Record Label Posters and Art Prints

Atlantic Vinyl Record

RSO Records was a record label formed by rock and roll and musical theatre impresario Robert Stigwood and record executive Al Coury in 1973. The letters "RSO" stand for the Robert Stigwood Organisation. The company's main headquarters were at 67 Brook Street, in London's Mayfair. It underwent four distribution stages: by Atlantic Records from March 1973 to December 1975, by Polydor Records from January 1976 to December 1977, as an independent label under the PolyGram Group umbrella from January 1978 to around October 1981, and finally by PolyGram Records from around November 1981 until the label's end in 1983.

Iconic record label and magazine. Guaranteed every time.

Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch (formerly producers for Sun Records), and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce. Hi Records' first big hit was "Smokie Part 2", an instrumental by Bill Black's Combo, released in 1959. Black was a bass player with Elvis Presley and a long-time friend of Ray Harris. Founder Claunch was forced out of the label, selling his share in 1960 to Carl McVoy (a cousin of Jerry Lee Lewis), who had been involved with the label since its first recording and had worked with Bill Black.

Ruthless Records was founded by rapper Eric Wright (supposedly with money made as a drug dealer) and music industry veteran manager Jerry Heller in 1987. Ruthless was the home of several pioneering gangsta rap artists, and is credited with elevating West Coast hip hop beyond fringe audiences and into popular culture.

Polydor Records is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group.

Swan Song Records was a London-based label that was launched on May 10, 1974. The logo that adorned the label's record center stickers featured an Icarus symbol. This was heavily based on a drawing done sometime around 1870 by American painter, William Rimmer. Rimmer’s drawing is called Evening (The Fall of Day), and is said to be a depiction of the God Apollo, though others have considered it to be a depiction of Lucifer, or Icarus. Unfortunately, nobody can ask him, so it's anybody's guess. Regardless, Swan Song ceased operations in 1983, and the label's catalog was absorbed by a larger label.

The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded in London in 1973. The label signed numerous top artists throughout the '70s and '80s, including their signature choo choo train on the center label of every record produced.

Throwback to an old school dance music record label

Excello Records was an American blues independent record label, started by Ernie Young in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, in 1953 as a subsidiary of Nashboro, a gospel label. It recorded such artists as Lonnie Brooks, Lightnin' Slim, Slim Harpo, Roscoe Shelton, Lazy Lester, the Kelly Brothers, Lonesome Sundown, Silas Hogan, Arthur Gunter, Marion James, Carol Fran, Warren Storm, Tabby Thomas, Guitar Gable, and a spoken word sermon by Martin Luther King Jr.

Impulse Record Label

Funky but defunct Bang Records emblem 1965-1982

Founded in 1986, Brooklyn Dust Music hit the ground running and never stopped, publishing more than 400 albums, EPs, and singles over the next four decades. Primarily focusing on rap and hip-hop, Brooklyn Dust also published plenty of rock, alternative, and even soundtracks, creating a diverse catalog.

King Records was an American label founded in 1943 by Syd Nathan in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. The label owned several divisions, including Federal Records, which launched the career of James Brown. It released original material until 1975. Initially King specialized in country music, at the time known as hillbilly music. King advertised, "If it's a King, It's a Hillbilly – If it's a Hillbilly, it's a King." One of the label's hits was "I'm Using My Bible for a Road Map" by Reno and Smiley. Important recordings in this field were done by the Delmore Brothers and Wayne Raney. The Delmores and Moon Mullican played a country-boogie style that was similar to rockabilly.

Tamla Label

Kama Sutra Records was started in 1964 as Kama Sutra Productions, a production house. The name came from the "Kama Sutra," an ancient Indian Sanskrit text on sexuality, eroticism and emotional fulfillment in life. In 1965, the record label itself was started and a distribution deal with a multinational record label was later signed. Unhappy with the distribution deal, but locked into a contract, Buddah Records was started in parallel in 1967 to become the label for new artists as the Kama Sutra label continued to fulfill their contractual obligations by releasing existing acts under Kama Sutra though 1969, though now with Buddah Records sub-branding.

Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records that was formed in 1949. Coral released a lot of jazz and swing records in the 1940s, though after Bob Thiele became head of the label in 1954, they began producing more pop and rock titles, including several hit singles by his wife, Teresa Brewer. Coral stopped issuing new material in 1971 and was repositioned as a mid-line and budget album reissue label. This version of Coral existed well into the '80s before being shelved altogether.

Skunk Records is a Long Beach, California based record label that was founded by Michael "Miguel" Happoldt and Bradley Nowell in 1990. Skunk is affiliated with the spinoff label Cornerstone R.A.S. The inspiration for forming a record label came to Happoldt in 1989 as a way to release music for his band the Ziggens. Happoldt met Nowell shortly thereafter, who insisted on having Sublime backed by the nascent label. Happoldt was selective in choosing other acts, which later included Slightly Stoopid, Juice Bros, Philieano, Toko Tasi, and Paulie Nugent.

Anticon was an independent record label based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1998 by seven musicians and manager Baillie Parker. It was collectively owned among six musicians, co-founder Parker, and manager Shaun Koplow. The original musicians signed to Anticon were once referred to as the Anticon collective. Following the death of one of its founding members in 2018, the label dissolved.

Starday Records was an American record label producing traditional country music during the 1950s and 1960s. The label began in 1952 in Beaumont, Texas, when local businessmen Jack Starnes (Lefty Frizzell's manager) and Houston record distributor Harold W. Daily (better known as "Pappy") decided to form a record label. The Starday name is a combination of Starnes' and Daily's last names. After four releases, former Four Star vice president Don Pierce was brought into the fold and the three men founded the Starday Recording and Publishing Company.

Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor. Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK. In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc. and the label was placed under Uni Records management; Kapp was consolidated with MCA's other record labels in 1971 and, in 1973, MCA Records released the last Kapp record. Catalogue albums that continued to sell were renumbered and reissued on the MCA label.

Paisley Park Records was an American record label founded by musician Prince in 1985, which was distributed by and funded in part by Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1985, following the success of the film and album Purple Rain. The label shares its name with Prince's recording complex Paisley Park Studios and the song "Paisley Park" on his 1985 Around the World in a Day album. Paisley Park was opened to the public as a museum and memorial to Prince following his death. October 28, 2016, is officially known as Paisley Park Day in the city of Chanhassen to recognize the opening of the museum.

I.R.S. Records was a major American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave and alternative rock artists, including R.E.M., The Go-Go's, Wall of Voodoo, and Fine Young Cannibals. Currently the label is distributed by parent company Universal Music Group.

I.R.S. Metal was a sub-label of the infamous alternative rock label, I.R.S. Records. Formed in 1988, the label was relatively short-lived and only signed about a half dozen artists, amassing around 20 releases before closing up shop sometime in 1990.

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Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. Carter issued his debut album, Reasonable Doubt (1996) as the label's first release, in a joint venture with Priority Records. The label has signed and released albums for acts including Kanye West, Cam'ron, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Juelz Santana, Freeway, Jadakiss, Teairra Marí, State Property, and The Diplomats before its dissolution in 2013.

Swoody Records merch

Parrot Records was an American record label, a division of London Records, which started in 1964. The label usually licensed (or leased) recordings made by Decca Records, England, for release in the United States and Canada, most notably by the Zombies, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Them, Jonathan King, Hedgehoppers Anonymous, Lulu, Savoy Brown and Alan Price. Other artists included the Detroit-based Frijid Pink, Love Sculpture (reissued from EMI) and Bobby "Boris" Pickett (reissued from Garpax). Parrot's biggest hit was "She's A Lady" by Tom Jones, peaking at #2 on the Billboard charts in early 1971.

vintage

Buddah Records (later known as Buddha Records) was an American record label founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding. Buddah handled a variety of music genres, including bubblegum pop (the Ohio Express and the 1910 Fruitgum Company), folk rock (Melanie), experimental music (Captain Beefheart), and soul (Gladys Knight & the Pips).

Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its US label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp (the first president of the Decca Record company of the USA) and Milton Rackmil, who later became American Decca's president too. The name dates back to a portable gramophone called the "Decca Dulcephone" patented in 1914 by musical instrument makers Barnett Samuel and Sons.

Specialty Records was an American record label founded in Los Angeles in 1945 by Art Rupe. It was known for rhythm and blues, gospel, and early rock and roll, and recorded artists such as Little Richard, Guitar Slim, Percy Mayfield, and Lloyd Price. Rupe established the company under the name Juke Box Records but changed it to Specialty in 1946 when he parted company with a couple of his original partners. Rupe's daughter, Beverly, restarted the label in the 1980s. The record label was sold to Fantasy Records in 1991 and is now part of the Concord Music Group. The music publishing unit was sold to Sony/ATV Music Publishing.

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Fire Records was an American independent record label, set up in 1959 by Bobby Robinson. Amongst others, it released records by Lightnin' Hopkins, Elmore James, Buster Brown and Arthur Crudup. At one point it was thought Fire had issued the last commercial 78rpm disc in the United States. Although this has been dis-proven, the label is still known for their late-issue 78s.

Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Alvin Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revivals. Liberty's early releases focused on film and orchestral music. Its first single was Lionel Newman's "The Girl Upstairs". Its first big hit, in 1955, was by Julie London singing her version of the torch song, "Cry Me a River", which climbed to No. 9 in the Billboard Hot 100. It helped Liberty sell her first album, Julie Is Her Name.

Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll, and jazz and comedy recordings, released on the Chess and its subsidiary labels Checker and Argo/Cadet. The Chess catalogue is owned by Universal Music Group and managed by Geffen Records and Universal Music Enterprises.