Tops 45-S20 A - PinkShoeLaces-TiajuanaJail-TellHimNo

Tops Records was a

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

-based record label owned by Tops Music Enterprises, both founded in 1947 by Carl L. Doshay and Sam Dickerman. After a prolific and profitable run, Tops merged with

PRI Records PRI Records was an American, Los Angeles-based record label, founded as a division of Precision Radiation Instruments Inc., a Geiger counter manufacturer founded in the 1950s that had expanded into radio manufacturing, marginally profitable, and ...

in 1958, which in turn, sold to a group of investors in 1960, then went bankrupt in about 1962. Its assets — which included a huge library of recordings — were sold to

Pickwick Records Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Intern ...

, a label that had been its main competitor throughout the 1950s.
Tops/Mayfair Story
'' by Mike Callahan, David Edwards, and Patrice Eyries, ''Both Sides Now'' (newsletter of Michael A. Callahan; born 1945), McKinney, Texas (article last updated April 15, 2007) Pickwick's assets were purchased by

PolyGram Records PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

in the late 1970s. In 1990, Tom Ficara and Combined Artists acquired the Tops / PRI catalog.

Selected staff

* Carl L. Doshay (1917–2010), founder and president * Sam Dickerman (1915–2000), founder and vice president * Corky Carpenter (pseudonym of Amos Randolph Carpenter; 1922–1986), A&R *

Harold Spina Harold Spina (21 June 1906 – 18 July 1997) was an American composer of popular songs. His best-known work happened in the early 1930s, when he collaborated with lyricists Johnny Burke and Joe Young on songs such as "Annie Doesn't Live Her ...

, A&R *

Dave Pell David Pell (February 26, 1925 – May 7, 2017) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a cool jazz octet in the 1950s. Biography Pell played in his teens with the big bands of Tony Pastor, B ...

, producer

References

External links

Tops Records
on the Internet Archive'
Great 78 Project
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tops Records 1947 establishments in California Blues record labels Defunct record labels of the United States Record labels established in 1947 Record labels disestablished in 1962