| Bell Records | |
|---|---|
| Parent company | Columbia Pictures Industries |
| Founded | 1952 |
| Status | Defunct, November 1974 (fate: reorganized into Arista Records) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, the owner of children's record label Golden Records,[1] and initially a unit of Pocket Books,[2] after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records.[3] A British branch was also active in the 1960s and 1970s. Bell Records was reorganized in November 1974, which was the birth of Arista Records.
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Upon its inception in 1952, Bell specialized in budget generic pop music, with the slogan "music for the millions". Originally sold on seven-inch 78rpm and 45rpm records for 39 cents (US), this style of music went out of fashion as rock and roll became more prevalent. Sound-alike cover versions of hit records were also issued on 78rpm as well as 45rpm disks priced at 49 cents.
One of these records was by "Tom & Jerry" who would later be famous using their real names Simon & Garfunkel.[4]
Instead of being pressed into vinyl like a normal 7-inch disc,these records were injection molded using polystyrene, which had either glued-on labels or the label information was printed directly on the polystyrene, rendering many copies almost unreadable. Except for a very few promo copies, all Bell and associated label 45rpm records were similarly injection-molded all the way into the 1970s.[5][6]
As Al Massler, the head of record manufacturer Bestway Products, had become head of Bell Records in 1959, Mala Records was then formed as a Bell subsidiary label, specializing in rock and roll along with rhythm and blues .[7]
In 1960, Amy Records was formed as yet another subsidiary label, focusing on a lot of what would come to be known as northern soul and/or blue-eyed soul acts. The following year, Larry Uttal folded his Madison Records label into Bell after purchasing the label, along with its Amy and Mala subsidiary labels. Concentrating his efforts on the Amy and Mala labels, Uttal rendered the Bell parent label dormant until 1964, when the label was revived, featuring a logo utilizing a stylized "BELL" word mark shaped like a bell.
In 1966, the Bell label was expanded internationally[8] and the company decided to issue all their albums, even for Amy and Mala acts, on the Bell label, and went on to issue several hit singles, including, "I'm Your Puppet" by James and Bobby Purify in 1966, "The Letter" by The Box Tops (the single on Mala, the album on Bell) in 1967, "Angel of the Morning" by Merrilee Rush & The Turnabouts in 1968, and "Gimme Gimme Good Lovin" by Crazy Elephant in 1969.
Later that year, after the three labels were merged into a single unit, retaining the Bell moniker, the combined company was then acquired by Colgems Records' parent company Columbia Pictures, expanding its roster of acts when Colgems, previously distributed by RCA, was folded into the newly purchased company. Retaining ownership of a portion of the new company and remaining as Bell's president, Larry Uttal was instrumental in signing many soon-to-be-famous acts such as The Partridge Family, Ricky Segall, The 5th Dimension and Tony Orlando & Dawn as well as adopting a new logo:
By 1970, the Bell label was more successful with pop music singles, and less successful with more lucrative pop music LPs. When Uttal left the company in 1974 to begin his own label Private Stock Records, Columbia Pictures music consultant Clive Davis, took over as President and would merge the various Columbia Pictures legacy labels (Colpix Records, Colgems Records, and Bell) into a new entity renamed Arista Records later that year,[9] ultimately buying a percentage of the company from Columbia.
Bell had its final #1 hit in January 1975 with Barry Manilow's "Mandy" (Bell 45,613), followed shortly by the label's final hit, as well as its final single, "Look in My Eyes Pretty Woman" by Tony Orlando and Dawn (Bell 45,620—US #11) after which the more successful Bell albums were reissued on Arista. The very last releases utilizing the Bell imprint have the designation "Bell Records, Distributed by Arista Records, 1776 Broadway, New York, New York 10019" around the rim of the label.
The British branch was established in 1967.[10] Previous British issues of Bell recordings were on EMI's Stateside Records. Bell/Amy/Mala's association with EMI dates back to 1964.[11] Bell Records in London was headed by Dick Leahy and distributed by EMI (In other foreign territories, Polydor handled distribution which later picked up British distribution.). Artists signed to them included the Bay City Rollers, Gary Glitter, Showaddywaddy, The Glitter Band, and The Partridge Family with David Cassidy. Other artists on the label included Barry Blue, Barry Manilow, Terry Jacks, Hello, The Piglets, The Pearls and Harley Quinne, The Drifters and the UK releases of The Box Tops.
Bell UK initially kept its identity when Bell US was reorganized into Arista in 1974,[12] but a year later, although releases continued on the UK Bell label until 1976, the UK label adopted the Arista name in 1975.[13] Showaddywaddy released the last Bell single, "Under the Moon of Love", which reached No.1 in December 1976 [14] before Arista UK briefly revived the label in 1981.[15]
The former catalog of Bell Records and its related labels is now owned by Sony Music Entertainment (now a sister company of Columbia Pictures) and managed by Legacy Recordings.
Bell also had three oldies reissue labels in its history...
The following artists have had at least one recording released on the Bell Records label or one of its subsidiaries.
(In alphabetical order)