Light Records
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Light Records was a seminal gospel record label founded in 1966 by Ralph Carmichael as a joint venture with the Waco, Texas-based Word Records.
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[edit] History
Early-on, Light Records' first roster included Ralph Carmichael, the Carmichael Young People, Ralph Carmichael's 102 Strings recordings, and Ralph's daughter Kim (Carol) Carmichael. Other artists included Jimmy Durante and Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of Tony the Tiger in cereal commercials). Light moved into Gospel music quickly, with the 1968 signing of future Grammy-winners Andrae Crouch & the Disciples. Soon after, other gospel artists The Winans, Walter Hawkins, Tramaine Hawkins, and Bob Bailey joined the roster. For a time, Light was also home to Contemporary Christian artists such as Sweet Comfort Band and Carman.[1]
Word Records was sold to ABC Records in 1974. In June 1980, Carmichael bought Word's half of Lexicon/Light from ABC/Capitol Cities. Light's headquarters later moved to Newbury Park, California. After having become largely defunct in the late 80's, Light Records was acquired by Platinum Entertainment in 1993. Platinum filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2001 and reemerged from bankruptcy as Compendia Music Group in January 2002. With that, Light was reinstated as a Gospel music label. Since then, Compendia Music Group was acquired by Sheridan Square Entertainment in December 2004. Subsequently in 2006, the gospel division of Artemis Records and Light Records were merged.[2]
[edit] Artist roster
[edit] Current
- Coko
- Chris Lewis
- Judith Christie McAllister
- Judah Generation
- Mighty Clouds Of Joy
- Bishop Paul S. Morton
- RiZen
- Vanessa Williams
[edit] Past
- Allies
- Carman
- Commissioned
- Andrae Crouch
- Dino
- Bryan Duncan
- Tramaine Hawkins
- Walter Hawkins
- Dony McGuire
- Jubilant Sykes
- The Winans
- Vickie Winans
- Sweet Comfort Band
- Reba Rambo
- Resurrection Band
[edit] References
- ^ Light Records (History). MyMusicWay.
- ^ Artemis Gospel & Light Records Become One. GospelCity.com (June 19, 2006).
[edit] Furthur reading
- Mount, Daniel J. (2005). A City on a Hilltop? The History of Contemporary Christian Music, 16-17. Retrieved on February 12, 2007.
- Powell, Mark Allan (2002). "Ralph Carmichael", Encyclopedia of Contemporary Christian Music, First printing, Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 144-145. ISBN 1-56563-679-1.
