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Philips Records

Philips Records

Overview
Philips Records is a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" (PPI) in 1950
1950 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.*August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.*Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra....

. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also distributed recordings made by the US Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 on the European continent. After the separation of English Columbia and American Columbia by the end of 1954, Philips also started distributing original Columbia recordings on the Philips label in Great Britain.
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Encyclopedia
Philips Records is a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips
Philips
Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. , more commonly known as Philips, is a multinational Dutch electronics company....

. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" (PPI) in 1950
1950 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.*August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.*Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra....

. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also distributed recordings made by the US Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 on the European continent. After the separation of English Columbia and American Columbia by the end of 1954, Philips also started distributing original Columbia recordings on the Philips label in Great Britain.

History


In the late 1950s Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records
Fontana Records
Fontana Records is a record label which was started in the 1950s as a subsidiary of the Dutch Philips Records; when Philips restructured its music operations it dropped Fontana in favor of Vertigo Records. In the seventies PolyGram acquired the dormant label....

, and helped American Columbia Records form CBS Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

 in 1961
1961 in music
-Events:*January 15 – Motown Records signs The Supremes.*January 20 – Francis Poulenc's Gloria receives its premiėre in Boston, USA.*February 12 – The Miracles' "Shop Around" becomes Motown's first million-selling single....

, after Columbia formed its own international operations, adopting the name of its then parent CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...

. In 1962 Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

 were linked into the Gramophon-Philips Group joint venture, which later became PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...

.

In 1961, after Philips lost its North American distribution deal with Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

, it entered an exchange agreement with Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

. A year later, Philips' U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. (a.k.a Conelco), bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels. Philips classical, jazz and pop records were marketed by Mercury in the U.S. under the Philips label. The Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. These records, made in Walthamstow Town Hall near London, included: Liszt piano concertos by Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Richter
Sviatoslav Teofilovich Richter was a Soviet pianist well known for the depth of his interpretations, virtuoso technique, and vast repertoire. He is widely considered one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century.-Childhood:...

 and the London Symphony Orchestra
London Symphony Orchestra
The London Symphony Orchestra is a major orchestra of the United Kingdom, as well as one of the best-known orchestras in the world. Since 1982, the LSO has been based in London's Barbican Centre.-History:...

 conducted by Kiril Kondrashin
Kiril Kondrashin
Kirill Petrovich Kondrashin , was a Russian conductor.-Early life:...

; two albums of symphonic "bon-bons" by the London Symphony Orchestra and Charles Mackerras
Charles Mackerras
Sir Alan Charles Maclaurin Mackerras, AC, CH, CBE was an Australian conductor. He was an authority on the operas of Janáček and Mozart, and the comic operas of Gilbert and Sullivan...

 released as "Kaleidoscope"; "Russian Song Recital" by Galina Vishnevskaya
Galina Vishnevskaya
Galina Pavlovna Vishnevskaya is a Russian soprano opera singer and recitalist who was named a People's Artist of the USSR in 1966.-Biography:...

 and Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Rostropovich
Mstislav Leopoldovich Rostropovich, KBE , known to close friends as Slava, was a Soviet and Russian cellist and conductor. He was married to the soprano Galina Vishnevskaya. He is widely considered to have been the greatest cellist of the second half of the 20th century, and one of the greatest of...

; and Beethoven sonata op. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich. The Richter Liszt album was recorded on 3-track 35mm magnetic film and was reissued on CD from a remaster made from the film by original producer Wilma Cozart Fine as part of the Philips Solo series.

From 1961 until the late 1960s, Philips Records (USA) issued many classical titles in U.S.-specific packaging, initially in the same glossy-laminated covers as Mercury Records. The records were pressed at Mercury's plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were the PHS 900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono. Clair Van Ausdal in Mercury's New York office oversaw the Philips classical U.S. releases through the mid-1960s.

Philips also launched an eponymous jazz label in the U.S., releasing both imported European Philips recordings and making new American recordings of Gerry Mulligan
Gerry Mulligan
Gerald Joseph "Gerry" Mulligan was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, composer and arranger. Though Mulligan is primarily known as one of the leading baritone saxophonists in jazz history – playing the instrument with a light and airy tone in the era of cool jazz – he was also...

, Dizzy Gillespie
Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie was an American jazz trumpet player, bandleader, singer, and composer dubbed "the sound of surprise".Together with Charlie Parker, he was a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz...

 and Woody Herman
Woody Herman
Woodrow Charles Herman , known as Woody Herman, was an American jazz clarinetist, alto and soprano saxophonist, singer, and big band leader. Leading various groups called "The Herd," Herman was one of the most popular of the 1930s and '40s bandleaders...

, among others. These records were made through Mercury's existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy and others.

In addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became a major player in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s till late 1970s. In the UK, Philips developed a strong popular music roster, signing acts like Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...

, Roy Castle
Roy Castle
Roy Castle OBE was an English dancer, singer, comedian, actor, television presenter and musician. He attended Honley High School, where there is now a building in his name...

, Anne Shelton, The Four Pennies
The Four Pennies
The Four Pennies were an English, 1960s pop group, most notable for their 1964 UK chart topping song, "Juliet". The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on 'Penny Street' where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of...

, Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

, and The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers
The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...

. The American pop label was launched in 1962 starting with the R&B single "Gee Baby" by Ben & Bea. It also played a major part in promoting the garage rock
Garage rock
Garage rock is a raw form of rock and roll that was first popular in the United States and Canada from about 1963 to 1967. During the 1960s, it was not recognized as a separate music genre and had no specific name...

 genre and the psyche rock genre in the mid to late 60s, their most successful signing being Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer
Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...

.

In the 1970s, Philips decided to turn its attention more to the growing MOR market with artists like Lena Zavaroni
Lena Zavaroni
Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...

, Peters & Lee, and Demis Roussos
Demis Roussos
Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...

, as well as issuing novelty records by media personalities like Ed Stewart
Ed Stewart
Ed Stewart is a radio broadcaster from England. His real name is Edward Mainwaring but he is known by the nickname Ed Stewpot Stewart.-Early life and career:...

, Bruce Forsyth
Bruce Forsyth
Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson, CBE , commonly known as Bruce Forsyth, or Brucie, is an English TV personality...

, and Chris Hill
Chris Hill
Chris Hill is a British disc jockey. He worked at the club Lacy Lady in Ilford, as well as at the Goldmine Canvey Island. He was the head of the 'Soul Mafia' in London and the South East of England into the early 1980s. In 1975 he released a "break-in" novelty record, in the style of Dickie...

. In 1972, Philips, Fontana, Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

, and the newly-formed Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records
Vertigo Records today is a UK-based record label operated by Universal Music UK.-History:Vertigo Records was the name Philips Records chose in the late 1960s for its record sub-label to counter the progressive labels of its rivals EMI with Harvest Records and Decca Records with Deram...

 were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records
Phonogram Records was started in 1962 as a joint venture between Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon. In 1972, Phonogram was merged with Polydor Records into PolyGram....

. In Europe, however, Philips was used on a major basis and it became the outlet for Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...

 in America and distributed a number of punk and new wave bands like Talking Heads
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American New Wave and avant-garde band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991. The band comprised David Byrne, Chris Frantz, Tina Weymouth and Jerry Harrison...

, The Ramones, and Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...

, who were signed from Australia. It also released some disco records by Donna Summer
Donna Summer
LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

 and The Village People, as their home label Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...

 was not cleared for use in all countries around the world.

By 1980, Phonogram and Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

 decided to merge to become PolyGram Records. Under the new company, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in the UK and throughout much of Europe, though it was still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. The majority of PolyGram's rock and pop music signings went to Mercury, and Polydor in the UK and Europe, though the label was used sparingly in America. Philips became part of PolyGram Classics as a classical music label along with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 and Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon
Deutsche Grammophon is a German classical record label which was the foundation of the future corporation to be known as PolyGram. It is now part of Universal Music Group since its acquisition and absorption of PolyGram in 1999, and it is also UMG's oldest active label...

.

From the early 1970s, Philips classical records were not being produced in the U.S. any more; rather they were made in Holland and sold as imports in the American market. Philips reissued a group of Mercury Living Presence titles as "Mercury Golden Imports", with manufacture in Holland and masters cut from 2-track production tapes, as opposed to the original-issue method of mixing stereo LPs directly from the edited 3-track master tapes and films.

In the eighties Philips Classics Records
Philips Classics Records
Philips Classics Records was started in the 1980s as the new classics record label for Philips Records. It was successful with artists including Alfred Brendel, Sir John Eliot Gardiner, Sir Neville Marriner and the Academy of St...

 was formed to distribute its classical artists, although classical recordings have also been issued on the regular Philips label. In the U.S., Philips eventually handled distribution and sales for Philips, Mercury, British Decca (sold under the London label in the U.S.) and DGG.

In 1983, Philips became the first record label to issue compact discs, using digital recordings that went as far back as 1978. (The first digital recordings, however, were actually remastered versions of vintage recordings by the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso, using the Soundstream
Soundstream
-The Company:Soundstream Inc. was founded in 1975 in Salt Lake City, Utah by Dr. Thomas G. Stockham, Jr. It was the world’s first audiophile digital audio recording company, providing commercial services for recording and computer-based editing...

 process developed in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...

 in 1975-76. RCA Victor released vinyl versions of these reprocessed, historic recordings. Philips was among the record labels to use the Soundstream process for modern digital recordings.)

Philips and its subsidiaries eventually re-issued many of its pre-digital stereo and mono recordings on compact disc. Philips and DuPont partnered on a CD manufacturing plant in North Carolina called PDO. By the mid-1990s, Polygram Classics handled the classical labels (Philips, Mercury, Decca, DGG) and Verve Music Group handled the jazz back catalogue (from Verve, Mercury, etc.) and new jazz releases. Mercury continues to manage the Philips pop back catalogue to this day.

Philips Records has been part of Universal Music since 1998, the name continuing to be licensed from the label's former parent company. In 1999, Philips Classics was absorbed into the Decca Music Group
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

, and Philips recording and mastering operations in Holland were shut down. Former employees bought the Philips Recording Center in Baarn, Netherlands, and formed Polyhemia (a recording and mastering company) and Pentatone Records (which specializes in SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...

 releases).

Many of the Philips classical recordings have been reissued on the Eloquence label. Universal also released a "Philips 50" series marking the 50th anniversary of Philips Records in the early 2000s; some of those CD's are still in print. Pentatone has released Philips Quadraphonic sound recordings from the early and mid 1970's in 4-channel SACD format, as their RQR Series.

"Philips Connoisseur Collection"



The "Philips Connoisseur Collection" issued world music
World music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

 and other genres.
  • PCC-603: Soeur Sourire - The Singing Nun
  • PCC-606: Missa Luba
    Missa Luba
    The Missa Luba is a version of the Latin Mass based on traditional Congolese songs. It was arranged by Father Guido Haazen, a Franciscan Friar from Belgium, and originally performed and recorded in 1958 by "Les Troubadours du Roi Baudouin", a choir of Congolese children from...

     (a version of the Latin Mass based on traditional Congolese songs).
  • PCC-616: Michel Legrand
    Michel Legrand
    Michel Jean Legrand is a French musical composer, arranger, conductor, and pianist...

     - The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies De Cherbourg)
  • PCC-619: Los Fronterizos Chorus And Orchestra - Misa Criolla
  • PCC-608: Edith Piaf
    Édith Piaf
    Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...

     - Adieu, Little Sparrow
  • PCC-620: Jacques Brel
    Jacques Brel
    Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...

    : The Poetic World of Jacques Brel
  • PCC-621: Sarah Gorby - Songs Of The Ghetto
  • PCC-623: Misa Flamenca · Misa Mozarabe
  • PCC-633: Yves Montand
    Yves Montand
    -Early life:Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano Terme, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in...

     - Extraordinaire!

Artists

  • Kamahl
    Kamahl
    Kamahl is the stage name of Kandiah Kamalesvaran , an Australian singer and recording artist, perhaps best known for "The Elephant Song", and his repertoire of popular music.-Early life:...

     - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Galapagous Duck - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Radio Birdman
    Radio Birdman
    Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...

     - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

     - European release only
  • Mr. George - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Hush
    Hush (band)
    Hush was a 1970s Australian glam rock pop group and became famous during frequent appearances on the ABC show Countdown for live concerts and teenagers, and they would not have come into existence without the superb John Koutts on drums....

     - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

     (debut single release only)
  • Silver Studs - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Demis Roussos
    Demis Roussos
    Artemios Ventouris Roussos is a Greek singer and performer, best known for being the main musical partner of movie soundtrack composer Vangelis and a string of international hit records as a solo performer in the 1960s and 1970s...

     - Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

  • Nana Mouskouri
    Nana Mouskouri
    Nana Mouskouri , born Ioánna Moúschouri on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece, is a Greek singer who has sold about 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time. She was known as Nána to her friends and...

     - Greece
    Greece
    Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

  • Guys 'n' Dolls - England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

  • The Missing Links - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Janice Slater - Australia
    Australia
    Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

  • Elton John
    Elton John
    Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...

     (US singles from 1968-1970)
  • Mud
    Mud
    Mud is a mixture of water and some combination of soil, silt, and clay. Ancient mud deposits harden over geological time to form sedimentary rock such as shale or mudstone . When geological deposits of mud are formed in estuaries the resultant layers are termed bay muds...

     - England
    England
    England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

     (1969, but also on Philips in Europe from 1975–1977)
  • Thunderthighs
    Thunderthighs
    Thunderthighs were a high-profile UK backing vocal group, who quickly became artists in their own right.-Career:The female trio, consisting of Karen Friedman, Dari Lalou and Casey Synge, provided the backing vocals to Lou Reed's hit single, "Walk on the Wild Side"...

     - England
  • 5,000 Volts - England
  • Lena Zavaroni
    Lena Zavaroni
    Lena Hilda Zavaroni was a Scottish child singer and a television show host. With her album Ma! He's Making Eyes At Me at ten years of age, she is the youngest person in history to have an album in the UK album chart top ten. Later in life she hosted TV shows and appeared on stage...

     - Scotland
  • Blue Cheer
    Blue Cheer
    Blue Cheer was an American psychedelic blues-rock band that initially performed and recorded in the late 1960s and early 1970s and was sporadically active until 2009...

     - San Francisco, California
    San Francisco, California
    San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

    , United States
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  • Teresa Brewer
    Teresa Brewer
    Teresa Brewer was an American pop singer whose style incorporated elements of country, jazz, R&B, musicals and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of the 1950s, recording nearly 600 songs. Born Theresa Breuer in Toledo, Ohio, Brewer died of a neuromuscular...

     - Toledo, Ohio
    Toledo, Ohio
    Toledo is the fourth most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Lucas County. Toledo is in northwest Ohio, on the western end of Lake Erie, and borders the State of Michigan...

    , United States
  • Cluster
    Cluster (band)
    Cluster is a German experimental musical group who influenced the development of contemporary popular electronic and ambient music. They have recorded albums in a wide variety of styles ranging from experimental music to progressive rock, all of which had an avant-garde edge. Cluster has been...

     - Berlin
    Berlin
    Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

    , Germany
  • Ray Conniff
    Ray Conniff
    Joseph Raymond Conniff was an American bandleader and arranger best known for his Ray Conniff Singers during the 1960s.-Biography:...

     (licensed from US Columbia Records
    Columbia Records
    Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

    )
  • Teresa De Sio
    Teresa De Sio
    Teresa De Sio is an Italian folk singer-songwriter and the sister of the actress Giuliana De Sio.-Biography and career:She was born in Naples and lived in Cava de' Tirreni, the originary town of her family...

     - Cava de' Tirreni
    Cava de' Tirreni
    Cava de’ Tirreni is a city and comune in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 10 km northwest of the town of Salerno...

    , Italy
  • Val Doonican
    Val Doonican
    Val Doonican is an Irish singer. From 1965 to 1986 he was a regular fixture on the BBC Television's schedule with The Val Doonican Show, which featured his own singing performances and a variety of guest artists...

     - Ireland
    Ireland
    Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

  • Ekseption
    Ekseption
    Ekseption was a Dutch progressive rock ensemble with changing membership, active from 1967 to 1989, growing out of the bands The Jokers and Incrowd. The group started out playing jazz, pop and R&B covers...

     - Netherlands
    Netherlands
    The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

  • The Four Pennies
    The Four Pennies
    The Four Pennies were an English, 1960s pop group, most notable for their 1964 UK chart topping song, "Juliet". The group's name came after a meeting above the Blackburn music shop owned by Mary Reidy, the shop being situated on 'Penny Street' where it is still located today as "Reidy's Home of...

     - various, England
  • The Four Seasons
    The Four Seasons (group)
    The Four Seasons are an American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. The Vocal Group Hall of Fame has stated that the group was the most popular rock band before The Beatles...

     - Newark, New Jersey
  • Gong
    Gong (band)
    Gong is a Franco-British progressive/psychedelic rock band formed by Australian musician Daevid Allen. Their music has also been described as space rock. Other notable band members include Allan Holdsworth, Tim Blake, Didier Malherbe, Pip Pyle, Gilli Smyth, Steve Hillage, Francis Moze, Mike Howlett...

     – France
  • Johnny Hallyday
    Johnny Hallyday
    Johnny Hallyday is a French singer and actor. An icon in the French-speaking world since the beginning of his career, he was considered by some to have been the French Elvis Presley. He was married for 15 years to one of the most popular French female singers: Sylvie Vartan...

     - Paris
    Paris
    Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

    , France
  • Wes Harrison
    Wes Harrison
    Wes Harrison, also known as "Mr. Sound Effects", is an American comedian and voice actor, notable for his ability to create realistic sound effects using only his voice and a microphone. Wes Harrison makes all his sound effects without the help of tape recorders or other electronic devices...

     -
  • Bobby Hebb
    Bobby Hebb
    Bobby Hebb was an American singer and songwriter, best known for his writing and recording of "Sunny".-Biography:...

     - Nashville, Tennessee
    Nashville, Tennessee
    Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

    , United States
  • Johnny Horton
    Johnny Horton
    John Gale "Johnny" Horton was an American country music and rockabilly singer most famous for his semi-folk, so-called "saga songs" which began the "historical ballad" craze of the late 1950s and early 1960s...

     - (licensed from US Columbia Records
    Columbia Records
    Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

    )
  • Brian Hyland
    Brian Hyland
    Brian Hyland is an American pop recording artist who was particularly successful during the early 1960s. He continued recording into the 1970s...

     - Queens, New York
  • Jim and Jean
    Jim and Jean
    Jim and Jean, composed of Jim Glover and Jean Ray were an American folk music duo, who performed and recorded music from the early to the late 1960s....

     - New York City
    New York City
    New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

    , United States (1965)
  • Billy Joel
    Billy Joel
    William Martin "Billy" Joel is an American musician and pianist, singer-songwriter, and classical composer. Since releasing his first hit song, "Piano Man", in 1973, Joel has become the sixth best-selling recording artist and the third best-selling solo artist in the United States, according to...

     -
  • The Kaye Sisters
    The Kaye Sisters
    The Kaye Sisters were a trio of British pop singers, who scored several hits on the UK Singles Chart in the late 1950s and early 1960s.-Career:...

     - England
  • Kraftwerk
    Kraftwerk
    Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...

     - Düsseldorf
    Düsseldorf
    Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...

    , Germany
  • Frankie Laine
    Frankie Laine
    Frankie Laine, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio , was a successful American singer, songwriter, and actor whose career spanned 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of "That's My Desire" in 2005...

     (licensed from US Columbia Records)
  • Vicky Leandros
    Vicky Leandros
    Vicky Leandros is a Greek singer with a long international career. She is the daughter of singer, musician and composer Leandros Papathanasiou...

     - Greece/Germany
  • Los Paraguayos
    Los Paraguayos
    Los Paraguayos is a music group consisting of musicians from Paraguay. Since its foundation in the 1950s, the group has featured many singers and musicians, playing guitars, bongo drums and a Paraguayan harp, including Luis Alberto del Paraná and Carlos Espinoza...

     - Paraguay
    Paraguay
    Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...

  • Luv'
    Luv'
    Luv is a Dutch pop girl group that scored a string of hit records in Continental Europe as well as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Mexico in the late 1970s and early 1980s. In 1979, Luv' was "Holland's best export act" and thus received the "Conamus Export Prize"...

     - Netherlands
  • Harvey Mandel
    Harvey Mandel
    Harvey Mandel is an American guitarist known for his innovative approach to electric guitar playing. A professional at twenty, he played with Charlie Musselwhite, Canned Heat, The Rolling Stones, and John Mayall before starting a solo career...

     - Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit, Michigan
    Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...

  • Manfred Mann's Earth Band
    Manfred Mann's Earth Band
    Manfred Mann's Earth Band is a British progressive rock group formed in 1971 by Manfred Mann.-Formation:Having started in the 1960s with a British band that had such hits as "Do Wah Diddy Diddy" and "The Mighty Quinn", then moving on to Jazz Fusion with Manfred Mann's Chapter Three, Manfred's third...

     - European release only
  • Susan Maughan
    Susan Maughan
    Susan Maughan is an English singer who released successful singles in the 1960s.-Career:...

     - Consett, County Durham
  • Paul Mauriat
    Paul Mauriat
    Paul Mauriat was a French orchestra leader, specializing in light music. He is best known in the United States for his million selling remake of André Popp's "Love is Blue", which was #1 for 5 weeks in 1968...

     - Marseille
    Marseille
    Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

    , France
  • Roger Miller
    Roger Miller
    Roger Dean Miller was an American singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known for his honky tonk-influenced novelty songs...

     - Nashville
    Nashville, Tennessee
    Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

    , Tennessee
  • Guy Mitchell
    Guy Mitchell
    Guy Mitchell, born Albert George Cernik, was an American pop singer, successful in his homeland, the U.K. and Australia...

     (licensed from US Columbia)
  • Mouth & MacNeal
    Mouth & MacNeal
    Mouth & MacNeal was a pop duo from the Netherlands. They are best known for their million selling recording of "How Do You Do".-Career:They were formed in 1971 when record producer Hans van Hemert brought together the solo talent of Mouth and Maggie MacNeal...

     - Netherlands
  • New Vaudeville Band - England
  • Peters and Lee
    Peters and Lee
    Peters and Lee were a successful British folk/pop duo of the 1970s, comprising Lennie Peters and Dianne Lee .-Background:...

     - England
  • Ajda Pekkan
    Ajda Pekkan
    Ayşe Ajda Pekkan is a Turkish pop singer and actress. Through a career spanning five decades thus far, Pekkan has released more than 20 albums and, with Sezen Aksu, is the most commercially successful female Turkish music artist with the sales of over 30 million copies worldwide. She is nicknamed...

     - Turkey
  • Johnnie Ray
    Johnnie Ray
    Johnnie Ray was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor of what would become rock and roll, for his jazz and blues-influenced music and his animated stage personality.-Early life:John Alvin Ray was born in...

     (licensed from US Columbia
    Columbia Records
    Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...

    )
  • Richard and the Young Lions
    Richard and the Young Lions
    Richard and the Young Lions was an American garage rock band from Newark, New Jersey.-Career:The Young Lions were originally called The Emeralds before Richard Tepp joined the band...

     - Newark, New Jersey
    Newark, New Jersey
    Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...

    , United States
  • Serendipity Singers - Boulder, Colorado
    Boulder, Colorado
    Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

    , United States
  • Nina Simone
    Nina Simone
    Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...

     - Tryon, North Carolina
    Tryon, North Carolina
    Tryon is a town in Polk County, North Carolina, United States. According to the 2000 Census the population of Tryon was 1,760. The area is a center for equestrian activity and fine arts....

    , United States
  • The Singing Nun
    The Singing Nun
    Jeanine Deckers , known in English as The Singing Nun, was a Belgian nun, and a member of the Dominican Fichermont Convent in Belgium. She became internationally famous in 1963 as Sœur Sourire when she scored a hit with the song "Dominique"...

     - Fichermont, Belgium
    Belgium
    Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

  • Dusty Springfield
    Dusty Springfield
    Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

     - West Hampstead, London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

  • The Springfields
    The Springfields
    The Springfields were a British pop-folk vocal trio who had success in the early 1960s in the UK, US and Ireland and included singer Dusty Springfield and her brother, record producer Tom Springfield, along with Tim Feild, later a noted Sufi writer, who was latterly replaced by Mike Hurst, who...

     - London
    London
    London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

  • The Swingle Singers
    The Swingle Singers
    The Swingle Singers are a mostly a cappella vocal group formed in 1962 in Paris, France by Ward Swingle with Anne Germain, Jeanette Baucomont, Jean Cussac and others. Christiane Legrand, the sister of composer Michel Legrand, was the group's lead soprano through 1972. Until 2011 the group...

     - Paris, France
  • Wally Tax
    Wally Tax
    Wally Tax was a Dutch singer and songwriter, best known as founder and frontman of the Nederbeat group The Outsiders. After commercial and artistic success with The Outsiders in the late 1960s, he had a brief solo career in the 1970s, and then was a successful songwriter, producing a number of hit...

     - Amsterdam
    Amsterdam
    Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...

    , Netherlands
  • Frankie Vaughan
    Frankie Vaughan
    Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...

     - Liverpool
    Liverpool
    Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

    , England
  • The Walker Brothers
    The Walker Brothers
    The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...

     - Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles, California
    Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

    , United States; based in London from Feb. 1965
  • John Walker
    The Walker Brothers
    The Walker Brothers were an American 1960s and 1970s pop group, comprising Scott Engel , John Walker , and Gary Leeds...

     - New York, United States
  • Scott Walker
    Scott Walker (singer)
    Scott Walker, born Noel Scott Engel on January 9, 1943 is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and the former lead singer of The Walker Brothers. Despite being American born, Walker's chart success has largely come in the United Kingdom, where his first four solo albums...

     - Hamilton, Ohio
    Hamilton, Ohio
    Hamilton is a city in Butler County, southwestern Ohio, United States. The population was 62,447 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Butler County. The city is part of the Cincinnati metropolitan area....

    , United States
  • David Whitfield
    David Whitfield
    David Whitfield was a popular British male tenor vocalist. This operatic-style tenor had a formidable and predominantly female fan base in the 1950s.-Life and career:...

     - England
  • Marty Wilde
    Marty Wilde
    Marty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...

     - Greenwich, South London
  • Terry Wogan
    Terry Wogan
    Sir Michael Terence Wogan, KBE, DL , or also known as Terry Wogan, is a veteran Irish radio and television broadcaster who holds dual Irish and British citizenship. Wogan has worked for the BBC in the United Kingdom for most of his career...

    - Limerick, Éire

External links