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, (1945–1980) New York City (1980–present) |
Mercury Records is a famous American record label that belongs to Universal Music Group. It became very successful on its own in the 1940s and 1950s. Mercury Records released many types of music, like rock, funk, R&B, doo wop, soul, blues, pop, rock and roll, and jazz. In the United States, it works with Republic Records. In the United Kingdom and Japan, it is distributed by EMI Records.
Contents
How Mercury Records Started and Grew
Mercury Records began in Chicago in 1945. Over many years, it became very successful. One reason for its success was using different ways to promote music. Most big record labels, like RCA Victor and Capitol Records, used radio to promote their songs. But Irving Green, one of Mercury's founders, decided to use jukeboxes instead. By spending less on promotion, Mercury could compete with older, bigger record labels. This helped Mercury become a well-known record label itself.
The Early Days of Mercury Records
Mercury Record Corporation was created in Chicago in 1945. The founders were Irving Green, Berle Adams, Ray Greenberg, and Arthur Talmadge. The company became a big name in R&B, doo wop, soul, pop, blues, rock and roll, jazz, and classical music.
Early on, Mercury opened two factories to make records. One was in Chicago and the other in St. Louis, Missouri. They hired promoters Tiny Hill and Jimmy Hilliard. This helped them become popular in the pop music world with artists like Frankie Laine, Vic Damone, Tony Fontane, and Patti Page.
In 1946, Mercury hired Eddie Gaedel to be the "Mercury Man." He wore a winged hat, like the company's logo, to promote their music. Some early Mercury records even had a cartoon picture of him as their logo.
In 1947, a musician and manager named Jack Rael convinced Mercury to let Patti Page record a song called "Confess." The song was supposed to be sung by Vic Damone. The budget was too small to hire a second singer for the "answer" parts. So, Patti Page sang both voices herself. This was one of the first times "overdubbing" (recording one voice over another) was used with tape.
Mercury released many recordings under its own name. It also had other labels like Smash Records and Fontana Records. They also bought or rented music from other small labels and released it. Mercury released many different types of music, from classical to psychedelic rock. Its smaller labels often focused on specific types of music.
Mercury's Jazz Music Division
From 1947 to 1952, John Hammond was a vice-president at Mercury Records. Mercury had a special label called EmArcy. This label released albums by many jazz artists. These included Clifford Brown and Max Roach, Dinah Washington, Nat Adderley, Cannonball Adderley, and Sarah Vaughan.
In the late 1950s, Mercury released jazz music from artists like Max Roach, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, Dizzy Gillespie, and Buddy Rich. In the 1960s, they released albums by Quincy Jones, Buddy Rich, Cannonball Adderley, and Dinah Washington.
Mercury's Journey: From the 1950s to Today
In the 1950s, Mercury released hit songs by 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 changed its music distribution in the UK from EMI to Philips. In 1962, Mercury also started selling record players made by Philips, using the Mercury brand name.
In July 1967, Mercury Records was the first U.S. record label to release music on cassette tapes. In 1969, Mercury changed its name to Mercury Record Productions Inc.
In 1972, Philips and Siemens (a German company) combined their music businesses to form PolyGram. PolyGram then bought Mercury. Mercury's name was changed to Phonogram Inc. to match a related company in the UK. In the 1970s, Mercury released hits by artists like The Statler Brothers, Rod Stewart, Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Rush, and Reba McEntire.
From 1974 to 1983, the company's record labels showed paintings of three famous buildings in Chicago. One of these, One IBM Plaza, was Mercury's headquarters at that time. Mercury released music by soul artists like the Dells and funk artists like Ohio Players and the Bar-Kays. They also released early rap hits like "The Breaks" by Kurtis Blow in 1980.
In 1980, Phonogram moved its main office from Chicago to New York City. In 1981, Mercury and other labels owned by PolyGram, like Polydor and Casablanca, joined together under the new name PolyGram Records, Inc. (now UMG Recordings). Under PolyGram, Mercury took on artists from Casablanca Records. These included rock bands like Kiss and disco stars like Donna Summer. Mercury became a top label for rock, pop, and new wave music. They had artists like Van Morrison, Thin Lizzy, Scorpions, Rush, John Cougar Mellencamp, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, and Def Leppard.
With bands like Thin Lizzy, Bon Jovi, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Kiss, and the Scorpions, Mercury became a leading label for hard rock music. Many of these bands were on Vertigo Records in Europe, which focused on progressive rock and hard rock.
In late 1998, PolyGram was bought by Seagram. Seagram then combined PolyGram with its Universal Music Group (UMG) unit. During this change, Mercury Records was closed and became part of the new The Island Def Jam Music Group. Mercury's pop artists mostly moved to Island Records. Its hip-hop artists went to Def Jam Recordings, and some R&B artists moved to Def Soul Records. Mercury's country music part became Mercury Nashville Records.
However, Mercury Records was brought back in 2007 as a label under The Island Def Jam Music Group. It was closed again in 2015. On April 11, 2022, Republic Records announced that they had bought Mercury Records. It continues to operate as a part of Republic Records.
The Mercury name also lives on in other ways. There is a Mercury Records division of UMG France. There is also Mercury Studios, a film division, and the classical music label Mercury KX. The name is also used for re-releases of older music in many countries. In 2024, Mercury Records became part of Universal Music Group's Republic Corps. It joined other labels like Republic Records, Island Records, and Def Jam Recordings.
Mercury Living Presence: Amazing Sound Recordings
In 1951, Mercury Records started a new way of recording music. Recording engineer C. Robert (Bob) Fine and director David Hall used just one microphone to record symphony orchestras. The first record made with this new method was Pictures at an Exhibition by Rafael Kubelík and the Chicago Symphony.
The Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Antal Doráti, became very famous using this technique. They made many classical albums that sold well. These included the first full recordings of Tchaikovsky's ballets Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Nutcracker. Dorati's 1954 recording of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture included exciting sounds of 1812-era cannons and the bells of the Yale University Carillon.
The New York Times music critic Howard Taubman said that the Mercury sound on Pictures at an Exhibition made him feel "in the living presence of the orchestra." Because of this, Mercury started calling their classical recordings the 'Living Presence' series. These recordings were produced by Mercury vice president Wilma Cozart, who later married Bob Fine.
Besides the Chicago and Minneapolis orchestras, Mercury also recorded Howard Hanson with the Eastman Rochester Orchestra and Frederick Fennell with the Eastman Wind Ensemble.
In late 1955, Mercury started using three microphones to make stereo recordings. This method was an improvement on the single microphone. The center microphone was still the most important. The side microphones added depth and width to the sound. From 1961, Mercury improved this three-microphone technique by using 35-mm magnetic film instead of tape. This film helped prevent sound from bleeding through and gave a wider range of sound. The Mercury 'Living Presence' stereo records were made directly from these three-track recordings.
The original classical LP records were released until 1968. Today, the Mercury classical music collection is managed by Decca Label Group. Mercury now manages the pop/rock music collection of Philips Records.
In 2012, Decca Classics released a large 51-CD box set of the Mercury Living Presence recordings. This set included 50 remastered CDs and a bonus CD with an interview with Wilma Cozart Fine. A limited-edition six-LP box set was also released. In 2013, Decca Classics released a second, 55-CD box set.
On January 4, 2015, Mercury co-founder Irwin Steinberg passed away at 94 years old.
Mercury Records Around the World
Mercury Records has different operations in various countries.
Mercury KX (Formerly Mercury Classics)
Mercury Classics was relaunched in 2012 as an international classical music label. It aims to find and work with creative artists who bring new ideas to classical music.
Some artists who signed with the label in its first year included Icelandic composer Olafur Arnalds, the string quartet Brooklyn Rider, Chinese pianist Yundi, and Austrian clarinetist Andreas Ottensamer. The label also works with classical guitarist Milos Karadaglic and has a partnership with Tori Amos.
In 2013, Mercury Classics released Olafur Arnalds' album For Now I Am Winter, which became number one on the US Classical Chart. Yundi's recording of Beethoven sonatas sold very well in China. The label also released albums by Andreas Ottensamer and Brooklyn Rider. Milos Karadaglic's "Latino Gold" topped the UK classical charts.
In 2014, Mercury Classics released "Aranjuez" by Milos Karadaglic. This album topped the iTunes Classical charts in many countries. When Yundi's new album Emperor/Fantasy was released, Mercury Classics held the top two spots on the UK classical chart. In May 2014, the label released Tori Amos' album Unrepentant Geraldines.
In 2016, Mercury Classics changed its name to Mercury KX. It started focusing on post-classical music.
Mercury Nashville: Country Music
Mercury's Nashville unit started in 1957. It was a partnership with Starday Records to release country music. Mercury bought Starday's share in 1958.
In 1997, PolyGram combined all its Nashville operations under the Mercury name. Mercury Nashville took over managing all of PolyGram's country music catalog. This included music from labels like Polydor and A&M. All country artists under contract to other PolyGram labels either moved to Mercury or were no longer with the company.
Today, Mercury Nashville is still an active part of Universal Music Group Nashville. It continues to manage the country music catalog that once belonged to PolyGram.
Mercury Records in the UK
Oriole Records was the only company allowed to release Mercury Records music in the UK from 1950 to 1955. Later, Mercury's music was released under its own label. In 1958, Mercury changed its UK distribution from Pye to EMI, and in 1964 to Philips.
Mercury operated as a label in the UK under Phonogram from the mid-1960s until 1998. In March 2013, its artists moved to Virgin EMI due to changes in Universal's UK labels.
In 2005, Jason Iley became the new managing director of Mercury. In July 2005, Iley hired Paul Adam as senior artist and repertoire (A&R) director. In October 2006, U2 decided to leave Island Records and moved to Mercury Records.
In March 2011, the label announced it would mostly stop making CD and vinyl singles. They would only release them physically in rare cases.
In 2012, artists signed to Mercury included Pixie Lott, Arcade Fire, Amy Macdonald, Noah and the Whale, and Jake Bugg. In July, Mercury announced that Mike Smith was joining as president of its music division.
In March 2013, Mercury UK became part of Virgin EMI. Virgin EMI was renamed EMI Records in June 2020.
Mercury Records in Australia
Mercury Records started in Australia in 1955. It focused on finding and recording local Australian artists. The label was put on hold in 1999 but was active again from 2007 to 2013. Some successful Australian artists on Mercury included INXS, Kamahl, Darren Hayes, and The Preatures.
Mercury Records in France
In France, Mercury Records is part of the Mercury Music Group. This group is a division of Universal Music Group. It controls the French operations of many UMG labels, including Mercury, Fontana Records, and Island Records.
Other Universal Music Group companies around the world also use the Mercury Records name. They use it for their local artist and repertoire operations.
Mercury Tokyo: Japan's Mercury Label
The Mercury label first launched in Japan in 1952. It was handled by different companies over the years, including King Records and Nippon Victor.
It was relaunched in 1970 as Nippon Phonogram. In 1995, it was relaunched as Mercury Music Entertainment. It later merged with Kitty Records in 2000 and became Kitty MME. Its artists included Seiko Matsuda and Yūji Oda.
After 13 years, the label was brought back to life with a new name, Mercury Tokyo. It is now part of Universal Music Japan. The K-pop group Monsta X was the first artist signed to the newly relaunched label. As of 2022, the label has added other K-pop groups like Drippin, Golden Child, Loona, and STAYC to its list of artists.
See also
In Spanish: Mercury Records para niños
- Chicago record labels
- List of Mercury Records artists
- List of record labels
