River North Records was a

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-based record company. It was a subsidiary of

Platinum Entertainment Platinum Entertainment was an American record label that operated in the 1990s. The company was founded by Steve Devick in 1991, who reorganized his River North Studios recording studio into a record label. The company initially sold primarily g ...

History

River North Records was created by Steve Devick in 1994. It was named and created after River North Studios, which was also created by Devick. The single, "I Want to Be Like Mike" (in reference to

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

) was recorded for River North in 1991, based on a very popular commercial jingle created by Devick for

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develop ...

Contracts

In 1993, River North Records signed a deal with vocalist

Peter Cetera Peter Paul Cetera ( ; born September 13, 1944) is an American retired musician best known for being a lead vocalist and the bassist of the rock band Chicago from 1967 until his departure in 1985, before launching a successful solo career. His c ...

to record some of Cetera's albums. The albums were released in 1994.

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

, and

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

are some other artists that have recorded for River North Records. The label also had a

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

division specializing in

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

which opened in 1994 . This label's first signee was

Holly Dunn Holly Suzette Dunn (August 22, 1957 – November 14, 2016) was an American country music singer and songwriter. Dunn recorded for MTM Records between 1985 and 1988, Warner Bros. Records between 1988 and 1993, and River North Records between 1995 ...

. The label folded in 1998.

Former artists

Steve Azar Stephen Thomas Azar (born April 11, 1964) is an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and philanthropist. Active since 1996, he has released a total of seven studio albums: one on the former River North Records, one on Mercury Nas ...

Crystal Bernard Crystal Lynn Bernard (born September 30, 1961) is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for her roles as Helen Chappel-Hackett on the sitcom ''Wings'' (1990-1997), Amy on ''It's a Living'' (1985–1989), and K.C. Cunningham on ' ...

Rob Crosby Rob Crosby (born Robert Crosby Hoar; April 25, 1954) is an American country music artist. Between 1990 and 1996, Rob charted eight singles on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts. He has also recorded six studio albums, wi ...

Steve Kolander Steve Kolander (born November 15, 1961) is an American country music artist. He debuted in 1994 with the release of his self-titled album on River North Records. It produced two singles on the Hot Country Songs Hot Country Songs is a chart pu ...

Ronna Reeves Ronna Renee Reeves (born September 21, 1966 in Big Spring, Texas) is an American country music singer. Between 1990 and 1998, she released five studio albums, including three on Mercury Records; she has also charted five singles on the Hot Coun ...

S. Alan Taylor S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer (historian), Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s ...

Jamie Warren Jamie Warren (born April 8, 1961) is a country music singer-songwriter, and the most awarded independent male artist in the Canadian country music industry. Biography Jamie Warren took piano lessons when he was 5 years old, and guitar lessons at ...

Facility

River North Studios had a 1,400-square-foot facility at 610 North Fairbanks Court in Chicago.

References

{{Authority control American independent record labels Record labels established in 1993 American country music record labels