Colgems Records
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Colgems Records was a record label which existed from 1966 to 1971. It was a joint venture between Columbia-Screen Gems and RCA Records, to issue records by The Monkees and other Screen Gems artists. The label would also soundtrack recordings for Screen Gems and Columbia Pictures productions. RCA acted as manufacturer and distributor for Colgems. (Outside the United States, all Colgems productions appeared on the RCA Victor label.)
An earlier label, Colpix Records, was dissolved to make way for the new company, and nearly all Colpix titles went out of print. (One Colpix album was reissued on Colgems; the soundtrack to the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.) Ironically, even before the Monkees began, Colpix had signed two future members – Davy Jones, recruited to Screen Gems by Ward Sylvester, and Michael Nesmith, who recorded as "Michael Blessing".
Besides Monkees records, Colgems distributed albums by Sally Field (star of Gidget and The Flying Nun), Jewel Atkins, Sajid Kahn (star of the short-lived NBC-TV series "Maya"), Paula Wayne, the Lewis & Clarke Expedition (whose members included Michael Martin Murphy). Hoyt Axton and comedian Rich Little released singles on Colgems, and the soundtracks to Casino Royale, Oliver!, In Cold Blood, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? also appeared on the label.
Colgems Records slumped after the critical and commercial failure of the last Monkees album Changes, which featured only Jones and Micky Dolenz. The label's final release, titled A Barrel Full of Monkees and showcasing its flagship act, appeared in 1971 but sold very poorly. Colgems then closed, and its master recordings and artists were folded into a new Columbia-Screen Gems label, Bell Records, which later evolved into Arista Records.
The Colgems catalogue (along with the catalogues of Colpix Records and Dimension Records) were not included when Columbia Pictures sold Arista. They were licensed to Rhino Records.
A related label to Colgems was SGC Records (Screen Gems-Columbia), which issued albums by The Nazz through Atlantic Records, in a distribution deal similar to the one Screen Gems held with RCA.
