Dot Records
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Dot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B (later black gospel) air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen. The label was known to hire artists to record remakes of their previous hits.
The original headquarters of Dot Records were in Gallatin, Tennessee, in fact many of the older recording were recorded in radio station WHIN, which Wood owned at the time. In 1956, the company moved to Hollywood, California.
In its early years, the label specialized in artists from around Tennessee. Then it branched out to include musicians and singers from across the United States. It recorded a variety of country music, rhythm & blues, polkas & waltzes, gospel music, rockabilly, pop music, and early rock & roll. After the move to Hollywood, Dot Records bought up many recordings by small local independent labels and issued them nationally.
In 1957, Wood sold ownership of the label to Paramount Pictures, but he remained the president of the company for another decade. In 1958, Dot Records started a subsidiary label, Hamilton Records, for rockabilly and rhythm & blues. They distributed Jeff Barry's Steed Records and also distributed the only record from Carnival Records. In addition, Dot Records created two other subsidiary labels: Crystalette and Acta. In 1967, Dot Records acquired the DynoVoice label from Bell Records. In 1967, Randy Wood left to co-found the Ranwood Records label with Lawrence Welk.
Pat Boone recorded his most popular songs for the label, issued in the United Kingdom on the London label. Both Boones albums and singles were very successful.
Eddie Fisher recorded some of his later albums for the label, Eddie Fisher Today was the most popular and included popular standards of the day, but he did not have a massive single hit of the label in his time with them.
In 1968, after Paramount was bought out by Gulf and Western, the Dot Records label was rebranded as a country music label under the umbrella of Famous Music Group. This included the Paramount, Neighborhood, Blue Thumb and Sire labels. In 1974, the label was bought by ABC Records, which discontinued the label in 1977. ABC Records itself was sold to MCA Records in 1979. The Dot/Paramount catalog is now owned by Universal Music Group, with Geffen Records (which absorbed MCA Records) managing the pop/rock back catalog, and MCA Nashville Records managing the country back catalog.
Dot Records artists
- Arthur Alexander
- Steve Allen
- Andrews Sisters
- The Fairmount Singers
- Pat Boone
- Children of Rain
- Walter Brennan
- Jimmy Boyd
- Rusty Bryant
- Jo Anne Castle
- The Chantays
- Roy Clark
- Sanford Clark
- The Dartells
- Lonnie Donegan
- Donna Fargo
- Fear Itself
- Freddy Fender
- Eddie Fisher
- Fontane Sisters
- Jimmy Gilmer & The Fireballs
- Bonnie Guitar
- Roy Head (The Story of Roy Head and The Traits)
- The Hilltoppers
- Tab Hunter
- Gunilla Hutton
- The Illusion (Steed)
- Tommy Jackson
- Jack Kerouac
- Anita Kerr
- Andy Kim (Steed)
- Sonny Knight
- Lennon Sisters
- Liberace
- Jim Lowe
- Robin Luke
- Johnny Maddox
- Barbara Mandrell
- Wink Martindale
- Robin McNamara (Steed)
- Mills Brothers
- Vaughn Monroe
- Leonard Nimoy
- Nervous Norvus
- Larry Novak
- Tommy Overstreet
- Eddie Peabody
- Louis Prima
- Jimmie Rodgers
- Mitch Ryder (DynoVoice)
- John Wesley Ryles
- Lalo Schifrin
- John Serry, Sr.
- Six Fat Dutchmen
- Keely Smith
- Jo-El Sonnier
- Dodie Stevens (Crystalette & Dot)
- Gale Storm
- The Surfaris
- Diana Trask
- The Counts
- Billy Vaughn
- Robin Ward
- Lawrence Welk
- Margaret Whiting
- Jimmy Dee
- Mac Wiseman
- Barry Young
- Mint Tattoo
See also
