Moonglow Records
| Moonglow Records | |
|---|---|
 Logo of the label |
|
| Parent company | Ronnex Records |
| Active years | approx. 1955 1961–1967 |
| founder |
Albert van Hoogten Ray Maxwell |
| Seat |
Woodside , New York Los Angeles , California |
| Sub-label | PEP Records |
| distribution | Atco Records (from 1963) |
| Genre (s) | pop music |
Moonglow Records was an American music label best known for its releases by the early Righteous Brothers .
Albert van Hoogten , owner of the Belgian record label Ronnex Records since the early 1950s , sent his brother Rene Jan to New York in the mid-1950s to set up Moonglow Records. Rene Jan changed his name, which is difficult for Americans to pronounce, to "Ray Maxwell". The label's New York phase was short-lived and saw some re-releases of Sammy Masters and His Rocking Rhythm from his single discography on 4-Star Records from 1958.
Maxwell moved to Los Angeles in 1961 , where he revived the label. There was then no longer any talk of the Belgian parent company. Maxwell was label boss, president, producer and supervisor as well as publisher with "Ray Maxwell Music" in one person. The first dozen single releases remained largely ignored by the buyers. With Moonglow 214, a single was finally released by the Paramours , which had switched from Smash Records to Moonglow , in which the still unknown Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield sang their blue-eyed soul . Shortly thereafter, the two left the band to release as The Righteous Brothers . The Bill medley composition Little Latin Lupe Lu appeared on Moonglow 215, which reached 49th place on the American pop charts in May 1963. Medley recalls that the subsequent tour to promote the hit single tended to hurt sales because it was the only way many DJs who specialize in black musicians would have realized that the Brothers were white. After each single as a solo artist, the follow-up single by the Righteous Brothers My Babe came in September 1963 at number 75 on the charts. The third single, Koko Joe, missed the charts. From 1963 Atco Records took over the distribution of the label.
For the European and especially the Belgian market, Moonglow Records released their own series of singles. The former sold a large number of well-known American R&B , rock 'n' roll and soul artists. In Belgium mainly German and Flemish hits were released.
With Right Now! the first of a total of four LPs by the Righteous Brothers appeared on Moonglow. It was at this time that Phil Spector became aware of the duo and in September 1964 Spector and Maxwell agreed on a collaboration: Spector took over the Brothers under contract, while Maxwell retained the right for the publications abroad. In the same year, the number one hit You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' and shortly afterwards other hits like Just Once In My Life or the Unchained Melody appeared on Spector's label Philles Records . Moonglow Records reacted by re-releasing the unsuccessful albums of the Righteous Brothers from previous years and thus subsequently making profit from their success. Since Moonglow had hardly any material to show apart from the Righteous Brothers catalog, this was cannibalized by re-editions until 1966. After all, Moonglow had earned so much reputation that some new artists could be signed. In 1967, Moonglow 5026 was the last single before Maxwell sold his master tapes to Verve Records .
LP discography
- 1001 - The Righteous Brothers - Right Now!
- 1002 - The Righteous Brothers - Some Blue Eyed Soul
- 1003 - The Righteous Brothers - This Is New
- 1004 - The Righteous Brothers - Best Of The Righteous Brothers
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Peter Richmond: Moonglow Records US Discography. (No longer available online.) In: Righteous Brothers Discography. December 3, 2011, archived from the original on July 29, 2012 ; accessed on February 23, 2012 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b c David Edwards, Patrice Eyries, Mike Callahan: Moonglow Album Discography. In: Both Sides Now. September 23, 2005, accessed February 23, 2012 .
- ^ Roger Timmermans: Moonglow Records - EU. In: 15 Jaar Belgian hit parade. January 1955 - December 1969. De jaren zestig en voorgeschiedenis. Retrieved February 23, 2012 (Dutch).
