Waldorf Music Hall Records was a budget

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

exclusively sold in Woolworth stores from 1954 to 1959. Waldorf was headed by

Enoch Light Enoch Henry Light (August 18, 1907 – July 31, 1978) was an American classically trained violinist, danceband leader, and recording engineer. As the leader of various dance bands that recorded as early as March 1927 and continuing through at le ...

and based in Harrison, New Jersey. Light's business partners in this venture were Casper Pinsker and Dick Davemos.David Edwards, Patrice Eyries, and Mike Callahan, "Waldorf Music Hall Album Discography

/ref> The business model for Waldorf Music Hall appears to have been inspired by the popularity of the

Your Hit Parade ''Your Hit Parade'' was an American radio and television music program that was broadcast from 1935 to 1953 on radio, and seen from 1950 to 1959 on television. It was sponsored by American Tobacco's Lucky Strike cigarettes. During its 24-year r ...

television program. In the 1950s it was common to refer to Waldorf Music Hall, and other labels like it, as 'Hit Parader Records.'

History

Although many sources give 1953 as the establishment date for Waldorf Music Hall, none of their releases appears to predate 1954. Light's promotional literature identifies Waldorf Music Hall as the first record label he began on his own, with Light's Project 3 label debuting in 1967. Therefore, the Waldorf label was "Project 1" whilst

Grand Award Records Grand Award Records was a pop, jazz, and gospel music record label founded by violinist and conductor Enoch Light in Harrison, New Jersey in 1955. Light used the liner notes to describe how the records were made and to advertise their importanc ...

and its later subsidiary

Command Records Origin and history Command Records was a record label founded by Enoch Light in 1959 and, in October that year, was acquired by ABC-Paramount Records. Light produced a majority of the releases in the label's catalog. The company focused on prod ...

became "Project 2". It was begun as a generic, "soundalike" label, with Light's stable of artists—Loren Becker,

Artie Malvin Artie Malvin (July 7, 1922 – June 16, 2006) was a composer and vocalist who was the baritone member of The Crew Chiefs. He also sang with Glenn Miller's band. Career During World War II, Malvin performed with Glenn Miller as part of The Cre ...

, Lois Winter, Dottie Evans and others—reproducing the hits of the day. Some have regarded Waldorf Music Hall as the first such label, but it appears that Big 4 Hits, a label based out of Cincinnati and headed by Carl Burkhardt, was established in 1952 and is therefore earlier. Emblazoned with the diamond-shaped logo "FDR"—meaning "Full Dynamic Range," signifying high fidelity, but also invoking an acronym for a popular American president—Waldorf Music Hall was primarily a 10" LP label with 8 hits apiece; 48 releases in the 3300 series appeared between January 1954 and December 1957.Bronk, Bill, "Hunting Waldorf Music Hall Dime Store Vinyl Records a Satisfying Quest," reprinted from ''Goldmine'', antiquetrader.co

/ref> Waldorf Music Hall also issued 45 rpm EPs of the same material; 78 rpm releases were issued on a plain label simply called "Waldorf" and on subsidiary labels 18 Top Hits and Rock N Roll. The 10" Lps sold for 99 cents, and the singles for 69 cents apiece. As mainstream pop vocals in the hit market began to give way to rock n' roll hits, Hit Parader type versions of these began to sound considerably more quaint and old-fashioned compared to the originals. Fortunately, Waldorf Music Hall had begun to diversify its offerings already through a $1.49 12" album program that featured coherent offerings ranging from classical and opera to children's records, jazz, dance music and gospel. In 1955, Light had begun his higher profile Grand Award label and this drew some attention away from Waldorf Music Hall; the Hit Parader issues stopped at the end of 1957. However, at the same time Waldorf gained a budget subsidiary, Colortone Records.Anonymous, "Waldorf Debs New Low Price Album Line, " Billboard December 30, 1957, pg. 13 In 1959, Enoch Light sold all of his labels to AM-PAR and became part of their organization. Grand Award continued, but at this point Waldorf Music Hall became dormant, having served its short-lived purpose.

Legacy

Many collectors view the Waldorf Music Hall records as "junk," and they are relatively common in second hand shops, though it took one collector more than thirty years to locate copies of all 48 albums in the 10" 3300 series. Nevertheless, some of the 12" albums—for example,those by the gospel group

Deep River Boys The Deep River Boys were an American gospel music group active from the mid-1930s and into the 1980s. The group performed spirituals, gospel, and R&B. Members The original group consisted of Harry Douglass (baritone), Vernon Gardner (first teno ...

and the traditional jazz band The Royal Playboys—remain desirable and are unique to Waldorf Music Hall. Moreover, the label also issued recordings by pianists Pauline Alpert and

Dick Hyman Richard Hyman (born March 8, 1927) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Over a 70-year career, he has worked as a pianist, organist, arranger, music director, electronic musician, and composer. He was named a National Endowment for the Art ...

(as "Knuckles O'Toole" and "Puddin' Head Smith"), bandleaders

Will Bradley Wilbur Schwichtenberg (July 12, 1912 – July 15, 1989), known professionally as Will Bradley, was an American trombonist and bandleader during the 1930s and 1940s. He performed swing, dance music, and boogie-woogie songs, many of them written b ...

, Bobby Byrne and

Peanuts Hucko Michael Andrew "Peanuts" Hucko (April 7, 1918 – June 19, 2003) was an American big band musician. His primary instrument was the clarinet, but he sometimes played saxophone. Early life and education He was born in Syracuse, New York, United St ...

and other significant artists under-utilized or not employed by the major labels. Waldorf Music Hall also released some novelty songs performed by TV comedian/actor

Wally Cox Wallace Maynard Cox (December 6, 1924 – February 15, 1973) was an American actor. He began his career as a standup comedian and then became the title character of the popular early U.S. television series ''Mister Peepers'' from 1952 to 19 ...

. In keeping with Light's reputation as an audiophile, Waldorf Music Hall issues do on the whole sound better than average for Hit Parader records, and the performances are of professional caliber even if the idiom of rock 'n roll is not comfortably realized.

Notable Releases

* ''Chimes at Christmas Time'' - Godrey Malcolm on the Organ with Fredrico on the Chimes - MHK 33-1230

References

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1954 Record labels disestablished in 1959

History

Legacy

Notable Releases

See also

References