UNI Records
UNI Records ( Universal City Records ) was an American record company that released records of various genres of popular music from 1967 to 1972.
history
The record company UNI Records was founded under its official name Universal City Records in 1966 by the American media company MCA as a subsidiary. The initiators were the MCA director Ned Tanen and Russ Regan, the former MCA president and well-known music promoter. Regan later became General Manager of UNI. Hollywood was chosen as the company's headquarters . At first it was planned that UNI should mainly publish rock and psychedelic music , later the repertoire was expanded to include jazz , soul , country and comedy records . The first record productions were launched in 1967. The most successful interpreters at UNI-Records were Neil Diamond , Elton John and the psychedelic rock group Strawberry Alarm Clock . Elton John started his US career at UNI, where he released his first five albums for the North American market. Even Olivia Newton-John's first US album was published by UNI. In addition to the British Elton John and Olivia Newton-John, UNI also released three singles by the British pop star Cliff Richard between 1968 and 1969 , but they were unable to assert themselves on the American market. In 1972 MCA created the new label MCA Records, as a future partner for the artists previously contracted with Decca , Kapp and UNI. The UNI catalog, which began in 1967 with number 55001, was closed after catalog number 55356. In 1988 and 1989 MCA revived the UNI label again for a short time. Then it finally disappeared from the market. Between 1967 and 1972 UNI had released around 360 singles and 140 long-playing records. In the period from 1988 to 1989, another six long-playing records were released.
Successful UNI singles
| Performers | title | Catalog no. | year | US top 10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberry Alarm Clock | Incense and Peppermints | 55018 | 1967 | 1. |
| Hugh Masekela | Grazing In The Grass | 55066 | 1968 | 1. |
| The Foundations | Build Me Up Buttercup | 55101 | 1968 | 3. |
| Desmond Dekker | Israelites | 55129 | 1969 | 9. |
| Neil Diamond | Sweet Caroline | 55136 | 1969 | 4th |
| Neil Diamond | Holly Holy | 55175 | 1969 | 6th |
| Brian Hyland | Gypsy woman | 55240 | 1970 | 3. |
| Neil Diamond | Cracklin 'Rosie | 55250 | 1970 | 1. |
| Elton John | Your song | 55265 | 1970 | 8th. |
| Neil Diamond | I am ... I said | 55278 | 1971 | 4th |
| Neil Diamond | Song Sung Blue | 55326 | 1972 | 1. |
| Elton John | Rocket Man | 55328 | 1972 | 6th |
| Elton John | Honky Cat | 55343 | 1972 | 8th. |
UNI-LP's in the US Top 50
| Catalog no. | title | Performers | year | Chartpos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 73014 | Incense and Peppermints | Strawberry Alarm Clock | 1967 | 11. |
| 73028 | The Promise of a Future | Hugh Masekela | 1968 | 17th |
| 73071 | Touching You Touching Me | Neil Diamond | 1969 | 30th |
| 73084 | gold | Neil Diamond | 1970 | 10. |
| 73090 | Elton John | Elton John | 1970 | 4th |
| 73092 | Tap Root Manuscript | Neil Diamond | 1970 | 13. |
| 73096 | Tumbleweed Connection | Elton John | 1971 | 5. |
| 93105 | 11-17-70 | Elton John | 1971 | 11. |
| 93106 | Stones | Neil Diamond | 1971 | 11. |
| 93120 | Madman Across the Water | Elton John | 1971 | 8th. |
| 93135 | Honky Château | Elton John | 1972 | 1. |
| 93136 | Moods | Neil Diamond | 1972 | 5. |