Colpix Records was the first recording company for

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

–

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 ...

. Colpix got its name from combining Columbia (Col) and Pictures (Pix). CBS, which owned

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

, then sued Columbia Pictures for trademark infringement over the Colpix name. It was founded by Jonie Taps and

Harry Cohn Harry Cohn (July 23, 1891 – February 27, 1958) was a co-founder, president, and production director of Columbia Pictures Corporation. Life and career Cohn was born to a working-class Jewish family in New York City. His father, Joseph Cohn, wa ...

in 1958 and was based in New York City. Paul Wexler headed the label. Stu Phillips was in charge of A&R. Lester Sill later headed the label, after breaking with Philles Records partner

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. The label's roster included Lou Christie, James Darren, Paul Petersen, Freddie Scott,

Tommy Boyce Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

. Two of the label's best known number one hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Singles Charts were "

Blue Moon A blue moon is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: the third of four full moons in a season. The phrase in modern usage has nothing to do with the actual color of the Moon, although a visually blue Moon (the Moon a ...

" by the Marcels in the spring of 1961 (also a number one in the UK, where Colpix was licensed to

Pye International Pye International Records was a record label founded in 1958, as a subsidiary of Pye Records. The company distributed many American labels in the UK, including Chess, Kama Sutra, Buddah, Colpix and King. (There was also an American label of the ...

), and " Johnny Angel" by

Shelley Fabares Michele Ann Marie "Shelley" Fabares (; born January 19, 1944) is an American actress and singer. She is best known for her television roles as Mary Stone on the sitcom ''The Donna Reed Show'' (1958–1963) and as Christine Armstrong on the sitcom ...

in the spring of 1962.

Bernadette Castro Bernadette Castro (born July 10, 1944 in Manhattan) is an American businesswoman and former New York politician who served in the Cabinet of former New York Governor George Pataki. She is a partner with her family in Castro Properties. In the e ...

recorded for the label "Get Rid of Him"/"A Girl in Love Forgives" and "His Lips Get in the Way"/"Sportscar Sally". Singer

Jo Ann Greer Katherine Joan Greer (April 3, 1927 – May 24, 2001), known professionally as Jo Ann Greer, was an American singer. Career Her career spanned nearly 50 years, and she primarily worked in the fields of movie dubbing and band-singing. She init ...

, who dubbed several of the actresses at Columbia Pictures, recorded two albums with the studio's musical director, Morris Stoloff: ''Soundtracks, Voices and Themes'' and ''The Naked City'', a film noir musical with James Darren. Colpix released the first LPs from standup comedians Dick Gregory and

Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...

, and a soundtrack album of

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

cartoons. It included dialogue by Yogi Bear and

Pixie and Dixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas aro ...

with narration by Daws Butler in the voice of Huckleberry Hound. In the wake of President Kennedy's

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

on November 22, 1963, numerous tribute albums were released the following year. In association with

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ...

, Colpix released ''Four Days That Shocked the World'' with radio coverage of the President's arrival at Dallas Love Field, the moment of the shooting in

Dealey Plaza Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shooting ...

, and the shooting of Lee Harvey Oswald two days later. The album included a booklet with UPI reporter Merriman Smith's account of the assassination. The label was discontinued in 1966 and replaced by

Colgems Records Colgems Records was a record label that existed from 1966 to 1971. History Colgems was a joint venture between Screen Gems, the television division of Columbia Pictures, and RCA Victor to issue records by The Monkees and other artists affiliated ...

, which was primarily used for releases by The Monkees. Before their involvement with the Monkees, Davy Jones and Michael Nesmith (under the pseudonym Michael Blessing) had each signed to Colpix Records as solo artists. Colpix was the first big label for singer and pianist Nina Simone after having made her debut on Bethlehem Records. She recorded albums for the label from 1959 (''

The Amazing Nina Simone ''The Amazing Nina Simone'' is the second studio album by Nina Simone, released in July 1959. It was her second album, and her first recording for Colpix Records. The album contains a variety of material, including jazz, gospel, and folk songs. ...

'') through 1964 (''

Folksy Nina ''Folksy Nina'' is an album by singer/pianist/songwriter Nina Simone. It includes live tracks recorded on April 12, 1963, at Carnegie Hall. The previous album, ''Nina Simone at Carnegie Hall'' (1963) uses songs from the same concert. It was relea ...

''). In 1966, Colpix released ''

Nina Simone with Strings ''Nina Simone with Strings'' is an album by Nina Simone. The album was released after she had left Colpix Records. The tracks on the album were assembled by combining unreleased material with recordings of strings. In the UK, the album's version ...

'', an album of left-overs with strings added, when Simone was already signed to

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in A ...

Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...

, which currently owns the Colpix catalogue, issued a double compact disc compilation, ''The Colpix-Dimension Story'', in 1994, which also included selections from

Dimension Records Dimension Records was a record label founded in 1962 in New York City by Don Kirshner and Al Nevins, owners of Aldon Music. It concentrated on the girl group sound and showcased songs by Gerry Goffin and Carole King. Their composition "The Lo ...

, a related label.

Discography

References

External links

The Colpix/Colgems story
* {{Columbia Pictures Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1958 Record labels disestablished in 1966 1958 establishments in New York City Columbia Pictures Jazz record labels 1966 disestablishments in New York (state)

Discography

See also

References

External links