Bellmark Records was a small

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

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 ...

, based in

Los Angeles, California 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 ...

. It was formed in 1989 by

Al Bell Al Bell (born Alvertis Isbell; March 15, 1940) is an American record producer, songwriter, and record executive. He is best known as having been an executive and co-owner of Stax Records, based in Memphis, Tennessee, during the latter half of the ...

, who was one of the driving forces behind

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

, having been its chairman and CEO, and who had also been president of

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

. The company's name was derived from the phrase "Al Bell Marketing". Initially, Bellmark's records were distributed by CEMA, but the company switched to independent distribution in 1991. The Bellmark Records organization included the Bellmark Records label itself, which was intended to be used for gospel and spiritual music, as well as the Life Records imprint, which was intended for other genres of African-American music; however, the overall manufacturing and marketing arm of the corporation went by the "Bellmark" name. Bellmark also had manufacturing, marketing, and distribution arrangements with a variety of labels, among them TMR Records. Bell said in a 1994 profile that he wanted to emphasize "positive, fun, entertaining party music". The biggest hit records distributed by Bellmark were " Dazzey Duks" by Duice, on the TMR label, which was certified

double platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

; "

Whoomp! (There It Is) "Whoomp! (There It Is)" is the debut single by 1990s rap duo Tag Team, written by members Cecil "DC the Brain Supreme" Glenn and Steve "Rolln" Gibson. The song reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B chart and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot ...

" by

Tag Team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

, on the Life label, which was certified quadruple platinum; and " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. ...

, on the NPG label. When Prince secured permission from Warner Bros. Records to release the latter song independently, Levi Seacer, president of Prince's

NPG Records NPG Records is a record label that was owned by Prince and run by Trevor Guy. "NPG" is short for New Power Generation. It was founded to release his music after Paisley Park Records was shut down by Warner Bros. Records in 1994. Though the 1994 co ...

, arranged with Bellmark to distribute "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" as a single, as well as '' The Beautiful Experience'', an EP of remixes of the song. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" was a #3 hit in the U.S. on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online stream ...

and was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" was Prince's last top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 of his lifetime. Some of Bellmark's

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

artists received Grammy nominations: The Rance Allen Group was nominated for

Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album was an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality gospel albums incorporating ...

for ''Phenomenon'' (1991),

Walter Hawkins Walter Lee Hawkins (May 18, 1949 – July 11, 2010) was an American gospel singer, songwriter, composer, and pastor. An influential figure in urban contemporary gospel music, his career spanned more than four decades. He was consecrated to the ...

and the Hawkins Family were nominated for

Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album The Grammy Award for Best Traditional Gospel Album was awarded from 1991 to 2011. A similar award, the Grammy Award for Best Soul Gospel Performance, Traditional was awarded from 1978 to 1983. It was previously known as the award Best Traditional S ...

for ''New Dawning'' (1996), and the

Edwin Hawkins Edwin Reuben Hawkins (August 19, 1943 – January 15, 2018) was an American gospel musician, pianist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. He (as leader of the Edwin Hawkins ...

Music & Arts Seminar was nominated for Best Gospel Album by a Choir or Chorus for ''All Things Are Possible'' (1996). In 1994, Bellmark collaborated with

Walt Disney Records Walt Disney Records is an American record label of the Disney Music Group. The label releases soundtrack albums from The Walt Disney Company's motion picture studios, television series, theme parks, and traditional studio albums produced by its ...

on an album titled ''Mickey Unrapped'', which featured parodies of rap songs, among them "Whoomp! (There It Went)", performed by Tag Team with Disney characters. This was the first time Walt Disney Records had collaborated with another record label on a non-soundtrack release. In 1997, Bellmark Records filed for bankruptcy. As a result, DM Records, Inc. purchased substantially all of Bellmark’s assets for $166,000 in 1999.In re Isbell Records, Inc.
No. 13–40878 (5th Cir. 2014).

References

See also