Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Category: King Records

Advertising +/- marketing in popular music
Zeroto180

Nina Simone (vs. Syd Nathan) at Bethlehem Records

Browsing Nina Simone‘s early single releases on Bethlehem Records — Gus Wildi‘s jazz label, whose control and eventual ownership would ultimately be given over to Syd Nathan of King Records — my eyes are immediately drawn to the instrumental B-side, “African Mailman,” a fairly radical and oblique song title for

Read More »
Federal
Zeroto180

King Records Lore — A Trunkful of Trivia

Chiemi Eri on King Records – In the US & Japan Chiemi Eri, born Jan. 11, 1937 in Tokyo, was a popular singer and actress in Japan who began her singing career at 14 with her version of “The Tennessee Waltz,” according to Discogs. When you scan her singles discography

Read More »
Cincinnati (OH-KY-IN tri-state area)
Zeroto180

The “Pre-Nashville A Team” at Cincinnati’s Herzog Studios

The Pleasant Valley Boys were considered country music’s first “A Team” of session players, whose services were highly sought by two of the top country artists in Nashville between 1947 and 1948 at the very dawn of that city’s ascendance as one of the world’s great recording capitals. When you

Read More »
60s/70s rock +/- pop
Zeroto180

Smokey And His Sister: Goodbye Cincinnati

The City of Cincinnati might want to consider a lawsuit – what is the statute of limitations on liner notes from an album released 54 years ago? I understand that Hal Halverstadt was merely playing up the difference between “small town” provincialism and “big city” sophistication for dramatic emphasis, but

Read More »
Henry Glover
Zeroto180

Henry Glover’s Monumental Musical Legacy

LINK to Henry Glover’s songwriting body of work * Part One Historical Overview & Narrative Composer, producer, arranger, publisher, talent scout, vocalist, trumpet player, engineer, A&R executive, and later, a label owner in his own right, Henry Bernard Glover — notes Nick Duckett in the liner notes that accompany the

Read More »
Henry Glover
Zeroto180

King Records — In a Nutshell

What a revelation to find out that World Radio History‘s website not only allows access to a comprehension collection of music trade publications, including Billboard, Cash Box, and Record World, but also the ability to search all back issues simultaneously! What’s especially helpful is how the search results often show

Read More »
"Vampire's Ball"
Zeroto180

King’s Answer to “Monster Mash”

“After making the label an important artistic nest for major jazz artists like Nina Simone, Carmen McRae, Chris Connor and Mel Tormé,” notes Discogs in a summary overview of Bethlehem Records, its founder Gustav Wildi, in 1958, “gave the major label King Records half ownership as payment for distribution, and

Read More »
Beau Dollar
Zeroto180

The Dapps at King Records

Note:  Spotify playlist at the end of this piece Music writer/historian, Randy McNutt, in King Records of Cincinnati, points out the irony of “How You Gonna Get Respect (When You Haven’t Cut Your Process Yet)” – a Hank Ballard single “obviously aimed at the R&B market” – being voiced by mostly white

Read More »
Chuck Connor
Zeroto180

The Upsetters at King Records

I am only just now discovering that Little Richard‘s musical influence had a direct impact on King Records, first when his live backing band, The Upsetters, became Little Willie John’s support group after Richard renounced rock ‘n’ roll in 1957, and then again soon after when the Upsetters backed James

Read More »
All Categories
Archives