Atco Records

infobox record label


parent = Warner Music Group
founded = 1955
founder = Herb Abramson
distributor = Rhino Entertainment (US)
genre = Various.
country = US
url = http://rhinorecords.com/

Atco Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.

Company History

Beginnings

Atco Records was founded by Herb Abramson in 1955 as a sub label of Atlantic Records; operating as an outlet for acts that did not fit the format of Atlantic, which until 1968 was strictly blues, jazz, and R&B/soul. It also housed almost all of the company's non-African American artists (the main exception being The Young Rascals, who were considered a blue-eyed soul group.) The Atco name is simply an abbreviation of ATlantic COrporation.

In 1964 Atco released a single in the USA by the Beatles, "Ain't She Sweet" (flip side "Nobody's Child," with lead singer Tony Sheridan), which had been recorded in Hamburg in 1961. With lead vocal by John Lennon, "Ain't She Sweet" reached #19 on the Billboard chart in August 1964. Atco also released an album entitled Ain't She Sweet which featured the other two tracks by Sheridan and the Beatles from the Hamburg session and filled out by eight other songs (Beatles and other British Invasion numbers) covered by the Swallows.

Atco went on to distribute other labels, such as: Robert Stigwood's RSO Records, Volt Records, Island Records, Rolling Stones Records, and Ruthless Records in the late 1980s.

The twilight years

The last number one hit on Atco was "If Wishes Came True" by Sweet Sensation in 1990. In 1991, Atlantic merged Atco with its fledgling Eastwest Records label, and briefly operated the combination as "Atco/Eastwest Records." By 1993, the Atco name was dropped and the label continued operating as Eastwest Records. Since then, the Atco name and logo have been seen only on reissues of old material. As of mid-2005, its most recent release (in a joint venture with Rhino Records) was the soundtrack to the Bobby Darin biopic Beyond the Sea, starring Kevin Spacey and featuring Spacey's renditions of Darin classics.

Revival

In 2006, Warner Music Group reactivated Atco Records in conjunction with Rhino Entertainment. A Warner Music Group executive, Karen Ahmet, has recently been promoted to head of Atco. She is based in Los Angeles, California. Scarlett Johansson and Art Garfunkel were among the first artists signed to the label. Garfunkel issued "Some Enchanted Evening" on January 30, 2007. [http://www.rhino.com/rzine/pressrelease.lasso?PRID=455] Johansson issued "Anywhere I Lay My Head" on May 20, 2008.

Atco Records artists

* Steve Arrington / Steve Arrington's Hall Of Fame
* The Beatles (US)
* Ginger Baker (Ginger Baker's Air Force) (US)
* Bee Gees (US)
* Mr. Acker Bilk
* Black Oak Arkansas
* Blind Faith (US)
* Blue Mountain Eagle
* Blue Magic
* Buffalo Springfield
* The Capitols (Karen)
* Change
* Eric Clapton (US)
* The Coasters
* Arthur Conley
* Cream (US)
* Bobby Darin
* Spencer Davis Group (US)
* Dr. John
* Dream Theater
* Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity
* Bent Fabric and his Piano
* Fatback
* The Fireballs
* Genesis (US/Canada)
* R.B. Greaves
* Tim Hardin
* Donny Hathaway
* Jorgen Ingmann
* INXS (US/Canada)
* Scarlett Johansson
* Iron Butterfly (US)
* Deon Jackson (Carla)
* Ben E. King
* King Curtis
* Last Words
* Loudness
* Lulu (US)
* Pantera
* Michel'le
* Stevie Nicks (Modern/Atco) (US/Canada)
* Gary Numan (US)
* Pat & The Satelites
* The Persuaders
* Ratt
* Otis Redding (Volt & Atco)
* Bob Rivers (Critique & Atco)
* The Robins
* The Rose Garden
* Shadows Of Knight (Dunwich & Atco)
* Slave
* Sonny & Cher
* The System
* Tangiers
* Nino Tempo & April Stevens
* Pete Townshend (US)
* The Troggs (US)
* Vandenburg
* Vanilla Fudge
* Dee Dee Warwick
* Yes

See also

* List of record labels

External links

* [http://www.bsnpubs.com/atlantic/atco101265.html Discography of Atco LP releases]
* [http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/A_D/Atco/index.HTM Atco Records label design at www.collectable-records.ru]