SOLAR (acronym for Sound of Los Angeles Records) was an American

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded in 1978 by

Dick Griffey Richard Gilbert Griffey (November 16, 1938 – September 24, 2010) was an American record producer and music promoter who founded SOLAR Records, an acronym for "Sound of Los Angeles Records". The label played a major role in developing a funk ...

, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only three years after it was founded with ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois, for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featu ...

'' television show host and creator Don Cornelius.

History

SOLAR began in 1975 as Soul Train Records, founded by Dick Griffey and ''Soul Train'' creator Don Cornelius. The first act they signed was an R&B vocal quartet they named

The Soul Train Gang The Soul Train Gang were an American R&B vocal group. In the early 1970s, the dancers on Don Cornelius' hit television program ''Soul Train'' were called 'The Soul Train Gang'. The dancers became 'The Soul Train Dancers' in 1975 when the name 'T ...

(Gerald Brown, Terry Brown, Judy Jones, Patricia Williamson, and later Denise Smith), who performed one of Soul Train's many themes, "Soul Train '75". Their first album was entitled ''Don Cornelius Presents The Soul Train Gang.'' In 1976, their second album, ''The Soul Train Gang,'' produced by

Philly Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

's Norman Harris, was released. The Gang broke up in 1977. That same year, Singer/drummer Arnie Oliver, aka Ahaguna G. Sun, and singer/guitarist Werner "Bear" Schuchner comprised Sunbear, a little-known soul/funk vocal duo that recorded in Los Angeles in 1977. Earth, Wind & Fire was a heavy influence on Sunbear, and there were also hints of Tower of Power and El Chicano in their sound. In 1977, Sunbear recorded its self-titled debut album for Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey's Soul Train Records, which evolved into Solar Records after Cornelius' departure in 1978. Sunbear broke up without ever recording a second album, and Oliver and Schuchner both went on to pursue other activities in the R&B world. Oliver became a member of Frankie Beverly's Maze, while Schuchner played guitar on albums by the Whispers, the Soul Train Gang, High Inergy, and others. In 1980, the Whispers recorded Sunbear's ballad "Fantasy" for their hit album Imagination. Griffey formed a collective called

Shalamar Shalamar () is an American R&B and soul music vocal group created by Dick Griffey and Don Cornelius in 1977 and active throughout the 1980s. Shalamar's classic lineup on the SOLAR label consisted of Howard Hewett, Jody Watley, and Jeffrey D ...

, using a host of session singers to record " Uptown Festival," a disco-length medley of early

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

hits. After scoring a hit with the recording, he looked to Cornelius to help him put together an actual group to maintain the impact. In 1977, ''Soul Train'' dancers

Jody Watley Jody Vanessa Watley (born January 30, 1959) is an American singer, songwriter and producer whose music crosses genres including pop, R&B, jazz, dance and electronic soul.Paoletta, Michael (February 22, 2003) "Watley Relaxes In The Setting of The ...

and

Jeffrey Daniel Jeffrey Glen Daniel (born August 24, 1955) is an American dancer, singer-songwriter, and choreographer, and a founding member of the R&B vocal group Shalamar. In Nigeria, he is best known as a judge on the first three seasons of '' Nigerian ...

s and former Soul Train Gang member Gerald Brown (who was eventually replaced by

Howard Hewett Howard Hewett Jr. (born October 1, 1955) is an American singer–songwriter. Hewett rose to fame as the lead vocalist of the group Shalamar. In 1985, he left the group to pursue his solo career, but he later returned to the group in 2001. He si ...

) were recruited to form the new Shalamar, which would become the fledgling label's centerpiece. Cornelius wanted to shut down the label and Griffey paid him $300,000 for his interests in the label. Cornelius wanted to focus his energies on the TV show — which was a monster hit and required his full attention to keep it so. With legalities now taken care of, Griffey reorganized Soul Train Records into the newly founded SOLAR label in late 1977. Griffey and Cornelius remained good friends, and as a result SOLAR maintained close ties to the ''Soul Train'' show.

Success

SOLAR was known for several others who enjoyed success, including:

The Whispers The Whispers are an American vocal group from Los Angeles, California. Scoring hit records since the late 1960s, they are best known for their two number-one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1979 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispers ...

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a monarchy, monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A dynasty may also be referred to as a "house", "family" or "clan", among others. H ...

, Lakeside, Midnight Star,

Klymaxx Klymaxx is an American all-female pop/ R&B band from Los Angeles, California. The band's classic lineup consisted of Bernadette Cooper, Lorena Porter Shelby, Cheryl Cooley, Robbin Grider, Lynn Malsby, and Joyce "Fenderella" Irby. Klymaxx is bes ...

, Calloway,

Carrie Lucas Carrie Lucas (born October 1, 1945) is an American R&B singer, born in Carmel, California. In 1976, she was signed to Soul Train Records. Lucas released six studio albums over seven years, with Soul Train and Solar Records. Lucas was marrie ...

Collage Collage (, from the , "to glue" or "to stick together") is a technique of art creation, primarily used in the visual arts, but in music too, by which art results from an assembly of different forms, thus creating a new whole. (Compare with pasti ...

and

The Deele The Deele (pronounced like "deal") is an American band from Cincinnati, Ohio who achieved success in the 1980s with such hit singles as "Body Talk (The Deele song), Body Talk" and "Two Occasions". When the group began recording in the early 1980 ...

— which introduced singer/songwriter/producer

Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds Kenneth Brian Edmonds (born April 10, 1959), better known by his stage name Babyface, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has written and produced 26 number-one R&B hits and won 13 Grammy Awards. He was ranked number 20 ...

and future music executive Antonio "L.A." Reid. Griffey had always believed in giving new talents the opportunity to create and develop their craft, and he was introduced to songwriters/producers

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis James Samuel "Jimmy Jam" Harris III (born June 6, 1959) and Terry Steven Lewis (born November 24, 1956) are an American R&B/ pop songwriting and record production team. Their productions have received commercial success since the 1980s with var ...

by his A & R rep Dina R. Andrews (Dina Andrews Management Inc) who was the team's first manager, Reggie and Vincent Calloway, and Leon F. Sylvers III. The "SOLAR sound" was a collective effort, with artists working on each other's sessions and artists encouraged to be creative. Sylvers became SOLAR's house producer in 1978 and his signature basslines and productions helped mould the hit sound of SOLAR, which is funky, progressive dance music infused with soul and disco.

Decline

By 1987, the label began to see its commercial fortunes decline. Contributing to the decline were A&R problems with Shalamar, primarily, maintaining the group's identity and momentum as former members Hewett and Watley had departed and were having successful solo careers on other labels. The shifting musical directions of R&B, dance and popular music in general in the late 1980s and early 1990s also contributed to their decline.

Distribution

From 1977 to 1981, SOLAR was distributed by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, which had also distributed the Soul Train Records label during its two-year run. Griffey formed a second label, Constellation Records (no relation to the Chicago-based indie label founded by

Ewart Abner Ewart Gladstone Abner, Jr. (May 11, 1923 – December 27, 1997) was a major American record company executive who was President of Motown Records from 1973 to 1975 and was personal and business manager for Stevie Wonder for 10 years. In his e ...

) in 1981, which focused on more contemporary and top forty-geared acts to Griffey's more traditionally "urban" establishment (including Jon Gibson and

). Upon its formation, Constellation was distributed through Elektra/Asylum Records, making it only natural for the main SOLAR label to jump ship to Elektra for distribution when it left RCA. In the meantime, the Constellation label moved to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

for distribution in 1984. Shortly thereafter, Griffey decided to abandon contemporary music to focus all of his attention on running SOLAR, and retaining its sonic theme. Subsequently, MCA bought the Constellation imprint and absorbed its artists, including

, which had been its biggest act. SOLAR's relationship with Elektra lasted until 1986. After the Elektra distribution deal expired, SOLAR briefly took up distribution with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

until 1989, at which time it signed a new distribution deal with

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony is a Japanese multinational conglomerate (company), cong ...

, which oversaw what would ultimately become its twilight years. In the early 1990s, the label released its last recordings- 1991's ''Now'' by

Richie Havens Richard Pierce Havens (January 21, 1941 – April 22, 2013) was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His music encompassed elements of folk music, folk, soul music, soul (both of which he frequently cover song, covered), and rhythm and b ...

and Times 3's eponymous debut album, the

soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...

to the 1992 film ''

Deep Cover Deep Cover may refer to: * ''Deep Cover'' (1992 film), a 1992 American crime film starring Laurence Fishburne. * ''Deep Cover'' (2025 film), a British action comedy film about improv actors going undercover for the police * ''Deep Cover'' (soundt ...

'', 3rd Avenue's 1992 debut album ''

Let's Talk About Love ''Let's Talk About Love'' is the fifteenth studio album and fifth English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released on 14 November 1997 by Sony Music. The follow-up to the commercially successful '' Falling into You'' (1996), ''Le ...

'', and 1993 The Deele album ''An Invitation To Love''. Part of the label's back catalog, which includes the pre-1984 Constellation back catalog, were licensed by

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

in 1996, with many of its releases and compilations being re-issued through The Right Stuff Records. In 2009,

Unidisc Music Unidisc Music is a Canadian independent record label. The label is known for releasing rare music, that was made between the mid-1960s and late 1980s. Genres include rock music, rock, electronic music, electronic, funk, Soul music, soul, hip hop ...

purchased part of SOLAR's back catalog for Canada, US and South African territories. BMG owns the rights to part of the SOLAR catalog in the UK and Europe although the rights to SOLAR RECORDS as a trade mark and brand belong to the family of the late

according to the Intellectual Property Office.

UK relaunch

In 2018, 40 years after the founding of SOLAR Records, the label was relaunched in the UK by the family of the late

, according to issue 77 of UK Publication 'Soul Survivors Magazine' which featured an interview with both Carrie Lucas and new CEO Jessie Tsang. At the helm of the relaunched label is Griffey's widow

, his daughter

Carolyn Griffey Carolyn Griffey born April 3, 1969, is an American soul vocalist, and the longest standing female member of the soul R&B group Shalamar since 2001. She is the daughter of Disco (legend) Carrie Lucas and SOUL TRAIN/SOLAR Records boss and found ...

and British Chinese music promoter and IP paralegal consultant Jessie Tsang. Solar Records incorporates the Soul Train Records and Soul Train Club brands. Jessie Tsang is CEO with Sonia Damney as Vice President. In 2022 Carrie Lucas, Carolyn Griffey, Dina Andrews, Virgil Roberts participated with US Cable channel TV One for a special episode of the UNSUNG TV series on Dick Griffey and Solar Records. The episode premiered on November 6, 2022.

Solar and Soul Train Records Legacy Today

The Solar Records legacy continues today with the Solar Records and Soul Train Records brands licensed to Solar Legacy Entertainment Ltd and Galaxy of Stars Ltd. The Solar Legacy Entertainment Ltd company includes attorney at law Virgil Roberts who previously was president and legal counsel for Solar Records and

. Solar Legacy Entertainment also acquired music catalog rights to historic master recordings and also new music catalogs. Other ventures include the continuation of the 'Soul Train Club' radio show which has been broadcasting on

Solar Radio Solar Radio is a London-based radio station, which originally started life as a UK pirate radio, pirate radio station. Solar broadcasts primarily Soul music, soul to London on Digital Audio Broadcasting, DAB and online. Solar (originally short ...

since 2017. As of 2023 Galaxy of Stars Ltd oversees the live entertainment and music interests of the brands which includes the Soul Train Club and Solar Records. In December 2023 Solar entered into a TV and Film publishing deal due to be announced in 2024. Earmarked for release in 2024 is a new single by Kimberly Brown of

Sounds of Blackness Sounds of Blackness is a vocal music, vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz. The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B cha ...

. As of 2024 Virgil Roberts and Jessie Tsang on behalf of Solar Legacy Entertainment Ltd, entered into a deal with the famed Hollywood author, TV and film producer

Tina Andrews Tina Andrews is an American actress, television producer, screenwriter, author and playwright. She played Valerie Grant in the series ''Days of Our Lives'' from 1975 until 1977. Andrews also wrote the TV miniseries ''Sally Hemings: An American ...

for a

and

Solar Records SOLAR (acronym for Sound of Los Angeles Records) was an American record label founded in 1978 by Dick Griffey, reconstituted out of Soul Train Records only three years after it was founded with ''Soul Train'' television show host and creator Do ...

motion picture deal. Solar Legacy Entertainment Ltd also own a number of master recording rights to recordings by Soul Train Gang,

, Sunbear,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. ( ; born October 20, 1971), better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg), is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Rooted in West Coast hip-hop, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and Dr Dre and the sound track to the film ''

''. Part of Solar's new catalog includes new music by

Leon Sylvers III Leon Frank Sylvers III (born March 7, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter, disc-jockey, record producer and multi-instrumentalist. He was a member of the family group The Sylvers and became one of the most successful producers in Black mus ...

, Dana Meyers, Freddie Lee Peterkin, Brian K Morgan and Katie Goulet and

's grandson Kid3rd.

Artists

Absolute Absolute may refer to: Companies * Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher * Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK * Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...

Babyface Babyface or Baby Face can refer to: Nicknames * Lester Joseph Gillis a.k.a. Baby Face Nelson, an infamous 1930s bank robber * Roosevelt "Baby Face" Willette (1933–1971), an American hard bop and soul-jazz musician * "Baby Face", Jimmy McLarnin ...

* Calloway *

* Lakeside * Midnight Star * Ralph Butler *

The Sylvers The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. They were active during the 1970s, recording the singles "Fool's Paradise", " Boogie Fever", and " Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Sylvers, the four eldes ...

* Times 3 * 1-900 * 3rd Avenue

In-house producers

(1978-1983) * Reggie Calloway (1983-1986) *

L.A. Reid Antonio Marquis "L.A." Reid (born June 7, 1956) is an American record executive, A&R representative, and record producer who served as president and CEO of Arista Records from 2000 to 2004, as well as chairman and CEO of the Island Def Jam Mus ...

(1986-1989)

In-house writers

Tania Carmenatti, Dana Meyers, Dennis "Den Den" Nelson,

members Nidra Beard & William Shelby, The Time member Ricky Darnell "Freeze" Smith,

member Charmaine Sylvers, and Johnny Thomas Jr. were frequent writing collaborators on various SOLAR albums and/or for various SOLAR acts. Credits are courtesy of Tidal and

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a List of companies of Sweden, Swedish Music streaming service, audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services ...

. (A majority of Beard and Shelby's written contributions to their own group are omitted)

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1977 Defunct record labels of the United States Rhythm and blues record labels Soul music record labels Soul Train IFPI members Post-disco record labels