History
Until 1967 Holland-Dozier-Holland (H-D-H) were a top songwriting and production team for Motown, but for better control and greater rewards they launched Invictus along with Hot Wax Records in 1968. Their most successful acts were Freda Payne and Chairmen of the Board; they also released Parliament's first album, Osmium. The label was distributed by Capitol Records from 1969 to 1972, and then by Columbia Records from 1973 onward.
In September 1970, the British music magazine NME reported that Invictus had the UK's top two singles. Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" was #1, while Chairmen of the Board's "Give Me Just a Little More Time" was at #2 in the UK Singles Chart.
On leaving Motown, H-D-H were subject to a legal challenge by Berry Gordy and, as a result, they were temporarily barred from issuing new compositions on their labels. Consequently the names Holland-Dozier-Holland were not used until 1970: releases were initially credited to (Ronald) Dunbar and (Edythe) Wayne.
The Invictus label was light blue with black printing. A statue of a seated man (Auguste Rodin's "The Thinker") almost covers the entire label, with "INVICTUS" in dark blue at the top and to the left of the center hole. There are a group of black and white rays coming from the eye of the statue and extending downward to the right.
In 1973, when Hot Wax folded due to cash flow problems, Dozier left to forge a solo career and the Holland brothers moved their remaining artists to Invictus. The label continued to operate on a reduced level until 1977, when it too folded and was remodeled to HDH Records.
Dozier and the Holland brothers still own the catalogue, which is managed by HDH Records.
Read more about this topic: Invictus Records
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