Productions Inc., while its parent Conelco became North American Philips Corp. (NAPC) after Philips bought control of

6232-408: Was bought by Seagram , which then absorbed the company into its Universal Music Group unit. Under the reorganization, Mercury Records was closed and folded into the newly formed The Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJMG). Mercury's pop roster was predominantly taken over by Island Records , while its hip-hop acts found a new home at Def Jam Recordings , and some of Mercury's R&B acts were moved to

6314-683: Was bought by Universal Music. In March 2013, its artist roster was moved to Virgin EMI in a restructuring of Universal's UK labels. In 2005, Jason Iley was appointed the new managing director of Mercury. He joined the company from Island Records, where he was general manager. In July 2005, Iley appointed Paul Adam to senior artist and repertoire (A&R) director of the label; the two had previously worked together at Island Records. In October 2006, U2 decided to leave Island Records and moved to Mercury Records, reportedly to rejoin Iley, with whom they had worked previously at Island Records. In March 2011,

6396-417: Was involved in a tug-of-war in a Palm Beach County court with Rowan's two daughters, Nina and Lisa Rowan, for control over the destiny of Rowan and her fortune, which was reportedly worth more than $ 50 million. The court ultimately sided with Damone, ruling that Rena Rowan was capable of making her own decisions. Rowan died on November 6, 2016, at home in Palm Beach, Florida, from complications of pneumonia. She

6478-435: Was married five times and divorced four: Damone had six grandchildren from his daughters (Tate, Paige, Sloane, Rocco, Daniella, Grant). Damone's first wife, Pier Angeli, was previously in a well-publicized relationship with James Dean , but was forced to leave him to marry Damone, a move that garnered great media attention. It was reported that Dean had watched the wedding from across the road on his motorcycle, even gunning

6560-876: Was raised Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy, claiming to have never found deep meaning in his original faith. In the late 1950s, he was introduced to the Baháʼí Faith by a drummer in his band. Damone said his rendition of "On the Street Where You Live" incorporates gestures meant to summon a sustaining vitality from ʻAbdu'l-Bahá . He officially joined the religion in the early 1960s. Damone met his Polish-born wife Rena Rowan (born Irena Aurelia Jung on January 4, 1928, in Lida , then part of Poland) in 1996, after she asked him to perform at an event to raise money for her Rowan House charity in Philadelphia, which provides housing for homeless single women with children. Rowan,

6642-560: Was released in the fall. In 2014, Mercury Classics released "Aranjuez", Milos Karadaglic's recording of iconic guitar concertos by Joaquin Rodrigo, featuring Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. The album topped the iTunes Classical charts in more than 10 countries and the classical charts in the US, UK, France, New Zealand, and Denmark, where it peaked in the pop charts at number 17. With

6724-690: Was still paramount. Once the center, single microphone was set, the sides were set to provide the depth and width heard in the stereo recordings. The center microphone still fed the mono LP releases, which accompanied stereo LPs well into the 1960s. From 1961, Mercury enhanced the three-microphone stereo technique by using 35-mm magnetic film instead of half-inch tape for recording. The greater emulsion thickness, track width, and speed (90 ft/min or 18 in/sec) of 35-mm magnetic film increased prevention of tape layer print-through and gained in addition extended frequency range and transient response. The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were mastered directly from

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