Tower Records was an American record label active from 1964 to 1970. A subsidiary of Capitol Records, Tower often released music by artists who were relatively low-profile in compared to those released on the parent label, including artists—such as The Standells and

The Chocolate Watchband The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by Da ...

—later recognized as "garage bands". For this reason Tower is often associated with the garage rock phenomenon of the 1960s.

Overview

Named after Capitol's headquarters building, Tower was formed as a subsidiary to Capitol in 1964. In its early years, it released recordings by British invasion artists like

Freddie and the Dreamers Freddie and the Dreamers were an English beat band that had a number of hit records between 1963 and 1965. The band's stage act was enlivened by the comic antics of Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying. ...

, (whose "I'm Telling You Now" became Tower's only #1 hit on '' Billboard'') and Tom Jones (only 6 songs recorded in 1963, that were released by Tower on the strength of his hit "It's Not Unusual" two years later in 1965, much to the dismay of the singer, who was actually signed to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

subsidiary,

Parrot Parrots, also known as psittacines (), are birds of the roughly 398 species in 92 genera comprising the order Psittaciformes (), found mostly in tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three superfamilies: the Psittacoide ...

). It also gave Nilsson his first national releases. Tower's first single (#101) was "Car Party/Outta Gas" by

The Sunrays The Sunrays (previously known as the Renegades, the Renegade 5, Larry Tremaine & the Renegades, the Rangers and the Dirt Riders) were an American band from Pacific Palisades, California. The group was led by singer/songwriter/drummer Rick Henn, ...

, a California pop group produced and managed by

Murry Wilson Murry Gage Wilson (July 2, 1917 – June 4, 1973) was an American songwriter, talent manager, record producer, and music publisher, best known as the father of the Beach Boys' Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson. After the band's formation in 1 ...

, father of

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

Brian, Dennis and Carl. Tower record labels from 1964 to approximately 1968 had a solid brownish-orange color. This design was used for both singles and albums. Starting sometime around late 1968 or early 1969 the design was changed to a multicolored stripe label, and again, the stripe design was used for both singles and albums. The stripe label lasted until Tower ceased operations sometime around 1970. Tower releases have numerous many small variations of label type for stereo and mono releases and re-pressings. Minor label variations also sometimes make it possible to determine which of the three Capitol Records factories manufactured each copy. In 1965, Tower made a bit of a risky move by releasing "You Turn Me On" by

Ian Whitcomb Ian Timothy Whitcomb (10 July 1941 – 19 April 2020) was an English entertainer, singer-songwriter, record producer, writer, broadcaster and actor. As part of the British Invasion, his hit song " You Turn Me On" reached number 8 on the ''B ...

, a song that was considered racy by some. It became Whitcomb's biggest hit (and Tower's only other Top 10 record, peaking at #8 on ''Billboard''). Other Tower hits that year included "I Live For The Sun" by

and "Dirty Water", by The Standells. In 1966, the label became one of the premiere purveyors of what would later be called garage rock. While not releasing recordings from this genre exclusively, it seemed their greatest chart successes came from garage bands, such as "Blues' Theme" from ''

The Wild Angels ''The Wild Angels'' is a 1966 American outlaw biker film produced and directed by Roger Corman. Made on location in Southern California, ''The Wild Angels'' was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles an ...

'' by Davie Allan & the Arrows. Tower released the first recordings by Pink Floyd in the U.S. in 1967 without success after acquiring the rights from

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

's UK Columbia label (a different company than Columbia Records in the U.S. and Canada). Tower released three Pink Floyd albums. The five Pink Floyd singles on Tower have become the most valuable (fetching three figures in mint condition) and sought-after of the label's recordings. Tower released the single "

See Emily Play "See Emily Play" is a song by English rock band Pink Floyd, released as their second single in June 1967. Written by original frontman Syd Barrett, it was released as a non-album single, but appeared as the opening track of the U.S. edition of ...

" (Tower 356) three times between July 1967 and late 1968, but each time it failed to reach the top 40. Two other Pink Floyd singles, " Flaming" (Tower 378) and " Let There Be More Light" (Tower 440) are especially rare and were not released at all in the U.K. After the Tower label was dissolved the Pink Floyd albums were re-issued on another Capitol/EMI subsidiary,

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

and later Capitol Records. Several singles by The Chocolate Watch Band were released also in 1967. Today these are very collectible. Mississippi "sunshine pop" group Eternity's Children (who evolved into Starbuck in the 70's) placed Tower back on the charts with "Mrs. Bluebird" in the summer of 1968. A&R man Mike Curb joined the label in 1968. Curb had a hand in releasing several soundtracks on the Tower label, most notably, ''Wild in the Streets'', featuring Tower's last major hit: Max Frost and the Troopers' "The Shape of Things To Come". Capitol shut down Tower Records in 1970. In 1992, the original label was used as part of EMI's "Legends Of Rock And Roll" series of CDs for their ''Best Of Freddie And The Dreamers'' compilation. With the sale of most of

's recorded music operations to Universal Music Group in 2012, UMG now owns and handles the Tower Records catalog through Capitol, with the exception of the Pink Floyd catalogue, which is owned by the band and currently licensed in the UK and Europe by Warner Music Group's

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

unit and in the US and the rest of the world by

Sony Music Entertainment Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. Other Tower releases by British Invasion acts such as Freddie and the Dreamers, which Tower/Capitol acquired from EMI, are property of Parlophone today.

Label variations

*1964–1968: Brownish orange label with Tower logo on left side *1968–1970: Multi-color striped label with Tower logo on left side (album labels feature the logo at the top)

Charted singles

* Chittlins— Gus Jenkins—Tower 107—US #113, 11/64 * Apache '65—The Arrows featuring Davie Allan—Tower 116—US #64, 2/65 * This Sporting Life—Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville—Tower 120—US #100, 3/65 * I'm Telling You Now—Freddie & The Dreamers—Tower 125—US #1, 3/65 * Little Lonely One—Tom Jones—Tower 126—US #42, 5/65 * You Were Made For Me—Freddie & The Dreamers—Tower 127—US #21, 5/65 * You Turn Me On (Turn On Song) -- Ian Whitcomb & Bluesville—Tower 134—US #8, 5/65 * I Live For The Sun—The Sunrays—Tower 148—US #51, 9/65 * N-E-R-V-O-U-S! -- Ian Whitcomb—Tower 155—US #59, 9/65 * Send A Letter To Me—Freddie & The Dreamers—Tower 163—US #123, 10/65 * Dirty Water—The Standells—Tower 185—US #11, 4/66 * Chills And Fever—Tom Jones—Tower 190—US #125, 12/65 * Andrea—The Sunrays—Tower 191—US #41, 1/66 * Still—The Sunrays—Tower 224—US #93, 5/66 * Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White—The Standells—Tower 257—US #43, 8/66 * Theme From "The Wild Angels"—Davie Allan & The Arrows—Tower 267—US #99, 11/66 * Where Did Robinson Crusoe Go With Friday On Saturday Night—Ian Whitcomb—Tower 274—US #101, 11/66 * Why Pick On Me—The Standells—Tower 282—US #54, 10/66 * Winchester Cathedral—Dana Rollin—Tower 283—US #71, 11/66 * Blue's Theme—The Arrows featuring Davie Allan—Tower 295—US #37, 4/67 * Riot On Sunset Strip—The Standells—Tower 314—US #133, 3/67 * Edelweiss—Vince Hill—Tower 323—US #119, 4/67 * Devil's Angels—Davie Allan & The Arrows—Tower 341—US #97, 7/67 * Can't Help But Love You—The Standells—Tower 348—US #78, 11/67 * See Emily Play—Pink Floyd—Tower 356—US #134, 9/67 * Mrs. Bluebird—Eternity's Children—Tower 416—US #69, 7/68 * Shape Of Things To Come—Max Frost & The Troopers—Tower 419—US #22, 9/68 * Sunshine Among Us—Eternity's Children—Tower 439—US #117, 9/68 * Fifty-Two Percent—Max Frost & The Troopers—Tower 452—US #123, 12/68

Charted albums

* I'm Telling You Now—Freddie & The Dreamers—Tower 5003—US #86, 5/65 : ''Features only two tracks by Freddie & The Dreamers; the other 10 tracks are by other British artists and groups'' * You Turn Me On—Ian Whitcomb—Tower 5004—US #125, 7/65 * Dirty Water—The Standells—Tower 5027—US #52, 7/66 * Way Out West—

Mae West Mae West (born Mary Jane West; August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American stage and film actress, playwright, screenwriter, singer, and sex symbol whose entertainment career spanned over seven decades. She was known for her breezy ...

—Tower 5028—US #116, 7/66 * The Wild Angels (Soundtrack) -- Davie Allan & The Arrows—Tower 5043—US #17, 10/66 * The Wild Angels, Volume II—Davie Allan & The Arrows—Tower 5056—US #94, 4/67 * Devil's Angels (Soundtrack) -- Davie Allan & The Arrows—Tower 5074—US #165, 8/67 *

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn ''The Piper at the Gates of Dawn'' is the debut studio album by English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 5 August 1967 by EMI Columbia. It is the only Pink Floyd album made under the leadership of founding member Syd Barrett (lead vocals, g ...

—Pink Floyd—Tower 5093—US #131, 12/67 * Wild In The Streets—Soundtrack—Tower 5099—US #12, 7/68 * Best Of The Soundtracks (Compilation) -- Various artists—Tower 5148—US #198, 2/69

Other Tower label artists

* Davie Allan & the Arrows * Laurindo Almeida * Heinz (

Heinz Burt Heinz Burt (24 July 1942 – 7 April 2000) was a German-born British rock and roll bassist and singer who performed under the stage name Heinz. He was also known as a member of instrumental group the Tornados. Life Heinz was born in Detmold ...

The Tornados The Tornados (The Tornadoes in North America) were an English instrumental rock group of the 1960s that acted as backing group for many of record producer Joe Meek's productions and also for singer Billy Fury. They enjoyed several chart hi ...

) * Ray Chafin * The Chocolate Watch Band * Dick Curless :''Recorded for Tower Records between c. 1965 until 1970, when he was moved to the roster of Tower's parent label,

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

. At some point during Curless' tenure with Tower, they also acquired Curless' earliest recordings, which he had made for the Event and Tiffany labels, and re-issued them in a string of Compilation LP's.'' * Mac Curtis * The E-Types * Eternity's Children * Freddie & The Dreamers * Max Frost and the Troopers * Annette Funicello : ''Her one and only single on Tower, "What's A Girl To Do"/"When You Get What You Want" (Tower 326), shows her name misspelled as "Annettte"'' *

Brother Dave Gardner David Gardner (June 11, 1926 – September 22, 1983), known as Brother Dave Gardner, was a U.S. comedian, professional drummer and singer. A Tennessee native, Gardner studied drumming, beginning at age 13. After a one-semester term as a Souther ...

* The Green Beans : ''Rare garage single with an even rarer promotional color picture sleeve'' * Susan Hart *

Vince Hill Vincent Hill (born 16 April 1934) is an English traditional pop music singer and songwriter who is best known for his recording of the Rodgers and Hammerstein show tune "Edelweiss" (1967), which reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart (staying ...

Jake Holmes Jake Holmes (born December 28, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and jingle writer who began a recording career in the 1960s. Holmes is the author of the song " Dazed and Confused", later reworked by Led Zeppelin. Holmes also composed the ...

* Gus Jenkins * Tom Jones * Dean Martin * Darlene McCrea (of

The Cookies ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

) *

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal ov ...

* Pink Floyd * Dana Rollin * Shuggy Ray Smith : ''"Little Tommy's Letter"/"Ruth From Duluth" (Tower 187)'' * The Standells *

* Teddy & The Pandas * Them *

* Justin Wilson

References

External link

* {{Authority control American record labels Pop record labels Capitol Records Record labels based in California Record labels established in 1964 Record labels disestablished in 1970 1964 establishments in California 1970 disestablishments in California Warner Records