Philips Records - History

History

In the late 1950s Philips created a subsidiary label, Fontana Records, and helped American Columbia Records form CBS Records in 1961, after Columbia formed its own international operations, adopting the name of its then parent CBS. In 1962 Philips Records and Deutsche Grammophon were linked into the Gramophon-Philips Group joint venture (GPG), which later became PolyGram.

In 1961, after Philips lost its North American distribution deal with Columbia Records, it entered an exchange agreement with Mercury Records. A year later, Philips' U.S. affiliate Consolidated Electronics Industries Corp. (a.k.a. Conelco), bought Mercury and its subsidiary labels. Philips classical, jazz and pop records were marketed by Mercury in the U.S. under the Philips label. The Mercury Living Presence team also made classical recordings for Philips, in July 1961. These records, made in Walthamstow Town Hall near London, included: Liszt piano concertos by Sviatoslav Richter and the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kiril Kondrashin; two albums of symphonic "bon-bons" by the London Symphony Orchestra and Charles Mackerras released as "Kaleidoscope"; "Russian Song Recital" by Galina Vishnevskaya and Mstislav Rostropovich; and Beethoven sonata op. 69 for cello and piano by Richter and Rostropovich. The Richter Liszt album was recorded on 3-track 35mm magnetic film and was reissued on CD from a remaster made from the film by original producer Wilma Cozart Fine as part of the Philips Solo series.

Classical groups that Philips heavily recorded included the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Beaux Arts Trio, and the Quartetto Italiano. Violinist Arthur Grumiaux and the pianist Claudio Arrau were under contract to Philips.

From 1961 until the late 1960s, Philips Records (USA) issued many classical titles in U.S.-specific packaging, initially in the same glossy-laminated covers as Mercury Records. The records were pressed at Mercury's plant in Richmond, Indiana, and mastered in New York by George Piros at Fine Recording, using 2-track and mono master tapes provided by Philips. These releases were the PHS 900 xxx series for stereo and the 500 xxx series for mono. Clair Van Ausdal in Mercury's New York office oversaw the Philips classical U.S. releases through the mid-1960s.

Philips also launched an eponymous jazz label in the U.S., releasing both imported European Philips recordings and making new American recordings of Gerry Mulligan, Dizzy Gillespie and Woody Herman, among others. These records were made through Mercury's existing jazz operations and produced by Jack Tracy and others.

In addition to jazz and classical music, Philips also became a major player in the world of rock and pop music in the late 1950s till late 1970s. In the UK, Philips developed a strong popular music roster, signing acts like Marty Wilde, Roy Castle, Anne Shelton, The Four Pennies, Dusty Springfield, and The Walker Brothers. The American pop label was launched in 1962 starting with the R&B single "Gee Baby" by Ben & Bea and showed a comfortability with folk-country, releasing "Makes You Wanna Sigh" by Ross Legacy in 1969. It also played a major part in promoting the garage rock genre and the psyche rock genre in the mid to late 60s, their most successful signing being Blue Cheer.

In the 1970s, Philips decided to turn its attention more to the growing MOR market with artists like Lena Zavaroni, Peters and Lee, and Demis Roussos, as well as issuing novelty records by media personalities like Ed Stewart, Bruce Forsyth, and Chris Hill. In 1972, Philips, Fontana, Mercury Records, and the newly-formed Vertigo Records were amalgamated into a new company called Phonogram Records. In Europe, however, Philips was used on a major basis and it became the outlet for Sire Records in America and distributed a number of punk and new wave bands like Talking Heads, The Ramones, and Radio Birdman, who were signed from Australia. It also released some disco records by Donna Summer and The Village People, as their home label Casablanca Records was not cleared for use in all countries around the world.

By 1980, Phonogram and Polydor Records decided to merge to become PolyGram Records. Under the new company, PolyGram decided to discontinue Philips as a pop and rock label in the UK and throughout much of Europe, though it was still frequently issued records in France and South East Asia by Chinese and Hong Kong pop artists. The majority of PolyGram's rock and pop music signings went to Mercury, and Polydor in the UK and Europe, though the label was used sparingly in America. Philips became part of PolyGram Classics as a classical music label along with Decca Records and Deutsche Grammophon.

From the early 1970s, Philips classical records were not being produced in the U.S. any more; rather they were made in Holland and sold as imports in the American market. Philips reissued a group of Mercury Living Presence titles as "Mercury Golden Imports", with manufacture in Holland and masters cut from 2-track production tapes, as opposed to the original-issue method of mixing stereo LPs directly from the edited 3-track master tapes and films.

In the eighties Philips Classics Records was formed to distribute its classical artists, although classical recordings have also been issued on the regular Philips label. In the U.S., Philips eventually handled distribution and sales for Philips, Mercury, British Decca (sold under the London label in the U.S.) and DGG.