Janus Records
Janus Records was a record label owned by GRT Records, also known as General Recorded Tape. The label was in operation from 1969 to 1979. History Janus was founded in July 1969 as a joint venture of GRT and British label Pye Records. In its early years of operation the bulk of Janus' acts were U.S. issues of Pye product. Its first major hit was "Baby Take Me in Your Arms" by Jefferson, in late 1969. Other acts in Janus' early years included Pye artists Status Quo, Pickettywitch and Sounds Orchestral. Up to the early 1970s, the label's president was Marvin Schlactner, who later ran the ill-fated U.S. Pye label, which by 1976 evolved into Prelude Records. GRT assumed sole ownership of Janus in 1971, after Pye pulled out of the venture. [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Public Company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (listed company), which facilitates the trade of shares, or not (unlisted public company). In some jurisdictions, public companies over a certain size must be listed on an exchange. In most cases, public companies are ''private'' enterprises in the ''private'' sector, and "public" emphasizes their reporting and trading on the public markets. Public companies are formed within the legal systems of particular states, and therefore have associations and formal designations which are distinct and separate in the polity in which they reside. In the United States, for example, a public company is usually a type of corporation (though a corporation need not be a public company), in the United Kingdom it is usually a public limited company (plc), i ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Potliquor
Potliquor (sometimes erroneously referred to as Pot Liquor) was a 1970s rock group from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The band was formed by George Ratzlaff and Guy Schaeffer after the breakup of a successful cover band named the Basement Wall. Like several other bands of the American South, their musical style was a synthesis of influences such as Little Richard, Ray Charles, Jimmy Reed, and more, making Potliquor a part of the nascent Southern rock genre. Potliquor released four albums plus a compilation album but had only one hit single written and sung by George Ratzlaff. Potliquor was a top regional touring band during the early 1970s, and although they made several national tours with prominent rock groups of the time, they never became the headliner of their own tour, but did headline specific shows with some surprising opening acts, like ZZ Top, Aerosmith, and Billy Joel. The group suffered through internal conflicts after the death of their manager in 1973, and after several pe ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Westbound Records
Westbound Records was a Detroit-based record label founded by Armen Boladian in 1968. It had a distribution deal with Janus Records from 1970 to 1975, but then it switched distribution to 20th Century Records during 1975 and 1976, but again switched distribution to Atlantic Records from 1976 to 1979. The label's most successful and influential act was Funkadelic, including the classic “Maggot Brain”. Its biggest hit was "The Americans" recorded by local news reporter Byron MacGregor in 1974. Westbound was also home to the Ohio Players before they went to Mercury Records and the label had a top 15 hit with "Funky Worm." Former Ric-Tic and Motown group The Fantastic Four also found moderate success during the disco era under the label. The Detroit Emeralds, who had also recorded briefly for Ric-Tic in the late 1960s, signed with Westbound in 1970 and enjoyed a string of hit singles, most notably 1972's "Feel The Need In Me". The record company's last national hit was 1983's "Y ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo/Cadet. The Chess catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records. Established and run by two Jewish immigrant brothers from what was then Poland, Leonard and Phil Chess, the company produced and released many singles and albums regarded as central to the rock music canon. The musician and critic Cub Koda described Chess as "America's greatest blues label". Chess was based at several locations on the south side of Chicago, initially at South Cottage Grove Ave. The most famous was 2120 S. Michigan Avenue, from May 1957 to 1965, immortalized by the Rolling Stones in " 2120 South Michigan Avenue", an instrumental re ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Mandy (Barry Manilow Song)
"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by Scott English and Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. "Brandy" was recorded by New Zealand singer Bunny Walters in 1972, but achieved greater success when released in the United States in 1974 by Barry Manilow. For Manilow's recording, the title changed from "Brandy" to "Mandy" to avoid confusion with Looking Glass's " Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)". His version reached the top of the US Hot 100 Singles Chart. Later, it was recorded by many other artists. The song was a UK number-one hit in 2003 for Irish boyband Westlife. Scott English original recording Under the title ''Brandy'', the selection's original title, the song charted in 1971 for Scott English, one of its co-composers, whose version of it reached #12 in the UK Singles Charts. It was also released in the United States, where it was a minor hit, remaining in the lower portion of the Hot 100. The ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow (born Barry Alan Pincus; June 17, 1943) is an American singer and songwriter with a career that spans seven decades. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", " Somewhere Down the Road", " Mandy", "I Write the Songs", " Can't Smile Without You" and "Copacabana (At the Copa)". He has recorded and released 51 Top 40 singles on the Adult Contemporary Chart, including 13 that hit number one, 28 that appeared within the top ten, and 36 that reached the top twenty. Manilow has released 13 platinum and six multi-platinum albums. Although not a favorite artist of music critics, Manilow has been praised by his peers in the recording industry, including Frank Sinatra, who was quoted in the 1970s as saying, "He's next." As well as producing and arranging albums for himself and other artists, Manilow has written and performed songs for musicals, films, and commercials for corporations such as McDonald's, Pepsi-Cola, and Band-Aid. He has been nominated for a Grammy A ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Brandy (Scott English And Richard Kerr Song)
"Brandy", later called "Mandy", is a song written by Scott English and Richard Kerr (songwriter), Richard Kerr. It was originally recorded by English in 1971 and reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart. "Brandy" was recorded by New Zealand singer Bunny Walters in 1972, but achieved greater success when released in the United States in 1974 by Barry Manilow. For Manilow's recording, the title changed from "Brandy" to "Mandy" to avoid confusion with Looking Glass (band), Looking Glass's "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)". His version reached the top of the US Hot 100 Singles Chart. Later, it was recorded by many other artists. The song was a UK number-one hit in 2003 for Irish boyband Westlife. Scott English original recording Under the title ''Brandy'', the selection's original title, the song charted in 1971 for Scott English, one of its co-composers, whose version of it reached #12 in the UK Singles Charts. It was also released in the United States, where it was a minor hit, remain ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Scott English
Sheldon David "Scott" English (January 10, 1937 – November 16, 2018) was an American songwriter, arranger and record producer. He is best known as the co-writer of "Brandy" which he wrote with Richard Kerr. This song became a No. 1 hit for Barry Manilow in 1974, with the title changed to " Mandy". English had also released a single of "Brandy" which reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart in November 1971, and entered the US charts in March 1972. Life and career English was born in Brooklyn, New York, United States. In 1960, he released his first single, "4,000 Miles Away", on Dot Records. In 1964, English had a regional doo-wop hit called "High on a Hill", written by Frank Cariola and A. Mangravito. "High on a Hill" has consistently been voted an all-time top song on oldies radio stations in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It also reached No. 3 in popularity on the San Francisco Bay Area radio chart. With Larry Weiss, he wrote "Bend Me, Shape Me", which became a hit fo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ray Stevens
Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty hits such as "Gitarzan" and "The Streak". Stevens has received gold albums for his music sales and has worked as a producer, music arranger, and television host. He is also an inductee of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Georgia Music Hall of Fame, the Christian Music Hall of Fame, and the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. Early life Harold Ray Ragsdale was born on January 24, 1939, in Clarkdale, Georgia. He is the elder of two sons born to Willis Harold Ragsdale (1915–2001) and Frances Stephens Ragsdale (1916–97). He has a younger brother, John, who was an actor and writer. John died in 2020 at the age of 75. While attending high school, Stevens formed his first band, a rhythm and blues group named The Barons. Follow ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ian Thomas (Canadian Musician)
Ian Campbell Thomas (born 23 July 1950) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, actor and author. He is the younger brother of comedian and actor Dave Thomas. He was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Career Thomas is a successful rock and roll musician in Canada. His solo career peaked during the 1970s; his most memorable hit was 1973's "Painted Ladies". Success in the American market, however, has proven to be elusive with the possible exception of "Painted Ladies", which remains his only U.S. Top 40 hit. He has also done musical composition for about a dozen films and television shows. Before breaking through with "Painted Ladies", he was a producer at the CBC. Before that, he was part of the folk music group Tranquility Base (sometimes spelled Tranquillity Base). In 1974, he won a Juno Award for "Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year". That year he toured in eastern Canada with April Wine. In 1976 he signed with Chrysalis Records. In 1981, Thomas made a cameo appearance on '' ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Al Stewart
Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a Scottish born singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs with delicately woven tales of characters and events from history. Stewart is best known for his 1976 hit single " Year of the Cat", from the platinum album of the same name. Though '' Year of the Cat'' and its 1978 platinum follow-up ''Time Passages'' brought Stewart his biggest worldwide commercial successes, earlier albums such as '' Past, Present and Future'' from 1973 are often seen as better examples of his intimate brand of historical folk-rock, a style to which he returned in later albums. Stewart is a key figure in British music and he appears throughout the musical folklore of the revivalist era. He played at the first-ever Glastonbury Festival in 1970, knew Yoko Ono before she met John Lennon, and shared a London flat with ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Charlie (band)
Charlie was a British rock rock band, band that was formed in 1971 by the singer/songwriter Terry Thomas (musician), Terry Thomas. The group was most active as a recording unit from the mid-1970s to 1986. Charlie never charted in the UK but had four minor hits in the US: "Turning To You" (1977) "She Loves to Be In Love" (1978), "Killer Cut" (1979) and "It's Inevitable" (1983). History The band was briefly called "Charlie Cuckoo" (after a racehorse), but soon became known simply as "Charlie". The original members were: *Terry Thomas - lead singing, vocals, guitar *John Anderson - backing vocals, bass guitar *Steve Gadd - Drum kit, drums (not to be confused with Steve Gadd, American session drummer of the same name) *Martin Smith - backing vocals, guitar The band debuted as a recording act in 1973, issuing the non-charting single "I Need Your Love" on Decca in the UK. Although the band had a contract for four singles with Decca, only one more ("Knocking Down Your Door") was reco ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |