Tabu Records

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Tabu Records was founded by Clarence Avant. Avant had founded this label after he folded Sussex when its distributor Buddha was picked up by Arista Records in 1976.

The label focused on R&B and funk. Its flagship release, “Stormin'” by Brainstorm hit the stores in 1977. Tabu had a short-lived distribution pact with RCA which lasted only a year before moving to CBS Records.

Disco music was the big thing then and Tabu really tried to venture out into different music styles, with artists like Sharon Riley and Lalo Schifrin (of Mission: Impossible fame). It hit paydirt with The SOS Band in 1980 with "Take Your Time (Do It Right)" and its subsequent album S.O.S.

In 1982, the label languished for a few months until 1983 when it struck paydirt again. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis of The Time were hired to produce The SOS Band's third album, On the Rise. As they were recording in SOS's home stomping grounds in Atlanta, Georgia, a freak snowstorm hit grounding all flights from the city. They were supposed to perform in Houston that night but couldn't get away. Prince, who did own and manage The Time, fired them. The rest became history.

Working with Jam and Lewis gave Tabu a much-needed shot in the arm. They had brought Cherelle and Alexander O'Neal (the original Time lead vocalist) to the label and both had hit the ground running with Alexander O'Neal's self-titled and Cherrelle's "Fragile" began to smoke the American R&B charts. The SOS Band hit more lightning strikes with "The Way You Like It" in 1984 and "Sands of Time" in 1986. So influential was the sound that Robert Palmer covered Cherelle's "I Didn't Mean To Turn You On" in 1986 and Beats International covered The SOS Band's "Just Be Good To Me" in 1990. In 1986, Cherelle and Alexander O'Neal sang the duet "Saturday Love" which was a bigger hit in the UK but catch on with American radio. Other acts like Kid Fire and Demetrius Perry recorded on this label.

But things began to take a weird turn for the label. Despite all of the good music released by the label, Epic Associated became Sony Music Entertainment in 1988 but didn't flex these muscles until 1990. Tabu released one knock-off by The SOS Band called "Diamonds in the Raw". It didn't do well at all. In the same year, Alexander O'Neal's "All True Man" was the last album Tabu released under the new Sony regime.

In 1991, the label reappeared through A&M Records, distributing it from 1991 until 1993. The label released four albums and about 20 singles. Probably as a result of the sale of A&M to PolyGram as well as other labels it purchased and its restructuring to become profitable, PolyGram tried to group record labels. Avant was hired to run Motown (another PolyGram label) in 1993 and he brought Tabu with him. It had released collections by The SOS Band, Alexander O'Neal and Cherelle while breaking ground on other artists like Lucky Dube and Identity Crisis.

However, this was short-lived as well. In 1999, Seagram bought PolyGram and merged it with the MCA family of labels, which became Universal Music Group Staffs at Motown, A&M and Geffen were slashed: Motown went to Universal while A&M and Geffen became part of the Interscope/Geffen/A&M/ Group. Tabu disappeared once more.