Evolution Records was a record label operated by the Stereo Dimension Records subsidiary of the Longines Symphonette Society, a unit of the

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss Swatch Group and its predec ...

watch company. It was founded in 1969 as the retail arm of the mail-order Longines Symphonette Society which usually issued box sets of old radio shows, including a two-record set of

Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...

's 1938 '' Mercury Theatre on the Air'' production of "

The War of the Worlds ''The War of the Worlds'' is a science fiction novel by English author H. G. Wells, first serialised in 1897 by ''Pearson's Magazine'' in the UK and by ''Cosmopolitan (magazine), Cosmopolitan'' magazine in the US. The novel's first appear ...

", or traditional pop songs. Loren Becker was the president of the label. In 1973 the label made a concerted effort to break into the

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

genre. The Canadian rock group Lighthouse earned Evolution its first

gold record Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...

. Evolution sold Lighthouse's contract to

Polydor Records Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

, but retained rights to material originally issued on Evolution. Longines exited the record business in 1975.

Artists

* Bloontz * Dorothea Joyce * Lighthouse * Richard Sarstedt * Steel River

References

External links

Evolution Album Discography
— Both Sides Now Publications Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1969 Record labels disestablished in 1975 {{US-record-label-stub