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Dot Records
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==History== ===Early years=== Dot's founder, Randy Wood, a veteran of the [[United States Army|Army]] during [[World War II]], settled in [[Gallatin, Tennessee]]. There he started an appliance store named Randy's, and began carrying records as an afterthought in 1947. Wood initially carried records in the classical and popular genres, but found his customers were asking for records of such rhythm and blues artists as [[Joe Liggins]], [[Roosevelt Sykes]], and [[Cecil Gant]]. They were staples of the playlist of [[Nashville]]'s [[CBS Radio]] affiliate, [[WLAC]]. After discovering that their records were only available in limited quantities—and not in Gallatin—Wood formed a mail-order operation by placing a short advertisement with WLAC personalities [[Bill "Hoss" Allen|"Hoss" Allen]] and [[Gene Nobles]]. By 1950, his record sales had far surpassed that of the appliances he carried and he renamed his store Randy's Record Shop. As an extension, he formed a label named Randy's, which released "Gene Nobles' Boogie" by Richard Armstrong, and Record Shop Special, which had Gant on its roster.<ref name="Dot"/> After Wood purchased local radio station [[WHIN]], he and Nobles formed Dot, a more widely distributed label, whose first headquarters were in that station's building. Since WHIN broadcast only in the daytime, recording sessions were at night when the station was off the air.<ref name="Dot">{{cite web|url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/dot/dotstory.html |title=Randy Wood: The Dot Records Story |website=Bsnpubs.com |date=April 1, 2025 |access-date=April 20, 2025}}</ref> One of the first artists he recorded was the young [[Johnny Maddox]], who packed records for him at his store, and whose [[honky tonk]] piano style graced Dot Records for almost twenty years. Wood's roster of R&B artists included [[Ivory Joe Hunter]], [[Joe Liggins]], [[the Four Dots]], the Big Three Trio, [[Brownie McGhee]], [[Shorty Long]], [[the Counts]], and the [[Griffin Brothers]], who had a number one R&B hit with "Weepin' & Cryin'" (with vocal by Tommy Brown) in 1951. His country artists included [[Mac Wiseman]], who had hits with "[[The Ballad of Davy Crockett]]" and "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy", and, more famously, [[Jimmy C. Newman|Jimmy "C." Newman]], who scored many hits on the label (the biggest being "[[Cry, Cry, Darling]]") before leaving for [[MGM Records]] in 1958. Wood also recorded such gospel artists as the Fairfield 4, the Gateway Quartet, the Golden Voice Trio, Rosa Shaw, Joe Warren, the Singing Stars, and the Brewsteraires.<ref name="Dot"/> Dot's first major pop act was [[The Hilltoppers (band)|The Hilltoppers]], whose hits included "[[P.S. I Love You (1934 song)|P.S. I Love You]]" and "[[Trying (song)|Trying]]"; when lead singer [[Billy Vaughn]] hit #2 with a revival of [[Wayne King]]'s "[[Melody of Love (song)|Melody of Love]]", he left the group to become the label's main musical director.<ref name="Dot"/> Wood, seeing the demand for rhythm and blues recordings among white audiences, in 1955, hired a number of vocalists to do pop-oriented covers of tunes popular in the genre. The most notable artist who performed that function for Dot was [[Pat Boone]], who outsold the original recordings of [[Otis Williams and the Charms|the Charms]]' "[[Two Hearts (The Charms song)|Two Hearts]]", [[Fats Domino]]'s "Ain't It a Shame" (which was changed to the slightly more grammatically correct "[[Ain't That a Shame]]"), [[the Five Keys]]' "[[Gee Whittakers!]]", [[Little Richard]]'s "[[Tutti Frutti (song)|Tutti Frutti]]" and "[[Long Tall Sally]]", [[the El Dorados]]' "[[At My Front Door]]", and Ivory Joe Hunter's "[[I Almost Lost My Mind]]". Boone in the late spring of 1956 opted to switch to original material in the [[Bing Crosby]]/[[Frank Sinatra]] tradition. Other notable artists who did R&B covers for Dot included [[the Fontane Sisters]] (who covered [[the Jewels]]' "[[Hearts of Stone]]", [[the Teen Queens]]' "[[Eddie My Love]]", [[the Drifters]]' "Adorable", the Marigolds' "Rollin' Stone", and Fats Domino's "Please Don't Leave Me"), [[Snooky Lanson]] (with covers of the Jacks' "Why Don't You Write Me" and the Dream Weavers' "It's Almost Tomorrow"), and actress [[Gale Storm]] (with covers of [[Frankie Lymon]]'s "[[Why Do Fools Fall in Love (song)|Why Do Fools Fall in Love]]" and [[Smiley Lewis]]' "[[I Hear You Knocking]]". (This last was revived by [[Dave Edmunds]] in 1970).<ref name="Dot"/> In 1956, Dot also made a noteworthy contribution to the [[Easy Listening]] genre by releasing a recording of popular music arranged by [[John Serry Sr.|John Serry]] ([[Squeeze Play (album)|''Squeeze Play'']], DLP-3024, 1956).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bsnpubs.com/dot/dotb.html|title=Dot Album Discography, Part 2 (1955-1960)|website=bsnpubs.com|access-date=2017-09-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hgoEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA22|title=Billboard|date=1956-12-01|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box-Magazine.htm Review of the album ''Squeeze Play'' in ''The Cash Box'' magazine - See Album Reviews column on December 8, 1956 p. 38], Worldradiohistory.com</ref> ===Paramount years=== [[File:Dot Paramount logo.jpg|thumb|right|Dot Records logo after its sale to Paramount Pictures combined the original Dot script logo with the Paramount mountain and halo of stars symbol.]] In late 1956, Wood signed [[Warner Bros.]] star [[Tab Hunter]] to a record contract after Chicago disc jockey Howard Miller suggested to Wood that he might want to sign Hunter, who was enormously popular and had just packed a stage show in Chicago with screaming girls. Wood asked if Hunter could sing, but Miller replied, "I don't know, it doesn't matter, I guess." Tab Hunter was the first to tell Wood that he could not sing a note. However, after giving Hunter the [[Ric Cartey]] tune "[[Young Love (1956 song)|Young Love]]", Wood told producer Milt Rogers to repeatedly teach Hunter how to sing it until he finally reached the point where he could. The record topped the charts in 1957; Dot's release of a follow-up record from Hunter ("Ninety-Nine Ways") frustrated Warner Bros. chief [[Jack L. Warner]], who retaliated by forming [[Warner Bros. Records]] and placing Hunter on the label as its first artist.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/warnerstory.html |title=David Edwards, Patrice Eyries, and Mike Callahan (2004) – Warner Bros. Records Story |website=Bsnpubs.com |access-date=February 20, 2011}}</ref> In 1957, Wood sold the label to [[Paramount Pictures]],<ref name="Dot"/> but he remained president for another decade. Dot (and Wood) then moved to Hollywood, where the label began to release [[soundtrack album]]s, including [[Elmer Bernstein]]'s score for ''[[The Ten Commandments (1956 film)|The Ten Commandments]]'' (1956),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/widescreen/demillegenlrelease1.htm|title=THE TEN COMMANDMENTS : General Release|website=Widescreenmuseum.com|access-date=October 14, 2018}}</ref> a 2-LP set that played longer than the usual record album. Remakes were commonplace at Dot in the 1960s, with the label having artists such as [[Tony Martin (American singer)|Tony Martin]], [[Jo Stafford]], [[Vaughn Monroe]], [[Gene Austin]], [[Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)|Jimmie Rodgers]], [[the Andrews Sisters]], [[Debbie Reynolds]] and [[Eddie Fisher]] re-record their old hits at various times; in 1968, Dot issued a various-artists album devoted to remakes of these artists' million-sellers.<ref name="Dot"/> During the late 1950s and 1960s, Wood would re-enter the rock and roll market by licensing material from independent producers. Most of his acquisitions charted and became major hits, including leases of Sanford Clark's "The Fool" from producer [[Lee Hazlewood]], Bonnie Guitar's "Dark Moon" from Fabor Records, the Del-Vikings' "[[Come Go with Me]]" from Fee-Bee Records, Jimmie Dee and the Offbeats' "Henrietta" from Bob Tanner's TNT Records, Robin Luke's "[[Susie Darlin']]" from Bertram International Records,<ref name="Dot"/> [[Lonnie Donegan]]'s "[[Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour (On the Bedpost Overnight?)]]" from [[Pye Records]], [[The Chantays|the Chantays']] "[[Pipeline (instrumental)|Pipeline]]" from Downey Records, [[the Surfaris]]' "[[Wipe Out (instrumental)|Wipe Out]]" from the Princess label, and [[the Fireballs]]' "[[Sugar Shack]]" from producer [[Norman Petty]].<ref name="Dot"/> The label's success on the pop charts would be negatively impacted by the success of [[The Beatles]] and the subsequent [[British Invasion]], and there were times, between 1964 and 1967, when it could not place a song on the [[Billboard Hot 100]] or the [[Bubbling Under Hot 100]] chart or both of the two charts.<ref name="Dot"/> [[Pat Boone]] had further success in the 1960s, registering a #1 hit in 1961 with "[[Moody River]]", then coming back in 1962 with a #6 hit with "[[Speedy Gonzales (song)|Speedy Gonzales]]". He was one of the Big Three Dot album sellers of the 1960s, along with Billy Vaughn and [[Lawrence Welk]], whose orchestra members, such as [[Myron Floren]], [[Jo Ann Castle]], [[Joe Feeney]] and [[Bob Ralston]], released records alongside him in the 1960s. Welk and Vaughn in particular regularly appeared in the album top-twenty. [[Johnny Maddox]], banjo player [[Eddie Peabody]], [[Steve Allen]], [[Louis Prima]], [[Keely Smith]], [[the Mills Brothers]] and organists [[Eddie Baxter]] and [[George Wright (organist)|George Wright]] made many albums for Dot as well.<ref name="Dot"/> Known for artist loyalty, many of these artists stayed with Dot for over a decade, partly because Wood had a reputation for fairmindedness. His label was not impacted by any of the record industry scandals of the 1950s and Wood told a 1959 congressional hearing on payola that his books were open<ref name="Dot"/> [[Hamilton Records]], a subsidiary, was founded in 1958 for rockabilly and rhythm & blues. It also functioned as a venue for albums by their regular roster of artists that could be retailed for $1.98, since all or most of the material featured on them was in the public domain, thereby obviating the need to pay song royalties. It distributed [[Steed Records]] and the only two records from [[Carnival Records|Carnival]], owned by [[Herb Alpert]] and [[Jerry Moss]]. Two other subsidiary labels were created: Crystalette Records and Acta Records. In 1967, Dot picked up distribution of [[DynoVoice]], owned by [[Bob Crewe]], from [[Bell Records (1950s-70s)|Bell Records]]. Later in 1967, Randy Wood left Dot to found [[Ranwood Records]] with Welk. ===Country music label=== [[File:Dot Records logo 1968.jpg|thumb|left|Dot's logo after Gulf+Western acquired Paramount. The Paramount logo was removed when Famous Music took over.]] Two years after Paramount was purchased by [[Gulf+Western|Gulf and Western]] in 1968, Dot was rebranded as a country music label, a move which revitalized the label's chart presence, albeit on the [[Hot Country Songs]] chart instead of the [[Hot 100]]. Country artists on the label included [[Freddy Fender]], [[Roy Clark]], [[Barbara Mandrell]], [[Billy "Crash" Craddock]], [[Narvel Felts]], [[the Oak Ridge Boys]], [[Don Williams]], [[Tommy Overstreet]], [[John Wesley Ryles]], [[Johnny Carver (musician)|Johnny Carver]], [[Donna Fargo]], [[Red Steagall]], [[Ray Price (musician)|Ray Price]], [[Joe Stampley]], [[Buck Trent]], Sue Richards, [[Eddy Raven]], [[Diana Trask]], [[Ray Griff]], [[Ray Pillow]], [[Doug Sahm]] (formerly of the [[Sir Douglas Quintet]]), [[Joe Barry (singer)|Joe Barry]], and [[Freddy Weller]] (formerly of [[Paul Revere & the Raiders]]).<ref name="Dot"/> During the transition, Dot's pop back catalog was deleted and was transferred to the newly founded [[Paramount Records (1969)|Paramount]] label.<ref name="Dot"/> In 1971, Gulf and Western placed Dot under the umbrella of the [[Famous Music]] Group,<ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=http://bsnpubs.com/dot/dote.html |title=Dot Album Discography, Part 5 (1968-1973) |website=Bsnpubs.com |date=November 16, 2003 |access-date=May 29, 2014}}</ref> which included [[Paramount Records (1969)|Paramount Records]], [[Stax Records|Stax]] (until 1970), and [[Blue Thumb Records|Blue Thumb]], with distribution of [[Sire Records|Sire]] (now owned by [[Warner Music Group]]) and [[Neighborhood Records|Neighborhood]], originally owned by [[Melanie Safka]]. By 1968, Lawrence Welk had acquired his portion of the Dot back catalog and subsequently reissued the material on his own Ranwood label.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qwoEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22ranwood+to+release+21+Welk+top+sallers%22&pg=PA3 |title=Billboard - Google Books|page=3|date=April 20, 1968 |access-date=May 29, 2014}}</ref> With the rest of the Famous Music Group, in 1974, Dot was bought by [[ABC Records|ABC]], which had tried to purchase the label years before, and renamed it to ABC/Dot Records, a name it retained before the label was discontinued at the start of 1978.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=piQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22abc+records%22+%2B+diener&pg=PT2 |title=Billboard - Google Books |date=January 14, 1978 |access-date=September 20, 2010}}</ref> The ABC/Dot headquarters became the [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] office of ABC Records. [[File:abcdotrecordslogo.jpg|thumb|right|The ABC/Dot Records logo. The logo first read 'ABC/Dot' and the word 'Records' was added later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://bsnpubs.com/dot/dotf.html |title=Dot Album Discography, Part 6 (1971–1977) |website=Bsnpubs.com |access-date=May 29, 2014}}</ref>]] ABC Records was then sold to [[MCA Records]] in 1979. MCA's Nashville division briefly revived the Dot label in 1985–86 for a series of one-off albums by country music artists such as [[Jan Howard]], [[Jeanne Pruett]], [[Jim Ed Brown]] and [[the Browns]], [[Carl Perkins]], [[Billie Jo Spears]], [[Porter Wagoner]], and [[Tompall Glaser]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSQEAAAAMBAJ&q=1985+%2B+mca+%2B+nashville+%2B+dot&pg=PT90 |title=Billboard - Google Books |date=October 12, 1985 |access-date=March 2, 2015}}</ref> The merger of the MCA Records and PolyGram Records families became the foundation for [[Universal Music Group]] in 1999. Currently, the Dot pop music catalog is managed by Universal Music's [[Geffen Records]]. The country back catalog is managed by the former Decca and [[Coral Records|Coral]] unit, which was rebranded as [[MCA Nashville Records|MCA Nashville]], except for those by Roy Clark and Hank Thompson (owned by their respective estates). Randy Wood died at age 94 in his La Jolla, California, home on April 9, 2011, from complications after a fall. ===Revival=== [[Big Machine Records]] revived the Dot Records name for a new label in March 2014.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tennessean.com/story/money/industries/music/2014/03/24/big-machine-resurrects-dot-records-name/6830685/|title=Big Machine resurrects Dot Records name|last=Rau|first=Nate|date=March 24, 2014|work=[[The Tennessean]]|access-date=March 27, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/story/news-homepage/big-machine-label-group-and-republic-records-revive-legendary-dot-records |title=Republic Records Revive Legendary Dot Records |website=Bigmachinelabelgroup.com |access-date=May 29, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715223735/http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/story/news-homepage/big-machine-label-group-and-republic-records-revive-legendary-dot-records |archive-date=July 15, 2014 }}</ref> The label's first signees included [[Maddie and Tae]],<ref>[http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/story/news-homepage-dot_records/dot-records-announces-maddie-and-tae-as-inaugural-act-on-roster DOT RECORDS ANNOUNCES MADDIE & TAE AS INAUGURAL ACT ON ROSTER] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140712000805/http://www.bigmachinelabelgroup.com/story/news-homepage-dot_records/dot-records-announces-maddie-and-tae-as-inaugural-act-on-roster |date=July 12, 2014 }} ''Retrieved June 11, 2014''</ref> [[Drake White]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.musicrow.com/2014/06/bmlgs-dot-records-signs-drake-white/|title=BMLG's Dot Records Signs Drake White|website=Musicrow.com|date=20 June 2014|language=en-US|access-date=March 25, 2016}}</ref> and [[Steven Tyler]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/6524266/steven-tyler-signs-with-big-machine-label-group|title=Steven Tyler Signs With Big Machine Label Group|website=Billboard.com|access-date=March 25, 2016}}</ref> Big Machine discontinued the label in 2017.
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