Impulse! Records - History

History

Impulse's parent company, ABC-Paramount Records, was established in 1955 as the recording division of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). ABC had benefitted from the US government antitrust actions of the 1940s and 1950s, through which major broadcasters and film studios were forced to divest parts of their companies. In the early 1950s ABC acquired the Blue Network of radio stations from NBC and later merged with the newly independent Paramount Theaters chain, formerly owned by Paramount Pictures.

The new recording division was originally headquartered at 1501 Broadway, above the famous Paramount Theatre in Times Square. Under the leadership of ex-Paramount Pictures executive Leonard Goldenson, ABC "sought to establish itself as a cross-media force in television, theatres and sound recordings" (Kahn, p. 16) and it enjoyed early success in TV with The Mickey Mouse Club, its landmark joint venture with the Disney corporation.

In order to market music from the hugely successful TV show, ABC-Paramount established the Am-Par Record Corporation and the ABC-Paramount label in early 1955, appointing former Boston record distributor Sam Clark as president, with sales manager Larry Newton and A&R director Harry Levine, and the new recording company enjoyed Goldenson's full support. Producer-arranger Sid Feller, the company's first salaried employee, started work on 14 July 1955. The label scored some notable early successes in the pop field with acts such as Paul Anka.

In 1960 Am-Par established a new jazz subsidiary and hired noted producer Creed Taylor, who had previously worked with the New York-based Bethlehem Records label, as its inaugural house producer and A&R manager. Taylor initially decided on the name "Pulse", but shortly before the label was launched it was discovered that there was already a label with that name, so Taylor added a prefix, becoming Impulse. In the mid-60s, Impulse headquarters were moved to 1130 Avenue of the Americas.