Mercury Records facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Mercury Records |
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| Parent company | Universal Music Group |
| Founded | 1945 |
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| Status | Active |
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| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. (1945–1980) New York, New York, U.S. (1980–present) |
Mercury Records is a famous American record label that belongs to Universal Music Group. It started in 1945 and quickly became very successful. Mercury Records released many types of music, like rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul music, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz.
In the United States, Mercury Records is now part of Republic Records. In the United Kingdom and Japan, its music is shared by EMI Records.
Contents
How Mercury Records Started
Mercury Records began in Chicago in 1945. It was founded by Irving Green, Berle Adams, Ray Greenberg, and Arthur Talmadge. The company became very successful over many years.
Early Days and Success
Mercury Records became popular by using different ways to promote its music. Most big record companies used radio to promote songs. But Mercury's co-founder, Irving Green, decided to use jukeboxes instead. This helped them save money on promotions. By keeping costs low, Mercury could compete with bigger labels and become a major record company itself.
Mercury quickly opened two factories to make records. One was in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. They signed popular singers like Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane, and Patti Page.
In 1946, Mercury hired Eddie Gaedel to be the "Mercury Man." He was a person with dwarfism who had played in a Major League Baseball game. He wore a winged hat, just like the Mercury Records logo. Some early records even had a cartoon picture of him as their logo.
In 1947, a musician named Jack Rael helped Patti Page record a song called "Confess." They didn't have enough money to hire a second singer. So, Patti Page sang both parts of the song herself. This was one of the first times "overdubbing" (recording one voice over another) was used with tape.
Mercury released many records under its own name and through other smaller labels. These included Blue Rock Records, EmArcy Records, Smash Records, and Fontana Records. They released everything from classical music to psychedelic rock.
Mercury's Jazz Music
From 1947 to 1952, John Hammond was a vice-president at Mercury Records. Mercury's EmArcy label released many jazz albums. These featured famous artists like Clifford Brown, Max Roach, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, and Cannonball Adderley.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Mercury continued to release jazz music from artists such as Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, and Quincy Jones.
Mercury Records Through the Years
In the 1950s, Mercury had many hit songs from groups like the Platters, Brook Benton, and Patti Page.
In 1961, Philips, a company from the Netherlands, made a deal with Mercury. A year later, Philips bought Mercury. In 1963, Mercury's records started to be shared by Philips in the UK.
In 1967, Mercury Records was the first U.S. record company to release music on cassette tapes.
In 1972, Philips and Siemens (a German company) combined their music businesses to create PolyGram. PolyGram then bought Mercury. During the 1970s, Mercury released hits by artists like Rod Stewart, BTO, and 10cc.
From the 1970s to the early 1980s, Mercury released music by many soul and funk artists. These included the Dells, Ohio Players, and Kool & the Gang. They also released early rap hits like Kurtis Blow's "The Breaks" in 1980.
In 1980, Mercury moved its main office from Chicago to New York City. In 1981, Mercury joined with other music labels owned by PolyGram, like Polydor Records and Casablanca Records. Mercury became a major label for rock, pop, and new wave music. They signed bands like Kiss, Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Rush, John Cougar Mellencamp, Tears for Fears, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Def Leppard. This made Mercury a top label for hard rock music.
In 1998, a company called Seagram bought PolyGram. Seagram then combined PolyGram with its Universal Music Group. Mercury Records was then joined with a new group called The Island Def Jam Music Group. Mercury's pop artists moved to Island Records, and its hip-hop artists went to Def Jam Recordings. The country music part of Mercury became Mercury Nashville Records.
Mercury Records was brought back in 2007, but it closed again in 2015. However, on April 11, 2022, Republic Records announced that they had bought Mercury Records. Now, Mercury Records continues to release music as part of Republic Records.
Mercury Living Presence Recordings
In 1951, Mercury Records started a special way of recording classical music. They used only one microphone to record large orchestras. This method was led by recording engineer C. Robert Fine and director David Hall.
The first record made with this new method was Pictures at an Exhibition by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Antal Doráti, made many popular classical albums using this technique. These included the first full recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets like Swan Lake. Dorati's recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture even included real cannon shots and church bells!
A music critic from The New York Times said that listening to these recordings was like "being in the living presence of the orchestra." Because of this, Mercury started calling their classical recordings the 'Living Presence' series.
Later, Mercury began using three microphones for stereo recordings. This helped create a deeper and wider sound. They even used special 35-mm magnetic film instead of tape for even better sound quality.
Today, the Mercury classical music collection is managed by Decca Label Group. In 2012 and 2013, Decca Classics released large collections of these 'Living Presence' recordings on CD and LP, bringing them back for new listeners.
Mercury Records Around the World
Mercury Records has had operations in many countries.
Mercury Nashville
Mercury's country music division, Mercury Nashville, started in 1957. It focused on releasing country music artists. Today, Mercury Nashville is still active under Universal Music Group Nashville. It manages many classic country songs.
Mercury Records (UK)
In the United Kingdom, Mercury Records operated from the mid-1960s until 1998. In 2013, its artists moved to Virgin EMI. Famous artists like U2 and Pixie Lott have been on Mercury UK.
Mercury Records (Australia)
Mercury Records started in Australia in 1955. It signed Australian artists like INXS and Kamahl.
Mercury Tokyo (Japan)
The Mercury label first launched in Japan in 1952. It was relaunched in 1995 as Mercury Music Entertainment. In 2015, the label was brought back as Mercury Tokyo under Universal Music Japan. It has signed popular K-pop groups like Monsta X, Drippin, and STAYC.
See also
In Spanish: Mercury Records para niños
- Chicago record labels
- List of Mercury Records artists
- List of record labels
