K-tel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
K-tel International is an "As-Seen-On-TV" company, which is most noted for their compilation music albums such as "The Super Hits" series, "The Dynamic Hits" series and "The Number One Hits" series. They are also known for "The Record Selector"," The Micro-Roast", and "The Tote-a-Tune portable stereo", and many other products. They have been in the business for over forty years and are based in Plymouth, Minnesota and in the UK. In the UK, they are known as "K-tel UK Limited". In the US, they are known as "K-tel International".
K-tel was founded in the early 1960s in Winnipeg, Manitoba by Philip Kives. After a very successful 1970s, the Company heavily invested in real estate and oil exploration in the early 80's and eventually filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection only to be rescued out of hard times by new CEO Mickey Elfenbein in 1984. Elfenbein remained CEO of the Company well into the late 90's during which period the company achieved worldwide sales in excess of $100 million, had a successful NASDAQ IPO and Elfenbein was recognized by Business Week Magazine in 1994 as the CEO of the 7th best publicly traded company in the country based on growth and profitability.
In 1995 the Company released the "Club Mix" dance compilation series which became the highest selling music series in the Company's history with several RIAA Gold and Platinum certifications, the Club Mix dance series was created and executive produced by Elfenbein's son Mark who was VP of A&R for the Company throughout the 90's.
K-tel today remains one of the most well known brands associated with TV marketing and the music industry.
[edit] References
- On Second City Television, Dave Thomas played a character named Harvey K-Tel, an announcer who specialized in the loud patter typified by K-Tel commercials. His name was a play on the name of actor Harvey Keitel. Much later, Thomas would narrate a documentary film about the history of the company.
