RKO/Unique Records
RKO Records and Unique Jazz are two record labels which began in 1955 as Unique Records, a New York City pop music record label. After several small pop hits, such as "Man in the Raincoat" by fourteen-year-old Priscilla Wright, the label was acquired by General Tire subsidiary RKO Teleradio (initially General Teleradio; acquired a majority stake in the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1952, then merged with the RKO Pictures film studio in 1955, resulting in a name change to RKO Teleradio Pictures) in 1957 and placed its owner, Stanley Borden, in charge of its music entertainment division.[1] From 1957 on, the label was billed as RKO/Unique.
In an effort to create entertainment synergy, General Tire initially acquired majority control of Mutual in 1952 through its acquisition of the
After General Tire's acquisition of Unique Records in 1957, the record label was re-branded as RKO/Unique. Then, General Tire used Mutual in an attempt to enhance RKO/Unique by creating a national audience for the product. Unfortunately, the concept behind the arrangement was that
To cement this relationship, General Tire, through RKO Teleradio Pictures, created the radio program Studio X to carry the RKO/Unique product on Mutual. The result was a disaster. Within a few years (by 1957), both the radio network and the record company were suffering huge financial losses and General Tire divested both of them: Mutual was sold to 3M, while RKO/Unique was sold to an unknown buyer, in 1960.[3]
Years later, in 1965, RKO/Unique was acquired by Reach Entertainment, who revived the label, splitting RKO Records & Unique Jazz into two distinct labels.[3]
However, eventually, Reach Entertainment ceased operations, with RKO Records & Unique Jazz shutting down.
See also
- List of record labels
References
- ^ "RKO-Unique Album Discography". Bsnpubs.com. 2013-02-06. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ "Leona Anderson - Music To Suffer". Blog.wfmu.org. 2007-08-26. Retrieved 2013-07-22.
- ^ a b "RKO/Unique Records". www.fact-index.com.