Smash Records
Smash Records is an American record label. It was founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records[1] by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966. Its recording artists included Frankie Valli, James Brown, Bruce Channel, Roger Miller, The Left Banke, Bill Justis and Jerry Lee Lewis.
A dispute with King Records led James Brown to release all of his band's instrumental recordings between 1964 and 1967 on Smash. Smash also released three of Brown's vocal recordings, including his 1964 proto-funk single "Out of Sight".[2]
Smash shared the numbering system for their singles with other labels that they distributed. The most important of these was Fontana Records. Mercury discontinued the Smash label in 1970.[3]
Mercury label owner PolyGram used the Smash imprint for reissues in the 1980s. PolyGram revived Smash in 1991 as an R&B/dance label with its offices located in Chicago. It was first under the PolyGram Label Group (PLG) umbrella, then under the Independent Label Sales (ILS) umbrella, then under Island Records until the imprint was retired in 1996. One of the hits Smash saw during this period was "People Are Still Having Sex" by long-time radio personality/actor and then-first time club artist LaTour. Another successful artist on the dance charts was Jamie Principle.
Smash Records artists
- The Angels
- The Asylum Choir
- James Brown
- The Caravelles
- Mother Maybelle Carter
- Jimmy Castor
- Bruce Channel
- Dee Jay & The Runaways
- Joe Dowell
- Pete Drake (and his talking Steel Guitar)
- Jay & the Techniques
- Bill Justis
- Dickie Lee
- Left Banke
- Jerry Lee Lewis
- Linda Gail Lewis
- The Mesmerizing Eye
- Roger Miller
- The Nouns
- Charlie Rich
- Frankie Valli
- Sir Douglas Quintet
- Millie Small
- Swingin' Medallions
- The Tempests
- Eric Von Schmidt
- The Walker Brothers
- Scott Walker
- Crunch-O-Matic
- D'Bora
- Jamie Loring
- Jamie Principle
- LaTour
- M-Doc
- Chris Mars
- Luke "Long Gone" Miles[4]
- The Millions
- Pleasure Game
- Presence
- Sheep On Drugs
- Ten Tray
- Cookie Watkins
- Yello
