Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971.

History

Colgems was a joint venture between

Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...

, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated with Columbia/Screen Gems. The label would also issue soundtrack recordings for Screen Gems and Columbia Pictures productions. RCA acted as manufacturer and distributor for Colgems. Outside of the United States, Colgems productions appeared on the RCA Victor label. An earlier label,

Colpix Records Colpix Records was the first recording company for Columbia Pictures–Screen Gems. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned Columbia Records, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement ov ...

, was dissolved to make way for the new company, and nearly all Colpix titles went out of print. (One Colpix album was reissued on Colgems, the soundtrack to the 1962 film ''

Lawrence of Arabia Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...

''.) Even before the Monkees began, Colpix had signed two future members – Davy Jones, recruited to Screen Gems by

Ward Sylvester Ward Sylvester (October 22, 1939 – June 12, 2017) was an American entertainment industry producer, manager, promoter, executive and consultant. He served as President of Pacific Arts Inc., and Personality Productions; Vice President of Columbia ...

, and Michael Nesmith, who recorded as "Michael Blessing". The Colpix catalog was sold to Roulette Records. The Colpix catalog is owned by Warner Music Group with its Rhino Records unit holding the rights in North America and its Parlophone unit the rights in the rest of the world. The non-Monkees Colgems roster included

Sally Field Sally Margaret Field (born November 6, 1946) is an American actress. She has received many awards and nominations, including two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film F ...

Jewel Akens Jewel Eugene Akens (September 12, 1933 – March 1, 2013) was an American singing, singer and record producer. Career He recorded with The Medallions on Dootone, with The Four Dots on Freedom, and then with singer Eddie Daniels as "Jewel and Edd ...

, Sajid Khan, Paula Wayne, P.K. Limited, the Hung Jury, Fountain of Youth, The Lewis & Clarke Expedition (whose members included

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs' ...

Hoyt Axton Hoyt Wayne Axton (March 25, 1938 – October 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor. He became prominent in the early 1960s, establishing himself on the West Coast as a folk singer with an earthy style and powerful voic ...

, Alex Keenan and comedian Rich Little. Soundtracks to '' Casino Royale'', ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a coming-of-age stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before op ...

'', ''

In Cold Blood ''In Cold Blood'' is a non-fiction novel by American author Truman Capote, first published in 1966. It details the 1959 murders of four members of the Clutter family in the small farming community of Holcomb, Kansas. Capote learned of the qua ...

'', ''Head'', and ''

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner ''Guess Who's Coming to Dinner'' is a 1967 American romantic comedy-drama film produced and directed by Stanley Kramer, and written by William Rose. It stars Spencer Tracy (in his final role), Sidney Poitier, and Katharine Hepburn, and featur ...

'' were also released on Colgems.

Decline and phaseout

Colgems Records slumped after the critical and commercial failure of the final Monkees album '' Changes'', which featured only Davy Jones and

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...

. The label's last release, titled ''

Barrel Full of Monkees ''Barrel Full of Monkees'' is a compilation album of songs by the Monkees, released by Colgems Records in 1971. The double album was produced and marketed for children, after the success of the Monkees' television show being rebroadcast on Saturda ...

'' and showcasing its flagship act, appeared in 1971 but sold poorly. Colgems then closed, and its master recordings and artists were folded into

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny ...

, which, unlike Colgems, was wholly owned by Columbia Pictures. Bell itself was later disbanded and Columbia's music division was reorganized into

Arista Records Arista Records () is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously handled by BMG Entertainmen ...

, headed by

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

. In 1979, Columbia Pictures sold Arista (including the Colgems assets) to

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

-owned Ariola Records. Six years later, Ariola's parent company, BMG, merged with RCA Records. Today, the assets of Colgems Records (except for the Monkees' output) are controlled by Sony Music Entertainment. The parent company, Sony, acquired Columbia Pictures in 1989. All of The Monkees' recordings are currently owned by Warner Music Group's Rhino Records, which licensed the group's original Colgems LPs from Arista and reissued them in the mid-1980s. Rhino acquired the entire Monkees audio catalog, The Monkees TV series, their 1968 feature film ''

Head A head is the part of an organism which usually includes the ears, brain, forehead, cheeks, chin, eyes, nose, and mouth, each of which aid in various sensory functions such as sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Some very simple animals may ...

'', and the rights to The Monkees name and logo, in August 1994. SME merged Arista into RCA Records in 2011 but revived it in 2018.

SGC Records

A label related to Colgems was SGC (Screen Gems-Columbia) Records. SGC issued albums by Nazz through

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

in a

distribution deal A distribution deal (also known as distribution contract or distribution agreement) is a legal agreement between one party and another, to handle distribution of a product. There are various forms of distribution deals. There are exclusive and non ...

similar to the one Screen Gems held with RCA.

References

External links

The Colpix/Colgems story
{{Columbia Pictures Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1966 Record labels disestablished in 1971 The Monkees Pop record labels RCA Records Columbia Pictures Screen Gems

History

Decline and phaseout

SGC Records

See also

References

External links