Cadence Records
Cadence Records was an American music label based in New York . It was founded in 1952 by Archie Bleyer , who was previously musical director and band leader on Arthur Godfrey's talent shows.
The first record star at Cadence was Godfrey's protégé Julius La Rosa . His first single "Anywhere I Wander" , which was also the first Cadence release, made it into the Top 30 , while the third La Rosa single "Eh, Cumpari" (1953) became a number one hit in the charts of Cash Box Magazine and number two on the Billboard charts.
Other artists who appeared on Godfrey's shows joined Bleyer's record label, including the Chordettes . Cadence also produced the early hits of Andy Williams , the Everly Brothers and first tracks by Kirby Stone Four . Johnny Tillotson also became one of the stars of the record company. Pianist Donald Shirley was also under contract with Cadence in the 1950s and 1960s . For a short time the record company also had a special label for jazz productions called Candid Records .
Cadence produced many hit records in the 1950s and 1960s, including the US bestseller "The First Family," a parody of comedian and impersonator Vaughn Meader of the family of US President John F. Kennedy . Within two months of its October 1962 release, the album sold a million copies, a record at the time; by the end of the following year, 7.5 million copies had gone over the counter.
Andy Williams and the Everly Brothers left the label in the early 1960s. This and the changes in the music business that were triggered by the British Invasion led to the demise of Cadence Records by 1964 . Bleyer closed his record label. Andy Williams bought the master tapes from him, mainly to prevent Cadence from releasing his old material in competition with new recordings for Columbia Records . He founded Barnaby Records to manage the Cadence catalog, but had his own material re-released on Columbia .