Old Town Records
Old Town Records was an independent record label for records based in New York City , which existed from 1953 to 1966.
history
The record company was founded in 1953 by the Romanian-born Hyman Weiss (who died in 2011), who later took his brother Sam into the company. Old Town was initially located on New York's 125th Street and moved to Tenth Avenue in 1960 after several moves. The label focused on the style of rhythm and blues and took mainly performers from the New York region under contract. Since Weiss had good contacts with disc jockey Alan Freed , he was able to play the Old Town records on the popular New York radio stations WABC and WINS.
The first record was released in 1953 with the Harlem high school group The Five Crowns, under catalog number 790 it contained the two tracks Good Luck Darling / You Could Be My Love . In 1954 Weiss signed the newly formed group The Solitaires and began a new series of catalog numbers with the first record Blue Valentine / Wonder Why , which began with 1000. The first sales successes began with the Solitaires, and from 1958 Old Town records could be placed on the Billboard Hot 100 . It all started with the Robert & Johnny title We Belong Together , which reached rank 32. Billy Bland was the only Old Town interpreter to jump into the top 10 charts. With the title Let the Little Girl Dance , published in 1960 , he reached 7th place on the Billboard Hot 100. The most successful title, however, was There's a Moon Out Tonight , released in the fall of 1960 with the Capris . He reached his top position on February 27, 1961 with third place.
From 1963 the sale of Old Town records stagnated. Only Arthur Prysock was able to assert himself at the bottom of the charts. With its single Because / Let It Be Me (# 1196), Old Town temporarily ceased operations in 1966. In the 1970s a few more records with Arthur Prysock appeared under the Old Town label, until it finally disappeared from the market in 1978. Between 1953 and 1966, Old Town released just over 200 singles and around 20 long-playing records. Its founder, Hyman Weiss, died on March 21, 2007 in Englewood , New Jersey .
Old Town Singles on Billboard
| Cat.No. | Interpreter | title | Hot 100 | R&B | year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1047 | Robert and Johnny | We Belong Together | 32. | 1958 | |
| 1052 | Robert and Johnny | I believe in you | 93. | 1958 | |
| 1062 | The fiestas | So fine | 11. | 3. | 1958 |
| 1122 | The fiestas | Broken Heart | 81. | 18th | 1962 |
| 1076 | Billy Bland | Let the Little Girl Dance | 7th | 11. | 1960 |
| 1079 | Arthur Prysock | The Very Thought of You | 19th | 1960 | |
| 1082 | Billy Bland | You Were Born to Be Loved | 94. | 1960 | |
| 1088 | Billy Bland | Harmony | 91. | 1960 | |
| 1094 | The Capris | There's a Moon Out Tonight | 3. | 1960 | |
| 1099 | The Capris | Where I Fell in Love | 74. | 1961 | |
| 1106 | Arthur Prysock | One more time | 30th | 1961 | |
| 1105 | Billy Bland | My Heart's on Fire | 90. | 1961 | |
| 1107 | The Capris | Girl in My Dreams | 92. | 1961 | |
| 1113 | Larry Finnegan | Dear One | 11. | 1961 | |
| 1130 | The Earls | Remember then | 24. | 29 | 1963 |
| 1180 | The Gypsies | Jerk It | 33. | 1965 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Obituary at Jazz review ( Memento of the original from December 5, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) 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.
