Mushroom Records was a Canadian

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

founded in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

with financial backing by brothers Wink and Dick Vogel in 1974.''The History of Metropolitan Vancouver 1974''
Vancouverhistory.ca. Retrieved 2010-03-23. The brothers were sons of businessman and politician Hunter Vogel. Shelly Siegel was the label's Vice-president and creative director. Producer

Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart.Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in t ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Mushroom was distributed in the U.S. through a network of independent distributors, which included Fourth Street East in Chatsworth,

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Some Mushroom recordings were also released abroad through

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 ...

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company of the same name in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succ ...

and

Festival Records Festival Records (later known as Festival Mushroom Records) was an Australian recording and publishing company founded in Sydney, Australia, in 1952 and operated until 2005. Festival was a wholly owned subsidiary of News Limited from 1961 to ...

. Mushroom released several successful albums from artists such as

Doucette Doucette is a French language surname and a variant of Doucet. Notable people with the name include: * Allan Doucette (1872–1901), American footballer * Bernard Doucette (died 1974), Franco-American meteorologist * Chad Doucette (born 1988), Can ...

Heart The heart is a muscular organ in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon dioxide t ...

, and

Chilliwack Chilliwack ( )( hur, Ts'elxwéyeqw) is a city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Chilliwack is surrounded by mountains and home to recreational areas such as Cultus Lake and Chilliwack Lake Provincial Parks. There are numerous outdoor ...

. Mushroom also had a short lived subsidiary, Chanterelle Records, which released records by

Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

musician Jim Grady. Flicker left Mushroom during Heart's dispute with Siegel over Heart's second album. Siegel moved to the L.A. office, but suddenly died due to an

aneurysm An aneurysm is an outward bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also be a nidus (s ...

on 17 January 1979. In late 1980 Mushroom Records went out of business. The same year Gold left Mushroom to co-found Flicker Records with Mike Flicker. Heart's two Mushroom albums were purchased and re-issued by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

when the band moved to that label in 1985. In late 2013

Linus Entertainment Linus Entertainment is a music company operating as an independent record label, distributor and music publisher. While founded in Mississauga, Ontario, Linus spent many years in Burlington, Ontario before recently moving operations to Waterdown, O ...

released several Mushroom recordings on CD for the first time including albums by Chilliwack and Doucette.

Mushroom Studios

In 1946, Aragon Recording Studios was opened in Vancouver. By 1954, Al Reusch had acquired sole ownership. A studio was built by Aragon in 1966, and under a sponsorship deal, the new facility was initially named Can-Base Studios. In the early 1970s Reusch sold the studio to Jack Herschorn, who appointed

Mike Flicker Mike Flicker (born 1950) is an American music producer in Los Angeles who has numerous credits on music and film projects. He is critically acclaimed for his work with Heart.Howard Leese Howard M. Leese (born June 13, 1951, in Hollywood, California, United States) is an American guitarist, record producer, and musical director who played with Heart as guitarist and keyboardist for 23 years (1975 through 1998). He continues to rec ...

as Program Manager. Charlie Richmond also worked as Head Technical Advisor. Flicker and Leese had earlier worked in Los Angeles studios and later became known for their production and arranging work with the Seattle band Heart. Can-Base went bust and the studio acquired investment funds from the Vogel family. The name was changed to Mushroom Studios. In 1974 the Mushroom Records label was also established in Vancouver.''The History of Metropolitan Vancouver 1974''
Vancouverhistory.ca. Retrieved 2010-03-23. Though the two remained separate business entities, many of Mushroom Records' albums were recorded at Mushroom studios. Mushroom Records went bust in 1980, but Mushroom Studios continued on. In January 2006, the studio was purchased by

Hipposonic Studios Hipposonic Studios is a music recording studio in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It was founded in 1989 by Robert Darch. The studio houses one mixing, recording and overdubbing room with a Solid State Logic 4000G+ Series. Over the years Hi ...

and renamed Hippowest Music Ltd. In 2011, the studio was moved 3,000 miles cross country, and relocated inside the Play-Dead Mansion on

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east-w ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, where it once again took its current name of Mushroom Studios.

Partial list of artists recording with Mushroom Records (Canada) 1974-1980

*Alexis (Alexis Rose Radlin) *

Rick Dees Rigdon Osmond Dees III (born March 14, 1950), best known as Rick Dees, is an American entertainer, radio personality, comedian, actor, and voice artist, best known for his internationally syndicated radio show '' The Rick Dees Weekly Top 40 Coun ...

Susan Jacks Susan Jacks ( Pesklevits; 19 August 1948 – 25 April 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter and record producer. Career Susan Pesklevits was born on 19 August 1948 to a family of eight children in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her family moved t ...

*Jayson Hoover * Paul Horn * Ian Matthews *New World Electronic Chamber Ensemble *Songbird *Spring *Richard Stepp

References

;Citations

External links

Jam!/''The Canadian Pop Encyclopedia'': Doucette
Mushroom artists, mentioning the label.
Mushroom Records Discography (incomplete)
*
A history of Aragon, Mushroom, and Hippowest
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1974 Record labels disestablished in 1979 Canadian independent record labels Rock record labels Defunct record labels of Canada

Mushroom Studios

Partial list of artists recording with Mushroom Records (Canada) 1974-1980

See also

References

External links