Everything about Colgems Records totally explained
Colgems Records was a
record label which existed from
1966 to
1971. It was a joint venture between
Columbia-
Screen Gems and
RCA Records, to issue records by
The Monkees and other Screen Gems artists. The label would also
soundtrack recordings for Screen Gems and Columbia Pictures productions. RCA acted as manufacturer and distributor for Colgems. (Outside the United States, all Colgems productions appeared on the
RCA Victor label.)
An earlier label,
Colpix Records, was dissolved to make way for the new company, and nearly all Colpix titles went out of print. (One Colpix album was reissued on Colgems; the soundtrack to the
1962 film
Lawrence of Arabia.) Ironically, even before the Monkees began, Colpix had signed two future members –
Davy Jones, recruited to Screen Gems by
Ward Sylvester, and
Michael Nesmith, who recorded as "Michael Blessing". Eventually, the Colpix catalog was sold to Roulette Records. Today, the Colpix catalog is owned jointly by Rhino/Warner and EMI.
Among the non-Monkees Colgems roster were
Sally Field (star of
Gidget and
The Flying Nun),
Jewel Akens,
Sajid Khan (star of the short-lived NBC-TV series "
Maya"), Paula Wayne, the Lewis & Clarke Expedition (whose members included
Michael Martin Murphy).
Hoyt Axton, Alex Keenan and comedian
Rich Little released singles on Colgems, and the soundtracks to
Casino Royale,
Oliver!,
In Cold Blood, and
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner also appeared on the label.
Colgems Records slumped after the critical and commercial failure of the last Monkees album
Changes, which featured only Jones and
Micky Dolenz. The label's final release, titled
Barrel Full of Monkees and showcasing its flagship act, appeared in
1971 but sold very poorly. Colgems then closed, and its
master recordings and artists were folded into the
Bell Records family, which later evolved into
Arista Records, headed by Clive Davis.
In 1979, Columbia Pictures sold Arista (including the Colgems assets) to BMG-owned Ariola Records. Six years later, Ariola's parent company, BMG, merged with RCA Records.
Today, the assets of Colgems Records (except for The Monkees' output) is controlled by
Sony BMG - all the ironic given that the group's part owner
Sony had acquired Columbia Pictures in 1989. All of the Monkees' recordings are currently owned by
Rhino Records, who licensed the group's original Colgems LP's from Arista and reissued them in the mid-1980s.
A related label to Colgems was SGC Records (Screen Gems-Columbia), which issued albums by
Nazz through
Atlantic Records, in a
distribution deal similar to the one Screen Gems held with RCA.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Colgems Records'.
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