Compagnia Generale del Disco (CGD) was an Italian record label.

History

CGD was founded in 1948 by singer

Teddy Reno Teddy Reno (born 11 July 1926) is an Italian singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Life and career Born in Trieste as Ferruccio Merk Ricordi, Reno made his debut on Radio Trieste during the Anglo-American administration of the city, la ...

. At that time it was established in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

in Via Passarella 4. As artistic director Reno called fellow musician

Lelio Luttazzi Lelio Luttazzi (27 April 1923 – 8 July 2010) was an Italian composer, musician, actor, singer, conductor, writer, and television and radio presenter. Born in Trieste, Luttazzi began playing the piano at Radio Trieste and composing his first s ...

, who replaced David Matalon as Head of International Production in 1956. By collaborating with some publishers such as Suvini-Zerboni and Messaggerie Musicali, CGD was able to hire many artists who roused much success as Giorgio Consolini,

Betty Curtis Roberta Corti, better known by her stage name Betty Curtis (21 March 1936 – 15 June 2006), was an Italian singer active from 1957 to 2004. Curtis grew up in the Zone 8 of Milan's borough Cagnola. She started singing in night clubs at an early ...

and

Johnny Dorelli Johnny Dorelli (real name Giorgio Guidi; born 20 February 1937) is an Italian actor, singer and television host. Early life Dorelli was born in Meda, Italy. In 1946 he moved to New York City with his family, where his father, Nino D'Aurelio ...

Under the Sugar Helm

In 1959, Teddy Reno sold CGD to Ladislao Sugar, a publisher of Hungarian origin and future entrepreneurial owner of the Sugar Group, which was founded by Carlo Alberto Rossi's Casa Editrice Ariston, and then abandoned to buy Musical Messengers (Messaggerie Musicali). It was on this occasion that he came into contact with Teddy Reno. In 1961, CGD moved to Galleria del Corso, where many other record labels and music publishing were located. In 1968, Ladislas decided to focus on the publishing division Grove Press and was replaced by his son, Peter.

Merger with CBS Italia

In 1966, CGD made an agreement with CBS to distribute its catalog in Italy. In 1970, CGD eventually merged with CBS Italia and established CBS Sugar. In 1973, it moved to Via Quintiliano 40. In 1977, when CBS decided to open its own premises in Italy, all the Italian artists who recorded for CBS were incorporated with CGD and their records were reissued by the new record label. In the same year, Peter Sugar's wife, pop star

Caterina Caselli Caterina Caselli (born 10 April 1946) is an Italian record producer, music executive, singer and bass player. Biography Caselli was born in Modena but grew up in Sassuolo. She started her music career by playing bass in local clubs. In 1966 s ...

decided to establish a satellite record company, supporting non-mainstream acts like The Radio Dept, Franco Fanigliulo, Piccola Orchestra Avion Travel and

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Later years

Throughout the 1980s, CGD continued its operations with 9 subsidiary labels. A notable signee during this decade was the late American singer Nicolette Larson, who recorded only one album for the company, ''

Shadows of Love ''Shadows of Love'' is the seventh studio album by the American pop singer Nicolette Larson. It was released in 1988 in Italy only through CGD Records. The album was produced by Carlo Stretti and Ernesto Tabarelli. Background With ''Shadows of ...

''. In 1988, CGD, like many other record companies, ran out of business.

East West Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in London, England. History Upon its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had one hit with t ...

, under

Warner Music Group Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and t ...

, bought the label & continued its operations. In 1995, it changed its name to CGD East West. In early 2000s, the former was merged to

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

Notes

CGD at the Discogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Compagnia Generale Del Disco Defunct record labels of Italy Record labels established in 1948 Record labels disestablished in 1989 Pop record labels