DiscReet Records
DiscReet Records was an American music label founded in 1972 by composer and rock musician Frank Zappa and his manager Herb Cohen . Until 1979, under the umbrella of Warner Bros. Records , material by other artists, including Ted Nugent and Tim Buckley , appeared alongside all productions by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention .
history
Zappa and Cohen founded DiscReet Records in 1972. The reason was the upcoming expiry of the contract between Warner and Bizarre / Straight in the spring of 1973 . The new company was based on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. Zappa, Cohen and their new business partner Zach Glickman signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records, which took over the worldwide distribution of the DiscReet productions.
The first release on the new label was the Mothers album Over-Nite Sensation , which came on September 7, 1973 on the market. The album climbed to number 32 on the Billboard Hit Parade and earned Zappa and the Mothers their first gold record . Inspired by this success, Zappa released his next album at the end of March 1974. Apostrophe (') was heavily promoted by Warner, the album reached 18th place in the hit parade of "Cash Box" magazine, and even made it into the top 10 in the Billboard charts - this album was also "gold-plated" . The single "Don't Eat The Yellow Snow" / "Cosmik Debris", released in autumn of that year - the track was shortened and remixed compared to the LP version - reached number 86 on the charts.
In the initial phase, other productions of the label also seemed to be crowned with success. From the country-rock singer Kathy Dalton, whose recordings and Lowell George of Little Feat is heard first two singles were published 1974th The second - "Boogie Bands And One Night Stands" - placed 72 on the Billboard charts. In addition to the experimental singer-songwriter Tim Buckley, who had already released records on Zappa's Straight label, Cohen had hired a number of other artists for DiscReet Records : the hard rock band Whiz Kids, the pop singer Keith, who with "98.6" im 1967 a top 10 hit single, had the former singer of Black Oak Arkansas , Brenda Patterson, the in rock Southern be resettled singer-songwriter Denis Bryant (now Bryant Sterling), Christopher Bond, the rock band Growl and Ted Nugent and his band the Amboy Dukes.
Zappa did not agree with Cohen's artistic personnel policy. As his biographer Barry Miles wrote, he "felt like he had lost control of DiscReet ". (P. 291) As a result, Zappa signed its own contract with Warner. He wanted his next album, One Size Fits All, to come out there, not on DiscReet . This not only led to delays in the delivery of the record, the internal rift was obvious. Zappa fired Cohen in May 1976. The ensuing legal battle dragged on until 1982 and had far-reaching consequences for Zappa. Until the end of the process, he was unable to access his film and tape archives stored at DiscReet , practically all of his financial assets were frozen, he was no longer allowed to use the band name The Mothers of Invention, and the delivery of the album Zoot Allures was delayed.
When the conflict began, only albums by Zappa and the Mothers of Invention appeared on DiscReet , but no other productions by other artists. After the release of the album Orchestral Favorites in May 1979, the label stopped working.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Barry Miles: Zappa . German edition. Rogner & Bernhard at two thousand and one. 2005. ISBN 3-8077-1010-8 .
literature
- Barry Miles: Zappa . German edition. Rogner & Bernhard at two thousand and one. 2005. ISBN 3-8077-1010-8 .