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87-595: The label has continued to be the home to an eclectic mix of modern artists, including Kurt Vile , Everything But the Girl , Samara Joy and Arooj Aftab . The restructured Verve Records is now part of the Verve Label Group ( VLG ), a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. This company is also home to historic imprints including Verve Forecast , Impulse! and Decca Records . Norman Granz created Verve to produce new recordings by Ella Fitzgerald , whom he managed;

174-520: A 50% stake in Casablanca (US) in 1977 (with the remaining 50% in 1980), Pickwick in 1978, and Decca (UK) in 1980 (the latter acquisition basically brought PolyGram full circle, see the HDD section above). PolyGram acquired United Distribution Corporation (UDC) in 1973, and changed its name to Phonodisc, Inc., and signed international distribution deals with MCA and 20th Century Records in 1976. In

261-438: A Pretty Daze ' s tracks. Steve Gunn joined the band as an "auxiliary Violator", during the band's May 2013 tour dates, with Vile noting, "It's impossible to just talk about Steve. He's too good! He's so good; just listen to him. What can I even say about him that touches that? I just want to listen to him." On September 24, 2013, Vile announced the release of a new EP, It's a Big World Out There (And I Am Scared) , and

348-412: A classical music label along with Decca Records and Deutsche Grammophon. By 1985, PolyGram had returned to profitability. Wing Records was reincarnated in 1987 and became a very popular label over the following years, spawning the careers of Tony! Toni! Toné! and former Miss America , Vanessa Williams ; the label was discontinued in the mid-1990s. Fontana was revived in the U.S. in 1989, but only for

435-665: A deluxe edition of Wakin on a Pretty Daze . On March 6, 2015, Vile announced that he was working on his sixth studio album, with recording taking place across different locations in the United States. B'lieve I'm Goin Down... was released September 25, 2015, on Matador Records . Vile has described it as "All over the place. Everything you can imagine I've done... That's where I'm at now, that I can sort of tap into every world and make it cohesive." Still in Rock ranked this LP as

522-406: A handshake deal, but negotiations broke down over price and Sinatra's desire that Granz remain head of the label. Granz sold Verve to MGM in 1960. Sinatra established Reprise Records and hired Mo Ostin , an executive at Verve, to run it. At Verve, Creed Taylor was made head producer. Taylor adopted a more commercial approach, terminating several contracts. He brought bossa nova to America with

609-572: A large factory in Baarn and factories in France, Britain, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Italy, Egypt, Nigeria, and Brazil. PPI played an important role in the introduction of the long-playing vinyl record to Europe. Columbia introduced their LP record in 1948, and Philips presented its first LP at a record retailers' convention in 1949. Philips' commitment to LP technology was an important factor in its 1951–1961 deal with Columbia. In 1962, PPI and DGG formed

696-399: A manufacturing-only business plan. (In hindsight, analysts have pointed out how Philips ultimately benefitted from the manufacture and sale of blank CDs, which played a significant part in the music piracy that began to affect the industry in the early 2000s.) After weeks of speculation, on May 22, 1998, Philips announced that they would sell PolyGram to Seagram for $ 10 billion. Some of

783-500: A member of his backing band, The Violators, with Granduciel noting, "There was never, despite what lazy journalists have assumed, any sort of falling out, or resentment." In April 2009, Mexican Summer released God Is Saying This to You... ; a collection of Vile's home recordings dating back to 2003 on vinyl only. Upon its release, Vile had already recorded a studio album, Childish Prodigy , which Vile described as "definitely not as lo-fi " as his previous releases. After shipping

870-446: A rare and aggressive form of cancer of the bile duct. In a lengthy tribute post, Vile described Laakso as a "Musical genius. Recording whizz. Best husband and father," noting that "Rob and I worked close together on the albums B’lieve and Bottle (him co-producing many of the tracks alongside me, engineering often, playing many different instruments, slaying with ease.) But Wakin' was his first full-time Violator record and you can see

957-472: A short while. Today, Fontana Distribution is an independent label distribution unit of Universal Music Group. Vertigo Records still remained a rare U.S. PolyGram label, as most of its music was from Europe. In April 1982, PolyGram assumed operational and managerial control of 20th Century Fox Records from its similarly named parent , which had just recently been bought out by oil magnate Marvin Davis , who

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1044-647: A variety of MGM labels: Janis Ian , Dave Van Ronk , Richie Havens , the Cowsills , Lovin' Spoonful and more. Meanwhile, the program's conversations and advertisements pitched everything from Nico and the Velvet Underground (produced by Wilson) and the Bosstown Sound bands ( Beacon Street Union , Ultimate Spinach and Orpheus ), to MGM movie-soundtrack LPs like Gone with the Wind . While

1131-936: Is an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. He is known for his solo work, music released under the name "Kurt Vile and The Violators," and as the former lead guitarist of rock band the War on Drugs . Both in the studio and during live performances, Vile is accompanied by his backing band, the Violators, which currently includes Jesse Trbovich (guitar, saxophone), Kyle Spence (drums) and Adam Langellotti (bass, keyboards). Influenced by Pavement , John Prine , Neil Young , Ween , Tom Petty , Dinosaur Jr. , Bruce Springsteen and John Fahey , Vile began his musical career creating lo-fi home recordings with frequent collaborator Adam Granduciel in Philadelphia , with whom he has participated in early work by

1218-439: Is occasionally assumed to be a pseudonym and a pun on German composer Kurt Weill , it is his real birth name and the similarity to Weill's name is a coincidence. At the age of fourteen, Kurt Vile was given a banjo by his father, with Vile noting, "I kind of wished [it] was a guitar. So I'd kind of just play it like a guitar anyway. I was really into writing pretty primitive tunes, and really into recording. I pretty much knew I

1305-657: Is the American contemporary, classic and jazz division of Universal Music Group in the US. Labels in the group include Verve and Impulse! Records labels and Universal Music Classics . Verve labels are Verve Records and Verve Forecast . Universal Music Classical consists of Decca Gold label plus represents the European imprints Decca Records , Decca Classics , Deutsche Grammophon , Philips Classics and Mercury KX plus ECM Records distributed label. On May 20, 2016,

1392-441: Is the newest member and Jesse has been a member forever. They're steady members. Our drummer is no longer with us, but other than that, different friends played drums on the record and we're doing rehearsals with that right now. But other than that, the Violators are me, Jesse, and Rob and we'll see how it evolves." Priestess drummer Vince Nudo subsequently joined the band on drums and percussion, after performing on two of Wakin on

1479-534: The Billboard Top 200 and placed highly on many end-of-year lists, and in 2013 was named at number 475 in NME's '500 Greatest Albums of All Time'. Later in 2011, Vile released a companion EP, So Outta Reach , and appeared on his former band The War on Drugs ' second studio album, Slave Ambient . Shortly after the release of Smoke Ring for My Halo , longtime Violators guitarist Adam Granduciel departed from

1566-648: The Grammophon-Philips Group ( GPG ) as a joint-venture holding company, with Philips taking a 50% share in DGG and Siemens a 50% share in PPI. In 1971, the UK record labels of Philips, Fontana, Mercury, and Vertigo were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram, Ltd. In 1972, Grammophon-Philips Group reorganized all its operations and was renamed The PolyGram Group (in some countries, like Argentina, its name

1653-577: The ITC Entertainment library, which was sold on January 19, 1999 to Carlton Communications for £91 million. On April 8, 1999, USA Networks announced they would purchase PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's domestic division (including PolyGram Video's US & Canada operation), among other assets. After the sale, the divisions were renamed USA Films and USA Home Entertainment respectively. The assets of Slash Records and London Records were sold to Warner Music Group . What remained of PolyGram

1740-609: The Impulse! Records imprint manages the portion of Universal's catalog that was acquired from ABC Records , which itself includes the jazz catalog of the Famous Music Group, which was once owned by Paramount Pictures / Gulf+Western , but which was sold to ABC in 1974. Meanwhile, GRP manages the rest of MCA/Universal's jazz catalog, including some releases once issued on the Decca and Chess labels. The Verve Label Group

1827-650: The disco craze included the Casablanca FilmWorks production Thank God It's Friday (1978) and its associated soundtrack. During the boom in disco, PolyGram's US market share had grown from 5% to 20%. This can also be attributed to multi-million selling albums and 45s by the Bee Gees , Donna Summer , the Village People , Andy Gibb , Kool & the Gang , and rock band Kiss . For a short while in

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1914-454: The indie rock band The War on Drugs in 2005. Regarding his friendship with Granduciel, Vile noted, "We're essentially best friends. He was backing me up in my band when he started working on his own music, so I thought I’d return the favor." Granduciel and Vile released their debut studio album, Wagonwheel Blues , in 2008 and embarked on a tour in support of its release. At this time, Vile's debut solo album, Constant Hitmaker (2008),

2001-409: The 2nd best of 2015. Vile is featured on the song " Let Me Get There " by the band Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions released in 2016. Vile sings lead vocals on The Sadies song "It's Easy (Like Walking)" on their 2017 album Northern Passages . In 2017, Vile and Courtney Barnett recorded the collaborative album Lotta Sea Lice , released on October 13. The lead single "Over Everything"

2088-756: The Righteous Brothers , the Velvet Underground , Frank Zappa & the Mothers of Invention , Rare Earth , and the Blues Project , as well as a series of "Sound Impressions of an American on Tour" records which was produced in cooperation with Esquire Magazine. The late 1960s relationship between Verve and other MGM labels is illustrated in the promotional "Music Factory" radio series for college stations hosted by A&R man Tom Wilson (record producer) , with studio guests from

2175-425: The US and UK markets, and did so by a process of both formation and acquisition: Polydor Records established its American operations, Polydor Incorporated in 1969, Mercury Record Productions (US) was acquired in 1972 from sister company North American Philips Corp. , and became Phonogram, Inc. MGM Records and Verve (US) were acquired in 1972. Subsequent PolyGram acquisitions included those of RSO (UK) in 1975,

2262-609: The United States. But in 1951, after Columbia had failed to renew its international distribution agreement with EMI , PPI agreed to distribute Columbia recordings outside the United States. Columbia became PPI's distributor within the US. This agreement ran until 1961 when Columbia set up its own European network. PPI signed a worldwide distribution deal with Mercury Records in 1961. PPI's parent company Philips, through its U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp (a.k.a. Conelco ), acquired Mercury in 1962. PPI built or bought factories in smaller countries. In 1962, PPI had

2349-525: The Velvet Underground as an inspiration for his signing. On April 15, 2022, Verve Records released (watch my moves) , Vile's ninth studio album. The album was mostly recorded during COVID-19 lockdowns at Vile's new home studio, OKV Central. Upon the album's release, Adam Langellotti, who had previously helped Vile build his home studio, joined the Violators on bass guitar and keyboards. On May 4, 2023, Vile's longtime Violators bandmate and recording partner Rob Laakso passed away from cholangiocarcinoma ,

2436-460: The Velvet Underground's first records did not initially sell well, the band became a major influence in independent rock music. See The Velvet Underground & Nico and their second album, White Light/White Heat . In the 1970s, Verve became part of PolyGram , incorporating the Mercury / EmArcy jazz catalog, which Philips , part owners of PolyGram had earlier acquired. Verve Records became

2523-475: The Verve Music Group after PolyGram was merged with Seagram 's Universal Music Group in 1999. The jazz holdings from the merged companies were folded into this sub-group. In 1990, British group Talk Talk signed to Polydor after conflicts with their previous label EMI regarding a lack of commercial allure on their fourth album, Spirit of Eden . Their fifth and final album, Laughing Stock ,

2610-399: The Violators. In 2011, Vile released his fourth studio album, Smoke Ring for My Halo , which significantly increased his exposure. His fifth studio album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze , was released in 2013, with Rob Laakso replacing Granduciel in his backing band. In 2015, Vile released his sixth studio album, B'lieve I'm Goin Down... . The lead single from the album, " Pretty Pimpin ",

2697-424: The War on Drugs as well as various solo projects. Focusing on his solo career, Vile released two albums, Constant Hitmaker (2008) and God Is Saying This to You... (2009), compiling various home recordings dating back to 2003. Vile signed to Matador Records in 2009, and released his third album, Childish Prodigy , that same year. The album was his first recorded in a studio and with the full participation of

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2784-477: The aughts (including stints by Danny Bennett and David Foster) before Jamie Krents took over with a revamped label team in 2019. Notable moments during this period include the signing of Jon Batiste , Samara Joy , Kurt Vile and Arooj Aftab . Verve has had particularly strong showings at the Grammy's since 2019 with Jon Batiste leading the music industry in 2022 with 11 nominations and 5 wins, including album of

2871-494: The band to fully focus on The War on Drugs, with Vile noting, "Adam, he plays in The War on Drugs, his record came out a little after mine did, so at first he toured, and now he's obviously busy with that and now he's working on his new record." Wakin on a Pretty Daze was released on April 9, 2013. Regarding the current line-up of his backing band, Vile noted, "I'm playing with Jesse [Trbovich] and Rob [Laakso]. [...] Rob Laakso

2958-608: The big budget musical Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (1978). The film starred the Bee Gees and Peter Frampton at the height of their popularity, and featured the Beatles covers by them as well as Aerosmith , Billy Preston , and Earth, Wind & Fire . The film was highly anticipated to surpass the box office success of both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease , mostly due to its popular music stars. The soundtrack LP, based on only advance orders,

3045-556: The company under the name of PolyGram Entertainment , which currently serves as their film and television division. In 1929, Decca Records (London) licensed record shop owner H.W. Van Zoelen as a distributor in the Netherlands. By 1931, his company Hollandsche Decca Distributie ( HDD ) had become exclusive Decca distributor for all of the Netherlands and its colonies. Over the course of the 1930s, HDD put together its own facilities for A&R , recording, and manufacturing. HDD

3132-470: The company's dependence on superstars by spreading the repertoire across different genres and nurturing national and regional talent. Also by 1983, PolyGram's U.S. roster of labels included: ...which were all consolidated into PolyGram Records, Inc. (now UMG Recordings, Inc.) In 1981, PolyGram launched domestic television syndication unit PolyGram Television (unrelated to the latter day incarnation that became Universal Worldwide Television in 1997), but it

3219-569: The company. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, PolyGram continued to invest in a diversified film unit with the purchases of individual production companies. In 1981, Philips executive Jan Timmer became a member of the Group Management of PolyGram and was appointed president and chief executive officer of newly formed parent company, PolyGram International Ltd. in 1983. He cut the workforce from 13,000 to 7,000, reduced PolyGram's LP and cassette plants from eighteen to five, and decreased

3306-576: The disco craze ended in 1979 and record sales for both the Bee Gees and Casablanca's Village People plummeted. PolyGram also experienced losses with the defection of Casablanca's Donna Summer to newly formed Geffen Records as well as the dropping of Andy Gibb , whose personal problems with cocaine and alcohol began to affect his recording career, from RSO. Summer and the Bee Gees also had legal disputes with their labels which further complicated matters. Summer ended her contract with PolyGram in 1980, and

3393-461: The fact that I didn't go to college. I was always working super low-end jobs, being the complete opposite of what I wanted to be. But I just fell into it, and I was also sorta shy. It was definitely a pretty rough time." In 2003, after staying in Boston for two years, Vile moved back to Philadelphia , and began collaborating with musician and songwriter Adam Granduciel . The duo subsequently formed

3480-475: The first album the label released was Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book . The catalog grew throughout the 1950s and 1960s to include Charlie Parker , Bill Evans , Stan Getz , Billie Holiday , Oscar Peterson , Ben Webster , and Lester Young . By 1960 Milton Rudin, Granz' attorney, represented Frank Sinatra and knew that Sinatra wanted his own label. Sinatra and Granz made

3567-542: The group with Bennett exiting his post. The Decca Broadway label for original cast recording was relaunched in May 2019. The Verve Label Group has expanded its output beyond jazz to include crossover classical music, progressive pop, and show tunes (by absorbing Decca Records ' Broadway label and taking over ownership of the label's library including EMI 's, MGM Records ', and MCA Records ' musical theater catalogs). Kurt Vile Kurt Samuel Vile (born January 3, 1980)

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3654-402: The inventor of the flat disc gramophone , Emil Berliner . Later on, PolyGram expanded into the largest global entertainment company, creating film and television divisions. In May 1998, it was sold to the alcoholic distiller Seagram which owned film, television and music company Universal Studios . PolyGram was thereby folded into Universal Music Group , and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

3741-769: The largest record company in Europe. PPI's second attempt at a merger was with Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft (DGG). DGG, owned by Siemens AG , and well known for its classical repertoire, had been the German licensee for Decca from 1935. DGG also owned Polydor Records . Shortly after PPI was founded it had made a formal alliance with DGG to manufacture each other's records, coordinate releases, and refrain from poaching each other's artists or bidding against each other for new talent. PPI and DGG finally merged in 1962. The alliance with DGG still left PPI without repertoire in Britain or

3828-403: The late 1940s, Philips combined its various music businesses into Philips Phonografische Industrie ( PPI ), a wholly owned subsidiary. PPI's early growth was based on alliances. A merger was first proposed with Decca of London in late 1945, but was rejected by Edward Lewis , Decca's owner. (PolyGram finally acquired Decca in 1980.) In the early 1950s, Philips set itself the goal of making PPI

3915-538: The late 1950s and early 1960s, Philips had been at work on a new consumer magnetic tape format for music. The Philips Compact Cassette was introduced in 1963. It was small and could play longer than an LP. In 1965 the cassette accounted for 3% of revenues, growing in 1968 to 8% and in 1970 to 10.6%. In the late 1960s, and through the 1970s, GPG/PolyGram diversified into film and television production and home video. RSO's successes included Saturday Night Fever and Grease . PolyGram's highly successful marketing during

4002-420: The late 1970s, it was the world's largest record company. In 1969, PolyGram established a direct mail-order business in the UK, Britannia Music Club , which ran till 2007. Before 1978, PolyGram was losing money. When US operations were running at full capacity, PolyGram expanded aggressively, and would press large quantities of records without knowing the demand. In late 1979, PolyGram was caught off guard by

4089-469: The long length) but really if I got around to it again, I wouldn’t say anything, ya know, just put it out and just see what happens. The first six tracks are brand new to the world and blend so sweet together and span from September 2019 to May 2023. If we wanna get technical, let’s call those songs the EP and the last three songs the extended compilation (but they blend so smooth too, right?!) because, well, life in

4176-505: The mid-1980s to 7-9% by the early 1990s. As well, videos were distributed by PolyGram Video . In 1988, Philips acquired the remaining 50% of PolyGram from long-time partner Siemens and later in 1989, floated 16% of PolyGram on the Amsterdam stock exchange, valuing the whole company at $ 5.6 billion. PolyGram embarked on a new program of acquisitions, including A&M and Island Records in 1989, Swedish company Polar Music which held

4263-508: The newly-formed Verve Label Group appointed industry veteran Danny Bennett as its president and CEO. Besides Verve, the label group was formed with Decca Records, Decca Classics, Deutsche Grammophon, Mercury Classics, and distributed label ECM. The group relocated to New York City. The label group in March 2019 was further restructured to its global classical and jazz unit. Dickon Stainer, President and CEO of Universal Classics and Jazz, would lead

4350-705: The reasons cited for the deal were a lack of pop hits from the music side of the company, and an equal lack of box-office successes from the film side. Alain Levy resigned as CEO of PolyGram on June 23 to prepare for the merger, and the deal was closed on December 10, 1998, with PolyGram's operations folding into Universal Pictures and Universal Music Group . Seagram however, was only interested in PolyGram's music division, and in October 1998 they announced that they would begin divesting PolyGram's entertainment assets, while

4437-438: The record to various labels, Vile signed with Matador Records in May 2009. Vile noted, "It's a perfect fit. They were my number one choice. I don't really consider my music indie rock or think that Matador cater only to indie rock, but I still feel I can relate most to Matador, more than any other label. Not to mention the fact that they are way on top of their shit." Recorded with backing band The Violators, Childish Prodigy

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4524-620: The release of Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd , Getz/Gilberto , and Rain Forest by Walter Wanderley . Verve's arrangers included Claus Ogerman and Oliver Nelson . According to Ogerman in Jazzletter , he arranged 60–70 albums for Verve from 1963 to 1967. In 1964, Taylor supervised the creation of a folk music subsidiary named Verve Folkways which was later renamed Verve Forecast . Taylor left Verve in 1967 to form CTI Records . Aside from jazz, Verve's catalogue included

4611-488: The remainder would be folded into Universal. Prior to this announcement, the company announced the sale of their 75% stake in children's distributor Abbey Home Entertainment back to its original founders and the acquisition of Astrion plc. On October 23, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer agreed to purchase PolyGram Filmed Entertainment 's pre-April 1996 library for $ 250 million, which included over 1,300 films from various assets PolyGram had acquired within that point, but did not include

4698-572: The remains of PolyGram's theatrical assets would then be folded into United International Pictures. Mickey Blue Eyes would become the last film distributed under the ex-PolyGram unit. The PolyGram name now survives via reissue of music under the Polydor Records label as well as a publishing arm of Universal Music Publishing Group . The Japanese branches of the PolyGram labels that were absorbed to form Universal Music Japan and were rebranded: Polydor remained until 2002, when it merged with

4785-527: The rights to the ABBA catalogue, Motown and Def Jam in 1994 and Rodven (Venezuela) in 1995. In 1990, after acquiring both Island and A&M, Alain Levy , (then) executive vice-president of PolyGram N.V., re-organized the U.S. operations of PolyGram Records, Inc. into a new expanded conglomerate: PolyGram Group Distribution, Inc. In addition to overseeing the sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution of music and video products created by PolyGram, PGD

4872-512: The risk in creating gramophones without an interest in music recording and record manufacture, and that Radio Corporation of America (RCA) had merged with the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1929 for this reason. Philips' labs were developing magnetic tape and LPs , and they could support eventual new formats, although other record companies were notably unenthusiastic about experimenting with new formats. After

4959-424: The shift to epic proportions from Smoke Ring to it. I’ve clocked in so many hours on the road and in front of amps with him but so have the Violators, Jesse first and Kyle later." On November 17, 2023, Vile released a 52-minute-long EP, Return to Moon Beach , which was mostly recorded from September 2019 to May 2023. Upon the EP's release, Vile noted: "[My manager] called this an EP by only my standards, haha (cuz

5046-589: The studio is an extended compilation." Vile is married to Suzanne Lang, a teacher, and has two daughters. He cites songwriters Randy Newman , Bob Dylan , Neil Young , and Bruce Springsteen as influences in his lyrics and music. During a 2022 episode of Rolling Stone ' s Music Now podcast, Vile stated that he stopped drinking alcohol sometime "around the tour for Bottle It In " (in late 2018 or early 2019), but noted that he still occasionally consumes cannabis . Current members Former members Former touring musicians PolyGram PolyGram N.V.

5133-420: The sudden end of the popularity of disco music, leaving it with an underutilized distribution network, profligate labels, and over optimistic product orders. PolyGram's Casablanca label was known for management spending on lavish industry parties and luxury cars. After 1980, PolyGram's losses had spiraled upwards of US$ 220 million. Another contributing factor to PolyGram's financial woes was the massive failure of

5220-430: The time he took over, Philips was seen as a bloated company, laden with too many layers of management and unrelated companies that they could not leverage effectively. As a result, Boonstra began to sell or dispose of various non-core assets. While Philips began to withdraw from other media activities, Boonstra denied that PolyGram was for sale. However, by early 1998, he had changed his attitude, instead deciding to pursue

5307-761: The war, Philips built a large factory in Doetinchem to produce 78 rpm records. Recording took place in Hilversum, whereas development took place in Eindhoven. In the 1940s, the record business was spread out within Philips: research in the Eindhoven labs, development elsewhere in Eindhoven, recording in Hilversum , manufacturing in Doetinchem , distribution from Amsterdam , and exports from Eindhoven. During

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5394-404: The way it looks. I've made more music than Adam has, and have been doing my Kurt Vile thing for a little bit longer. And Constant Hitmaker came out around that same time. Right when that [War on Drugs] record came out, I went to Europe with them, and also opened as Kurt Vile. That was right when I decided I wanted to concentrate on doing my own thing." Despite Vile's departure, Granduciel remained

5481-506: The year, as well as a win for Aftab in Best Global Performance, and Samara Joy winning Best New Artist in 2023, a first in the label's 67-year history. The Verve imprint itself manages much of the jazz catalog that once belonged to PolyGram (not including recordings by Herb Alpert for his A&M Records label which Alpert acquired in a legal settlement with Universal Music and are licensed to Shout! Factory ), while

5568-401: Was Phonogram), of which Philips and Siemens each owned 50%. In 1977, both organizations merged operationally, integrating the recording, manufacturing, distribution and marketing into a single organization. The various record labels within PolyGram continued to operate separately. PolyGram gave its labels, as A&R organizations, great autonomy. After the merger, PolyGram began to move into

5655-511: Was Vile's best performing song to date, topping the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart in March 2016. His 2017 release, Lotta Sea Lice , is a collaboration with Australian singer and guitarist Courtney Barnett . In 2018, he released his eighth studio album, Bottle It In , followed by a country -influenced EP, Speed, Sound, Lonely KV , in 2020. Vile's ninth studio album, (watch my moves) (2022),

5742-670: Was a multinational major music record label and entertainment company formerly based in the Netherlands . It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens , to be a holding for their record companies, and was renamed "PolyGram" in 1972. The name was chosen to reflect the Siemens interest Polydor Records and the Philips interest Phonogram Records . The company traced its origins through Deutsche Grammophon back to

5829-535: Was also responsible for supervising a number of other divisions within PolyGram (U.S.) such as: PolyGram Music Group, PolyGram Video, PolyMedia, PolyGram Special Markets, PolyGram Merchandising, Independent Label Sales (ILS) and New Media & Business Development. PolyGram and Granada TV formed a joint venture, Big Picture Productions, in 1990 as a music programing firm which, at Cannes in 1990, purchased exclusive international distribution rights to Brown Sugar (The two-hour special featured black female performers and

5916-448: Was awarded the rights to her songwriting catalog by the courts; she owed them one more album, and finished out her contract by recording her album She Works Hard For The Money (from which the title track was a huge hit in 1983). In 1980, after PolyGram bought the other 50% of Casablanca Records and Filmworks, PolyGram renamed its existing Casablanca Records & Filmworks unit as PolyGram Pictures with Peter Guber becoming chairman of

6003-440: Was commercially successful during World War II because of the absence of American and British competition. Van Zoelen wanted to sell to Philips so that HDD would have sufficient financial backing when their major competitors returned after the war. This led Philips to purchase HDD in 1942. In the mid 20th century, the majority of large recording companies manufactured both gramophones and records; Philips CEO Anton Philips noted

6090-477: Was corporately aligned with Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) in 2006 and was no longer a stand-alone label within UMG during that time. Under this regime, led by UMe's President, Bruce Resnikoff, Verve won the Grammy for album of the year, the first time a jazz record had garnered this award since another Verve album, Stan Getz's Getz/Gilberto, won in 1965. Verve Records went through several other leadership changes in

6177-520: Was folded into Universal Pictures , which had been both Seagram successors of MCA Inc. When the newly formed entertainment division of Seagram faced financial difficulties, it was sold to Vivendi , and MCA became known as Universal Studios, as Seagram ceased to exist. Vivendi remains the majority owner of the Universal Music Group (while the film and television division was sold to NBCUniversal ) until 2021. In February 2017, UMG revived

6264-477: Was folded into both Universal Music Group and Universal Pictures. On February 10, 1999, Universal announced that they would pull out of their CIC Video and United International Pictures ventures with Paramount Pictures and rebrand PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's international division (including PolyGram Video's international operation) under the Universal name. Whilst the home video division rebranding

6351-495: Was going to do music [with my life] then." Vile began writing songs on the banjo, describing his first self-penned track as: "a joke song. It was a good instrumental; I knew all these chords, but then I was quoting a cartoon as the lyrics on top of it. I had seen this cartoon about Superman and Lex Luthor ; it was like the back history of why Lex Luthor hated Superman. They used to be friends, and then some giant stone of kryptonite fell and it made Lex Luthor's hair fall out, and he

6438-572: Was hosted by Billy Dee Williams ) from the New York–based Gene David Group. In June 1991, Alain Levy was promoted to worldwide president and CEO of PolyGram N.V. In 1993, PolyGram purchased the video arm of Virgin Group from General Electric Capital for $ 5.6 million and remodeled the label as Vision Video ltd. In 1995, PolyGram purchased ITC Entertainment for $ 156 million. In 1996, Cor Boonstra became CEO of Philips; by

6525-423: Was like, 'You made all my hair fall out!' It was a really stupid cartoon, but that was my song, 'You Made All My Hair Fall Out'." Three years later, Vile created his first "mass-produced" tape at the age of seventeen. Influenced by Pavement , Beck , Smog and the record label, Drag City , Vile noted, "I really thought I could be on Drag City. I really wanted that. I heard these people that made good music but it

6612-451: Was more independent, there were people who got really excited and there still are but once I got more press people started to comment on blogs. People like to talk shit. [...] It's like climbing a ladder. I like to climb it really slowly. I could probably get really professional right away, but I like to take baby steps and find my own way." Vile released his fourth studio album, Smoke Ring for My Halo , in 2011. The album peaked at #154 on

6699-641: Was named president and CEO of PolyGram. Asher was formerly the attorney for Don Kirshner 's Aldon Music music publishing company. The CD, invented by Philips and Sony , helped greatly in boosting the company's sales and market share. PolyGram's strength in classical music helped greatly, as many of the CD's early adopters were classical music lovers. Total US sales of CDs were $ 1 million in 1983, $ 334 million in 1990 and $ 943 million in 2000. Total UK sales were $ 300,000 in 1983, $ 51 million in 1990 and $ 202 million in 2000. The CD increased PolyGram's profit margin from 4-6% in

6786-530: Was not interested in keeping the record company. The assets of the former 20th Century Fox Records were fully acquired by the firm in July 1982, and subsequently were consolidated with the Casablanca label. After an attempted 1983 merger with Warner Elektra Atlantic failed, Philips bought 40% of PolyGram from Siemens, acquiring the remaining 10% in 1987. In 1985, former CBS and Columbia executive Dick Asher

6873-481: Was recorded mostly at a Vile's home studio during COVID-19 lockdowns . In May 2023, his longtime Violators bandmate and recording partner Rob Laakso died from cholangiocarcinoma . That same year, he released the 52-minute-long EP, Back to Moon Beach . Vile grew up in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania , a suburb of Philadelphia , and is the third oldest of ten children born to Charles and Donna Vile. Although his surname

6960-399: Was released on Gulcher Records . Vile subsequently decided to leave The War on Drugs to concentrate on his solo career. The album was compiled from various home recordings and one studio recording of the song "Freeway". In 2009, Vile noted, "The War On Drugs got put out on a bigger label first, so, in the blogosphere , some claim that The War on Drugs was my first, main band. But that's just

7047-431: Was released on August 30, 2017, accompanied by the music video directed by Danny Cohen. In 2018, Vile announced his seventh solo studio album, Bottle It In , released on October 12, 2018. Vile produced and appeared on Sweep It Into Space , the twelfth album by Dinosaur Jr. which was released on April 23, 2021. On April 20, Verve Records announced that they had signed Vile after 11 years with Matador. Vile cited

7134-399: Was released on October 6, 2009, and increased Vile's exposure significantly. Support slots with Dinosaur Jr , Thurston Moore and Fucked Up followed the album's release. Regarding his new position, Vile stated, "Obviously there's more touring, more press and more hype which I won't say is not deserved. There's like a faction of people, too, who like to talk shit, which is kind of new. When I

7221-657: Was released through Verve on September 16, 1991 and, while being slightly divisive at the time, has since been reconsidered by critics and fans as their masterpiece and a precursor to the post-rock movement. In the 1990s, as part of PolyGram Classics and Jazz, Verve signed Herbie Hancock , Wayne Shorter , Joe Henderson , Roy Hargrove , John Scofield , Shirley Horn , Betty Carter , Abbey Lincoln , Chris Botti , Jeff Lorber , Gino Vannelli , Art Porter , Will Downing , and Incognito . When Universal and Polygram merged in 1998, Verve's holdings were merged with Universal's GRP Recording Company to become Verve Music Group. Verve

7308-490: Was released triple platinum. The movie was released to poor reviews and died at the box office. Despite its triple platinum start, the soundtrack LP's sales bombed after the film's release. In turn, record dealers flooded PolyGram with returned LPs. The resulting losses nearly wiped out the profits the company had made on both the Saturday Night Fever and Grease soundtracks. The company took further loses when

7395-446: Was soon folded after two years. Under its newly reorganized form, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in the UK and much of Europe, though it was still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia, where it issued many albums and singles by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. The majority of PolyGram's rock and pop music signings went to Mercury and Polydor. Philips became part of PolyGram Classics as

7482-404: Was still pretty raw, and had this real cult quality." While working on his home recordings, Vile worked as a forklift driver, from 2000 to 2002. Regarding this time in his life, Vile noted "It was a really fast-paced job, unloading trucks. Though music was my passion, I had a long way to go then and a lot to learn. I got depressed so many times by my blue-collar life, and self-conscious about

7569-478: Was successful (with CIC rebranding under the Paramount umbrella toward the end of 1999 ), the theatrical division rebranding would prove to be a failure, as films from the rebranded Universal Pictures International flopped at the box office, the company therefore announced in October 1999 that their operations would be downgraded to the home video market only and renewed their UIP deal with Paramount for five years,

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