Hilltak records was a Californian Independent record label that was formed in the late 1970s. Artists that produced hits for the label include

9th Creation 9th Creation was a 1970s R&B, funk band who had chart hits with " Why Not Today" and " Lets Dance". Other songs, such as "Falling in Love" made the charts. They recorded for a variety of labels including PYE/ ATV, Prelude and Hilltak etc.. ...

Patti Hendrix Patti Hendrix is a soul singer who recorded for the 20th Century Fox Records and Hilltak Records labels. She had a hit in 1978 with "Lighting A Fire (That You Can't Put Out)". It made it into the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'', ''Cash Box'' a ...

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, Dalton & Dubarri, and

The Guess Who The Guess Who are a Canadian rock band formed in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1965. The band originated in 1962 and achieved an international hit single with a cover of " Shakin' All Over" in 1965 under the name Chad Allan and the Expressions. After ...

. The label started out as a subsidiary of Atlantic Records but terminated the relationship some time later.

Background

In 1978,

Tom Takayoshi Tom Takayoshi was a record label founder as well as a president of a major United States record label. His involvement in the music industry goes back to the early 1960s. Background Abkco Records At some time, possibly the early 1970s Takayoshi ...

and Hillery Johnson co-founded Hilltak Records. The name Hilltak was a combination of their names. They had previously worked together for years. As of the time they were interviewed (published June 10, 1979), Johnson was still the vice president of special markets for the Atlantic label and would still liaise between Atlantic and the emerging Los Angeles label as well as handling the promotion and publicity. Takayoshi had left his position with Playboy Records and had taken up office in Los Angeles. The label was registered June 16, 1978, in California. The Hilltak label was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records. Their formation was first announced at a Black Radio convention prior to June 17th. It was also confirmed by Ahmet Ertegun, the chairman of Atlantic Records and Atlantic president Jerry Greenberg. The label's catalogue had a leaning towards the disco and r&b genres. The idea they started with was to keep the roster low to allow them to give their personal attention to the artists. The artists they started off with were

, Dalton & Dubarri and

, a disco outfit put together by

Willie Henderson William Henderson (born 24 January 1944) is a Scottish retired footballer. He played most of his career for Rangers, and spent the latter part of his career with Sheffield Wednesday, in Hong Kong with Hong Kong Rangers and with Airdrieonians ...

. Some of the other artists that had their work released on the label were

Lynne Hamilton Lynne Hamilton (born 1950) is an English-born singer, notable for her career in Australia, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s having recorded the single " On the Inside", the theme to the television series ''Prisoner''. Early life and car ...

Footloose Footloose may refer to: * ''Footloose'' (1984 film), a musical film ** ''Footloose'' (1984 soundtrack) ** "Footloose" (song), performed by Kenny Loggins * ''Footloose'' (2011 film), a remake of the 1984 film ** ''Footloose'' (2011 soundtrack) ...

and The 9th Creation.

History

1978

The focus of the Los Angeles label was to be r&b. It was announced in the June 10 issue of ''Billboard'' that the first artist that was to have a record released on the label was

. At that time they had already acquired the recorded masters of Hendrix and Dalton & Dubarri. Hendrix went on to have success with her single " Lighting a Fire (That You Can't Put Out)" in 1978 which peaked at #65 on September 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart. It also spent a total of ten weeks in the chart. Broadway would have chart success with the first of two singles for the label, "

Kiss You All Over "Kiss You All Over" is a 1978 song performed by American group Exile, written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. It was included on the band's third album, ''Mixed Emotions'' (1978), and featured lead vocalist Jimmy Stokley and guitarist J.P. Pe ...

" which got to #92 on the r&b chart in December, 1978. Also that month, "C'mon Little Mama" (Hilltak 7803) by

was a sleeper in the ''Record World'', December 2 issue Hits of the Week.

1979

By 1979, the label had done well with albums, ''Magic Man'' by

and ''Choice'' by Dalton & Dubarri. On March 31, The Guess Who's album, ''All This For a Song'', Hilltak HT 19227 was listed in the ''Record World'' Hits of the Week section with the magazine calling it one of the best LPs by the group in years. In April 1979, Broadway brought in another chart hit for the label with the

composition, "

This Funk Is Made for Dancing This Funk Is Made For Dancing was the second hit for disco band Broadway on the Hilltak Label. Composed, arranged and produced by Willie Henderson. It made both the ''Billboard'' and ''Cash Box'' charts in 1979. Background Broadway's album was i ...

". In May, the Dalton & Durbarri single, " I (You) Can Dance All By My (Your) Self" bw "Keepin' It Up" was released on Hilltak HT 7806. On June 23, at its fourth week in the ''Cash Box'' chart, it peaked at No. 73. and got to #123 on the ''Record World'' Singles 101 to 150 Chart. From May 31 to June 14, it held its peak position at number 138 on the ''Radio Report'' MS Survey chart. It also made #79 on the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart on June 30. In September 1979 the label had shifted from Atlantic Records to use a network of nine independent distributors which included California Records in L.A. and Big State in Dallas. Also around that period, " On the Inside" ( theme to the TV series, ''

Prisoner A prisoner (also known as an inmate or detainee) is a person who is deprived of liberty against their will. This can be by confinement, captivity, or forcible restraint. The term applies particularly to serving a prison sentence in a prison. ...

'') by

was released on Hilltak.

DJM Records DJM Records (also known as Dick James Music) was the British independent record label, set up in the late 1960s by British music publisher Dick James. It was distributed by Pye Records in the UK, and various other companies around the world, ...

had also recently signed Hilltak to a three year agreement for the UK and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The song, "

Leaving for Maui Leaving for Maui was a hit in Canada and Hawaii for Edmonton cabaret band Footloose in 1979. Background Footloose were a college band that had been around for around 18 months. This was their first release. Six months after it was released it got ...

" by

which made the Canadian Top Ten was issued in the United States on Hilltak PW 7905.

had their single, " Let's Dance" bw "Shucks, You're Fine" was released on Hilltak PW 7901. The record peaked spent a total of ten weeks in the ''Billboard'' Hot Soul Singles chart, peaking at #45 on December 15, 1979. It also spent eleven weeks in the ''Cash Box'' Top 100 chart, peaking at #53 on December 12.

1980

In January, 1980, "Let's Dance" was still in the ''Record World'' chart. It peaked at #47 on January 19, 1980, having spent a total of seven weeks in the ''Record World'' Black Oriented Singles chart.

Distributors

{, class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" , + Singles , - ! scope="col" class="unsortable" , Name ! scope="col" , Area ! scope="col" class="unsortable" , Notes , - ! scope="row" , Atlantic Records , , (Relationship terminated in 1979) , - ! scope="row" , All South , New Orleans , , - ! scope="row" , Bib , Charlotte , , - ! scope="row" , Big State , Dallas, Houston , , - ! scope="row" , California Records , Los Angeles , , - ! scope="row" , Chips , Philadelphia , , - ! scope="row" , Malverne , New York, Boston , , - ! scope="row" , Pacific Records and Tapes , San Francisco, Seattle , , - ! scope="row" , Progress Records , Cleveland, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo , , - ! scope="row" , Tone Distributors , Miami , , - ! scope="row" , Zamioski , Baltimore and Washington, D.C. , , -

Post Hilltak

By 1980, Takayoshi was working as general manager for Sound Music Sales in Los Angeles.''Billboard'', May 24, 1980
Page 4 General News Executive Turntable Marketing
/ref>

References

{{reflist

External links

Discogs: Hilltak Records

MusicBrainz: Hilltak

45Cat: Hilltak Records
Hilltak Records American record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Disco record labels