20th CENTURY / 20th
CENTURY-FOX
American. News
that film giant 20th Century-Fox was going to enter the record business came
in 'Billboard' of the 3rd of February 1958, courtesy of company
president Spyrous Skouras. 'BB' of the 10th was able to say that a record company had been formed and
that Henry Onorati , vice president of Dot Records (q.v.), was going to take
the helm in March when his contract with Dot expired. It added
that Skouras had considered buying an existing company but had decided to start one
and add to it. It was intended that the new label would be active
in all genres and would release albums and singles. A couple of
months later 'BB' of the 21st of April reported that the label was set to put out its
first two records, both of them singles. The plan was for forty to fifty
singles per year, with a maximum of two per week, and discussions with the
parent company about possible film tie-ups were taking place.
A review of the first single from the
new label - called '20th Fox' - appeared in 'BB' of the 28th of April
1958, along with an observation that sixty-four masters had been offered to
the company in the past four weeks; deals had been signed for six of them. A
head of steam was building up: Onorati was able to announce in 'BB' of the 12th
of May that distribution deals had been signed which would see 20th Fox
product coming out in the principal countries of Europe along with Australia,
New Zealand, South America and North Africa. The UK rights went to Top
Rank, in an agreement which came into force on the 1st of January 1959. There
was no reciprocal deal for Top Rank product to appear on 20th Fox ('BB',
15th December 1958). 'BB' of the 26th of May was able to state that 20th
Fox was preparing to enter the album market, and that at least ten such discs
were expected to be in the shops by August. The label hit paydirt with the
Christmas hit 'The Little Drummer Boy' by The Harry Simeone Chorale; 'BB' of the 22nd
of December reported that it had sold 400,000 copies. It proved to be
a perennial favourite and was a hit in several different
years. In the wake of Christmas 1960 it qualified for a gold record, and by the time 'BB'
of the 21st of December 1968 came out sales of the various versions - of
which there were any number - were expected to hit the 24 million mark.
'The Little Drummer Boy' proved to be 20th Fox's only hit
of 1958, but it ended the year 'in the black' with gross receipts of $350,000
('BB' 26th January 1959) - Henry Onorati was quoted as saying that the
company was employing a 'blockbuster' technique, releasing few singles but
concentrating on each of them. Despite the arrival of Al Martino in 1959
the number of hit singles failed to rise substantially, 'BB' of the 28th of
December putting the figure at two. The following year saw the
introduction of a 'Master Art' series for unusual and Classical music; the
low-price label Studio Records, which featured reissues of old 20th Fox
material, also made its debut ('BB', 7th March 1960). Another attempt
to boost album sales came in the form of a 'Buy an LP, get its twin free'
deal, which applied to nine albums including ones by best-selling artists Al
Martino, the Harry Simeone Chorale and the 20th Century Singers ('BB', 1st
August 1960). A setback came in the form of a lawsuit from Simeone,
alleging 'unauthorized deductions' made from royalties for 'The Little Drummer Boy'
and seeking punitive damages for alleged breach of contract. 'BB' of the
12th of September was able to comment that the company was living up to its
promise to cover a wide range of genres, with its new releases including
Jazz, Soundtracks, Children's and Classical albums. One name on 20th Fox
that will be familiar to British punters was that of Rolf Harris, whose 'Tie Me
Kangaroo Down Sport' came out in June 1960. That same year, Top Rank was
bought by EMI in the UK, which led to 20th Fox moving to Ember Records
here (q.v.).
In the summer of 1961 'BB' reported that there
was to be a 'big push for action' in the singles market. New artists were to
be signed, independent productions were to be sourced in addition to in-house ones,
and a department for the production, scheduling, marketing and promotion
of singles was being formed ('BB', 24th July). Despite this activity
matters failed to improve much, and both Onorati and vice president Lou
Del Guercio resigned in February 1962. 'BB' of the 10th, breaking the
news, observed that substantial changes were in prospect at 20th
Fox: a survey of the company was under way which would result in recommendations being made to
executives. It was believed, however, that 20th Century-Fox would remain in the record business. Basil
Bova was put in charge of record operations for the time being. 'BB'
of the 7th of July quoted him as saying that
a closer link between the company's recording, film and television activities
was planned, with more albums and singles taken from soundtracks being issued
and records being made by film and TV stars. A few
months later talks took place with Bernie Lowe, head of
Cameo Parkway, about the future of 20th Fox, but they eventually proved fruitless. 'BB' of the 18th
of August, commenting on those discussions, observed that 20th Fox
had never blossomed into the kind of going concern that its
parent had hoped for, and added that since the departures of Onorati and Del
Guercio its activities had been virtually at a
standstill, pending the promised reorganization. A week later, in 'BB' of the 25th
of August, Basil Bova denied that there was any intention to merge or sell 20th
Fox, and said that its parent company was preparing an all-out campaign to
build up the disc firm.
A measure of relief came in the spring of 1963 with the news
that despite 'sky high' bids from other companies for the soundtrack of the yet-to-be-released
20th Century-Fox blockbuster film 'Cleopatra' the company was likely to put
it out itself on 20th Fox to give the label a boost ('BB', 23rd March). Norm Weiser,
previously an executive with United Artists, was appointed vice president
in change of operations for 20th Fox, ending what 'BB' of the 27th
of April described as 'year-long speculation about the label'. A spokesman
for the parent company claimed that the signing was the first step in making
20th Fox an important record label. Then in the summer came a change of
name, with 20th Fox Records taking on the name of its parent and becoming 20th
Century-Fox. Towards the end of the year a new singles-only label, 'TCF' was
introduced. According to 'BB' of the 23rd of November 1963 it was to
feature 'unknown artists' and was to have a roster of around ten of them.
By the middle of 1965 it had become an outlet for independent productions.
'BB' of the 4th of January 1964 reported Norm Weiser as saying that he believed that that year would be
the label's biggest, but a mere four months or so later 'BB' of the 30th of
May broke the news of his exit. In the meantime Dr. Martin
Luther King had successfully sued 20th Century-Fox Records over the unauthorized use of material
from his 'I Have A Dream' speech, which had been included in an album
called ' The March On Washington' without his permission. Morty
Kraft took over as 'creative director' in August; he had held similar positions at
MGM and Mercury, and was to supervise all of the creative aspects of
the label ('BB' 8th August). 'BB' of the 31st of October observed that while
continuing to work closely with 20th Century-Fox films, Bernie Wayne, who had taken over
the A&R aspect some weeks earlier, was opening the door to all-comers in an attempt
to build up the label in other areas. The various efforts brought
little reward, and in the autumn of 1965 'BB' broke the news that a major
staff retrenchment was under way, after 20th Century-Fox had had one hit so far that year.
1967 provided a bright spot when the soundtrack to 'Dr. Doolittle' earned a gold record
('BB', 2nd September). Donald B. Dickstein was appointed administrative
co-ordinator of the label towards the end of 1968; his duties included
supervision of A&R, production and promotion, and liason with ABC, who were
acting as its distributors by then.
There were no singles released in 1969, only nine in 1970 and a solitary one
in 1971, though the occasional soundtrack album continued to surface.
Inevitably there was renewed speculation about the future of 20th
Century-Fox Records. 'BB' of the 23rd of January 1971 reported that there
had been 'considerable discussions' about a merger between MGM and 20th
Century-Fox Films, with the possibility of MGM Records - and by extension 20th Century-Fox
Records - being sold off; DGG / Philips were said to be possible
purchasers. As it turned out, instead of a sale there came an eventual
rebirth.
In the summer of 1972 'BB'
of the 17th of June carried the news that 20th Century-Fox Films were to launch a
new label in the near future - the article added in passing that 'years ago'
the company had been 'quite active' with 20th Century-Fox records. 'BB' of the 29th
of July was able to give a planned launch date - the 15th of August - and to put
a name to the label, '20th Century'. In effect, the article said, the
label was a new one 'from stem to stern', and its logo was to have no reference
to the link with the film company. Russ Regan had been appointed
president of 20th Century, and it was intended to concentrate on contemporary Rock
and Soul. 'BB' of the 27th of January 1973 gave some background on Regan:
he had previously been with UNI Records, he had played a major part in
breaking Elton John in the States, and his success in the past had been due in part
to his turning out product that was aimed at more than one market. That
same issue noted that under Regan 20th Century had started expanding into
foreign markets, and had signed a distribution deal with Pye for the UK.
Finally there was a report that can't have seemed all that significant at the time
but which was to have a huge impact on the label's fortunes: it had signed
writer / producer / singer Barry White. Not long after that another act was
signed which was to enjoy a lot of success in the USA: the De Franco
Family. A tie-up with magazine publishers the Laufer Entertainment Group
guaranteed the De Francos a lot of exposure, with the aim of turning them into
'a new teen idol group' ('BB', 5th May 1973). The ploy was to pay off
handsomely.
At last the hits started to flow, and the revamped 20th Century began to make a
big impact on the Charts. Regan gave some insight into his methods in an
interview with 'BB' of the 30th of June 1973 in which he stated that his hit
formula for Soul was to aim records at the 'young girl' market because the girls
would turn their boyfriends on to those records. He also said that he looked
for a hooky melody and relatable lyrics; he listened to the sound of the rhythm
first and then to the 'sweetening', insisting on a remix if the
over-all effect was overpowering. Whatever his formula was, it worked.
'BB' of the 13th of October 1973 was able to report that 20th Century
had scored three gold singles and a gold album in its first year of operation,
Barry White contributing the album and one of the singles. Then,
just before the end of the year, 'BB' of the 22nd of December added that the
De Franco Family's single 'Heartbeat - It's A Lovebeat' had sold 175,000 copies,
and that the band's album was expected to achieve gold status within the
next couple of weeks.
'BB' of the 16th of February 1974,
looking back, observed that Regan had practically started the label from scratch,
with the support of 20th Century-Fox Films, and had hand-picked all of his own
staff. 'BB' of the 27th of April commented that 20th Century had enjoyed
hit records in several genres - Rock, MOR, Soul, Pop and Bubblegum -
and, apparently not content with that, had launched a new Country
music division. So impressive was progress that 'BB' of the 31st of
August carried a special supplement devoted to the label, which pointed out that its
first gold record, 'Love Jones' by The Brighter Side Of Darkness, had gone gold
less than six months after the start of operations, and added that at that time
four gold LPs, six gold singles and a solitary platinum single had been chalked
up. Barry White was responsible for all of the albums and three of the singles, while
the De Franco Family had supplied the platinum single. The supplement named
Dave McAleer as general manager of 20th Century in the UK, so it must have
established a separate presence here by then. It went on to say that the
label was to get its own identity in the UK in the autumn, as the start of a
drive towards greater European involvement - 20th Century records were currently
appearing on Pye's 'Pye International' label.
Confirming
the report in 'BB', 20th Century made its debut as an actual label in Britain in
October 1974. 'BB' of the 5th of October said that the new deal was
an extension of the original licensing agreement. Hopes were high,
and a spokesman for the company observed that the first year-and-a-half that it
had spent with Pye had been 'very successful'. Sure enough 20th
Century scored an almost immediate Chart-topper in the form
of Barry White's 'You're The First, The Last, My Everything'. The
arrangement with Pye allowed for product to flow in the other direction, and
'Kung Fu Fighting' by Carl Douglas - a Pye single - gave 20th Century a No.1 in
America, contributing to what 'BB' of the 14th of December called the company's
'$2m month' of November; at that time it had three singles in the Hot 100 and
four in the Soul charts.
There were more
successes in 1975 and 1976, but storm clouds were gathering. Dave McAleer
resigned as general manager of the UK office in September 1976, citing
policy differences with Russ Regan ('Music Week', 4th October). The UK office was
closed down a couple of months later, and administration of the label was handed over
to Pye ('MW', 27th November). 'BB' of the 4th of December noted that
1976 had actually been the UK operation's most successful year to date,
but that its parent in the USA had suffered 'heavy losses' during the
previous nine months. That the financial situation was worrying was underlined
by a comment from Harvey Cooper, then marketing executive of 20th Century Records, that
October had been the largest business month in the company's history and
that it might "rectify financially the sins of the past two years."
Perhaps as a result of the financial situation, Alan
Livingston, vice president of the entertainment group of the 20th Century-Fox
Corporation, took charge of 20th Century Records in early 1977. 'BB' of
the 26th of February disclosed that the Record and Publishing divisions,
combined, had made a loss of more than $4.5m last year, despite the Publishing
division actually making money. The artist roster had been reduced
and the label was making a comeback, it was claimed, but it was 'just starting'
to do so. Barry White's records were still selling well but the company as
a whole had been 'caught cold' last year. Russ Regan was still serving as
the 'creative ears' of the company at the time, but a critical yearly report,
summed up in 'BB' of the 9th of April, seems to have prompted his
departure. According to that report, large quantities of several major
albums had been pressed and distributed in late 1975 and early 1976 in anticipation of sales
which failed to materialize, in addition to which there had been fewer
LPs from the major artists and no new signings had been made
to boost sales. Operating expenses were to be reduced to 'more
realistic levels', and marketing was to be concentrated on a limited number of new
artists. The article added that Regan had left on
Friday the 1st and that Harvey Cooper, Jack Hakim (vice president of promotion) and Bill Donnelly
(vice president of corporate finance) were to spearhead the label, as Livingston's other roles
for the 20th Century-Fox corporation prevented him devoting his attention to the label full-time.
Shortly afterwards, 'BB' of the 23rd of April revealed that Livingston had assumed the title
of president of 20th Century Records, and that Cooper become
senior vice president of A&R, taking on the A&R duties in addition
to his current marketing and promotion ones.
Unsurprisingly a certain amount of rethinking
took place following these developments. Cooper decided to concentrate on singles, and
to curtail album activities until 'the marriage between artist, manager,
producer and record company has proven correct'. The artist roster was to
remain small, and any recording project would have to be put before a
committee of 20th Century-Fox department heads before getting the
go-ahead ('BB', 30th April 1977). One album which did get released was the soundtrack
to 'Star Wars'; it provided some relief, and 'BB' of the 15th of October
reported that its sales were approaching three million copies. Less
welcome were reports that Barry White was to leave and to rejoin Russ Regan
at Regan's new company, Parachute ('BB', 3rd December 1977). White didn't
depart immediately, but in the summer of 1978 'BB' of the 5th of August broke the
news that he and his 'Unlimited Gold' label had signed with CBS.
By that time '20th Century' had gone back to being '20th Century-Fox', the change
taking place in early spring. Cooper resigned in September, as did another vice president, Lenny
Beer ('BB', 19th).
Early 1979 saw a distribution deal being signed with RCA ('BB',
13th January); the contract required 20th Century-Fox to bring its foreign licensees to
RCA, a process which was carried out in Britain in April ('MW',
28th). That same month, Neil Portnow, previously with RCA, was made senior vice
president of 20th Century-Fox Records. Portnow was able to steady the ship, to
a certain extent. 'BB' of the 4th of October 1980 noted that he had begun
to aim at the mid-price / budget label market and had been signing a number
of performers who had formerly been successful but who had not been in the
Charts of late; among their number were Gene Chandler, The Chi-Lites, The
Impressions, The Dells, and Dusty Springfield. The intention was to provide
these artists with good material and trust that a combination of that with
name recognition would do the trick. The ploy bore some fruit, and resulted
in returns to the Charts for several of the artists. Some new artists
enjoyed successes too, notably Stephanie Mills; her 'Sweet Sensation' album went
gold, as did several of her other records.
Despite these promising signs, the
financial state of 20th Century-Fox Records remained a cause
for concern. During the late 1970s and early 1980s protracted losses had been posted,
that of 1978 being $12m. When Marvin Davis took over the parent film company
- and by association the record company as well - in May 1981 there was speculation
about the future of 20th Century-Fox Records, fuelled in part by staff cutbacks at the
time of the change of ownership. 'BB' of the 22nd of August
1981 quoted Portnow as saying that reports of the label's demise had been
greatly exaggerated: three of its acts currently had Chart hits, the roster had been maintained, and a strong line-up of releases was in place for the autumn. The
financial losses had been halted, and he was confident that the label would return to
profitability by the end of that year. He said that while of late 20th
Century-Fox had been known for Barry White records and the Star Wars
soundtrack it was now creating a company of viable artists; a number of careers had
'solidified' and others were on the way to doing so.
In the wake of a hopeful forecast such as
that, it is perhaps unsurprising that the end of 20th Century-Fox
Records was not a long way off. 'BB' of the 28th of November
1981 told its readers that both the record company and its publishing
arm were up for sale separately, and that a deal was expected to be settled by
the end of the year. RCA were currently involved in discussions about the
purchase of the record side, while several
companies were showing interest in the more valuable publishing operation. The negotiations lasted for
longer than was expected, and 'BB' of the 23rd of January 1982 revealed
that at that time Polygram and a company called Aroxov Records
were bidding for the label. Polygram eventually won; 'BB' of the 10th of April was able to
state that it had agreed to assume managerial and operational control
of 20th Century-Fox Records, and that Portnow was moving on to join Arista
Records. The article reckoned that the big attraction for Polygram was Stephanie
Mills, who had registered a number of gold records in the recent
past. The final mention of 20th Century-Fox Records in 'BB' came in the issue of the 24th
of July, which said that Polygram was now the owner of its catalogue, and that -
with the exception of records by Carl Carlton for a limited period -
all future product by the label's stable of artists would be released on Polygram's
'Casablanca' label.
In Britain 20th
Century-Fox material was licensed to a number of different labels including Top
Rank, Ember, EMI and Pye. The late '50s and the 1960s were pretty
barren as far as Chart hits were concerned, with only the Harry Simeone Chorale
making any sort of an impression. Their recording of 'The Little Drummer Boy' b/w 'Die
Lorelei' was a No.13 hit on Top Rank (JAR-101; 1/59); it made a
reappearance as the 'B' side of 'Onward Christian Soldiers' on Ember, which
was a Top 40 record in 1960 and 1961 (EMBS-118; 12/60 and 12/61). It was reissued several
times by 20th Century-Fox's licensees and can be found on several different labels,
as the scans above indicate. Apart from the Chorale, only Al
Martino troubled the Chart compilers, spending one week at the No.49 spot with
'Summertime' b/w 'I Sold My Heart' (Top Rank International, JAR-312;
3/60).
Russ Regan's rejigged 20th Century label fared far better, in the 1970s. The jewel in its
crown here, as in the USA, was Barry White, whose fourteen hits from 1973 to
1979 included six Top 20 entries. As stated above, the pick of them was
'You're The First, The Last, My Everything' b/w 'More Than Anything, You're My
Everything' (BTC-2133; 11/74), which gave the company its sole No.1, though 'You See
The Trouble With Me' b/w 'I'm So Blue And You Are Too' (BTC-2277;
2/76), did almost as well, reaching the No.2 position. Other
hits came via Love Unlimited, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Maureen
McGovern, Randy Edelman (3), Dan Hill, Edwin Starr (2), Gene Chandler (3),
Stephanie Mills (2) and Carl Carlton (1), but only the Love Unlimited Orchestra,
Starr (twice) and Mills managed to crack the Top 10. 20th Century's
UK division chipped in with a trio of hits that originated here,
from The Exciters and Evelyn Thomas (2), but only Thomas's
'Weak Spot' b/w 'Dancin' Is My Weak Spot' (BTC-1014; 1/76) made it into the Top 30 - it peaked at No.26.
With regard to labels, 20th Fox
product appeared on Top Rank from the start of January 1959 into the
summer of 1960. The labels carried a prominent reference to 20th Fox (1, 2, 3, 23). Following the move to
Ember in 1960 the company's records came out on the Ember label, again
with 20th Fox receiving a fairly large credit, either in the form of its logo (4,
5) or latterly as text (6). After the move to EMI, in 1963, product was issued
on the Stateside label, with the 20th Century-Fox logo added (7). That state
of affairs lasted until the autumn of 1968, though there
weren't all that many releases; those that did surface tended to be
associated with films. When the revitalized company signed an agreement with Pye its products initially appeared on
the Pye International label, starting in January 1973. 20th Century was given
a production credit, but it was in fairly small print (8),
as was the Pye custom. The actual 20th Century
label first saw the light of day here in October 1974, as an extension of
the deal with Pye. 20th Century stayed with Pye until the spring of 1979,
but from October 1975 until November 1976 the arrangement appears to have been
a pressing and distribution one, as mentioned in 'Music Week' of the 27th of
November 1976, rather than a licensing one - that time covered part of the period during which
the company's British office was in operation.
Four different 20th Century
labels were used during the Pye years. The first, which was pale blue
(9), changed to a kind of duck-egg blue and gained a more colourful logo (11)
in October 1975. The wording at
the bottom changed from 'Manufactured and Marketed by Pye' to 'Manufactured and Distributed
by Pye' at the same time, presumably to reflect the change from
licensed label to independent; the new wording continued to
be used when Pye took over administration from 20th Century's defunct UK office. Some injection moulded labels (10) can be found;
these were contract pressings, made by Phonodisc, presumably at a time when Pye's
own presses were fully occupied. The duck-egg blue design lasted until April 1978,
when it was replaced by a more ambitious yellow one, in which
the company's name was given as '20th Century-Fox'. The artist credits
started out at 9 o'clock (12) and switched to 6 o'clock in
August 1976 (13) but occasional 6 o'clocks can be found during the 9
o'clock period and vice versa. After the switch to RCA the label
design stayed basically the same, but the Pye logo disappeared and the manufacturing and distribution
credits changed accordingly (14). One company sleeve served throughout the Pye
era (24, 25); it continued to be used after the change of name to 20th Century
Fox. After the move to RCA, RCA sleeves were
used (26).
As far as demo labels are concerned, they were merely
issue labels overprinted. Initially the overprinting consisted of a
large solid central 'A' accompanied by the release date and the appropriate text
(15); this was replaced by a hollow 'A' and larger
text (16) for approximately two months, August to September 1975. The advent of the duck-egg
blue label in October 1975 saw the solid 'A' making a return; the 'A' varied in size, and could appear with or
without the text. Medium-sized 'A's tended to lack it (17), while bulkier
'A's tended to have it (18). A couple of singles from November 1977, BTC-2354
and 2357, had small 'A's at 10 o'clock (19), but the
larger central 'A's returned at the start of 1978. With the coming of
the yellow 20th Century-Fox label the central 'A's were retained; their sizes
continued to vary, but the release date was now placed under the
letter's cross-bar (20). Demo copies of
the final two singles, BTC-1041 and 1042, had the date at 8 o'clock and the words 'Not for
sale promotion copy' under the cross-bar (21). RCA-era promos had a
smaller, hollow, central 'A' after the usual RCA fashion (22).
Pye-era singles appeared in
two different, roughly concurrent, numerical series : a BTC-2000 one, starting in 1974, and a BTC-1000
one, starting in May 1975. The '2000' numbers were the same as those of the the
American issues, but the American prefix was 'TC' rather than 'BTC'; in
addition, the dates of issue in the different countries sometimes
varied. The BTC-1000s appear to have been specific to Britain, though
the material on them was often not British in origin. Numbering during the RCA period
was identical to that of the American issues, in a TC-2400 series. As mentioned above, a certain
amount of British material appeared on 20th Century in America, some of it
not obvious - Judge Dread's rude Reggae singles 'Big Six' and 'Big Seven'
came out on the label in 1973; The Goodies'
novelty 'Funky Gibbon' followed a couple of years later and reached No.79 in
the Hot 100. Other UK artists to have records on 20th
Century included String Driven Thing, Jigsaw, and the Alan Parsons Project.
Copyright 2006 Robert
Lyons.