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Kapp Records

{{short description|American record label}}

{{Infobox record label

| name = Kapp Records

| image = 1970kapplogo.jpg

| image_size = 120px

| image_alt = Kapp logo

| parent = MCA Inc. (original), Universal Music Group (current)

| founded = {{start date|1954}}

| founder = David Kapp

| defunct = {{end date|1973}}

| status = Inactive

| distributor = MCA Records
Universal Music Group

| genre = Various

| country = U.S.

| location =

| url =

}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = David Kapp

| image = DaveKapp-DannyKaye-1947.JPG

| caption = David Kapp and Danny Kaye, 1946

| image_size = 250px

| background = non_performing_personnel

| birth_name = David Kapp

| birth_date = August 7, 1904{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound|last1=Hoffmann|first1=Frank|year=2004|edition=2nd|publisher=Routledge|page=1119|isbn=978-0415938358}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois

| death_date = March 1, 1976

| death_place = New York City

| instrument =

| genre = Country, pop, rock, R&B, jazz, musical theatre

| occupation = Record producer

| years_active = 1930s–1960s

| label = Decca, RCA Victor, Kapp

| associated_acts = Louis Armstrong, Fred Astaire, Ernest Tubb, Danny Kaye,

| website =

}}

Kapp Records was an independent record label started in 1954 by David Kapp, brother of Jack Kapp (who set up American Decca Records in 1934). David Kapp founded his own label after stints with Decca and RCA Victor.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MygEAAAAMBAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MygEAAAAMBAJ/page/n76 7] |quote=kapp records + mca. |title=Billboard |via=Internet Archive |date=1967-12-09 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media |access-date=2013-02-28}}{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/label/Kapp+Records |title=Kapp Records - CDs and Vinyl at Discogs |publisher=Discogs.com |date=2013-02-14 |access-date=2013-02-28}} Kapp licensed its records to London Records for release in the UK.

In 1967, David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc. and the label was placed under Uni Records management;{{cite magazine|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MygEAAAAMBAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_MygEAAAAMBAJ/page/n76 7] |quote=uni + decca + kapp. |title=MCA Buys Kapp in New Surge to be a Major Record Complex|magazine=Billboard |via=Internet Archive |date=1967-12-09 |access-date=2013-02-28}} Kapp was consolidated with MCA's other record labels in 1971 and, in 1973, MCA Records released the last Kapp record. Catalogue albums that continued to sell were renumbered and reissued on the MCA label.{{cite web|url=http://bsnpubs.com/decca/kapp/07-kapp3600.html |title=Kapp Album Discography, Part 7 |publisher=Bsnpubs.com |date=2013-03-15 |access-date=2014-08-03}}

Kapp's subsidiaries included Medallion Records (an audiophile label),{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vh8EAAAAMBAJ |page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_vh8EAAAAMBAJ/page/n42 43] |quote=kapp + medallion records. |title=Billboard |via=Internet Archive |date=1960-05-09 |access-date=2013-02-28}} Congress Records, Leader Records, and Four Corners Records with its "4 Corners of the World" logo. Four Corners was formed to promote European artists, such as Françoise Hardy, Raymond Lefèvre, and the Barclay Singers.

Today, the Kapp Records catalog is owned by MCA's successor-in-interest Universal Music Group through its Geffen Records subsidiary.

History

  • 1954: Kapp Records was created by David Kapp.
  • 1955: Kapp Records released "Autumn Leaves" played by Roger Williams (pianist) that became the number one song in America on Billboard Top 100.
  • 1960: Kapp Records released one of the first cover versions of songs from The Sound of Music, which was running on Broadway at that time. The Pete King Chorale was featured on the album.
  • 1964: Kapp Records released "Hello Dolly" sung by Louis Armstrong that became the number one song in America on Billboard Top 100, two months after The Beatles' arrived from England. The label also distributed American releases by another successful British Invasion group, The Searchers.
  • 1966: The record label released the original cast album of Man of La Mancha, perhaps their most successful cast album.
  • 1967: David Kapp sold his label to MCA Inc. and it became a division of Uni Records.
  • 1973: MCA released the last Kapp record. The catalog and artist roster was absorbed by MCA Records.
  • 2003: MCA Records is absorbed into Geffen Records, which currently manages Kapp's pop/rock/R&B catalogs. The country, jazz, and musical theatre catalogs are now managed by MCA Nashville Records, GRP Records, and Decca Broadway, respectively. Decca Broadway released a remastered version of the Man of La Mancha original cast album in 2001.

Label variations

File:Kapp records logo 1960s.jpg

Throughout Kapp's history, its logo was a stylized "K" incorporating a phonograph record design. Three versions of this logo appeared during the company's history. Until 1970, this logo also appeared on a drum major's cap in a wordplay of the label's name.

  • 1950s: Stylized "K/record" logo and KAPP at top of either red/white, silver/maroon or purplish red/white labels.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/3s.htm |title=Kapp Records |publisher=Collectable-records.ru |access-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420020910/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/3s.htm |archive-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead }}
  • Early 1960s: Black label with white "K/record" logo and KAPP in red at top,{{cite web |url=http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/5s.htm |title=Kapp Records |publisher=Collectable-records.ru |access-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420020919/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/5s.htm |archive-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead }} a similar design had a red drum major cap and KAPP in yellow at top.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/6s.htm |title=Kapp Records |publisher=Collectable-records.ru |access-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420020951/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/6s.htm |archive-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead }}
  • Mid to late 1960s: Black label with red drum major cap (showing "K/record" logo in yellow) and KAPP in black letters in white box at left for singles, at top for albums.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/2.htm |title=Black Major'S Hat(Us) |publisher=Collectable-records.ru |access-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420020942/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/2.htm |archive-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead }}
  • 1970-1972: Purple, red, orange and yellow label with new "K" logo, either in black or in white inside black box, at left.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/7.htm |title=Kapp Records |publisher=Collectable-records.ru |access-date=2013-02-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120420020835/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/7.htm |archive-date=2012-04-20 |url-status=dead }} (A few 1970s releases were also pressed with the mid-to-late 1960s black label.)

Roster

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References

{{Reflist}}

Hall, Claude: "MCA Drops Vocalion, Decca, Kapp and Uni", Billboard, February 10, 1973

External links

  • [http://bsnpubs.com/decca/kapp/kappstory.html Kapp Records story from BSN Pubs]
  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202708/http://www.collectable-records.ru/labels/E_M/Kapp/index.htm A collection of Kapp record labels]
  • [http://www.globaldogproductions.info/k/kapp.html Kapp Records 45 rpm discography]
  • [https://archive.org/details/georgeblood?and%5B%5D=publisher:kapp Kapp Records] on the Internet Archive's [http://great78.archive.org/ Great 78 Project]

{{Authority control}}

Category:American jazz record labels

Category:Record labels established in 1954

Category:Record labels disestablished in 1972

Category:Pop record labels

Category:MCA Records

Category:Universal Music Group

Category:Labels distributed by Universal Music Group