Editing Smash Records (section)

== History ==
Mercury Record Corporation president Irving Green announced the formation of the company’s new pop subsidiary label, Smash Records, in March 1961. Smash was seen as an opportunity for greater exposure and sales for both newly-signed talent and for independently cut masters.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Mercury Forms Smash Label As Pop Subsidiary; First Release |magazine=The Cash Box |location=New York NY |date=March 25, 1961|page=32}}</ref>

In the summer of 1961, the label achieved its first number one hit on the [[Billboard Hot 100|''Billboard'' Hot 100]], "[[Wooden Heart]]," by [[Joe Dowell]].<ref name=BSNPubs>{{cite web |url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/mercury/smash/smashstory.html|title=The Smash Records Story| author=Mike Callahan, David Edwards, Patrice Eyries, and Randy Watts|website=Both Sides Now Publications. |date=April 30, 2008 | access-date=August 27, 2024}}</ref>

In November 1961, label head Charles Fach announced the label would move into the "country and western" field, and announced the signing of two artists, Billy Deaton and Howard Crockett. Mercury A&R chief [[Shelby Singleton]] was tapped to head the C&W production.<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title= Smash Records invades the lucrative Country & Western Record Field!|magazine=The Cash Box |location=New York NY |date=November 4, 1961|page=48}}</ref> Singleton was interested in Southern styles, and had recruited east Texas's [[The Big Bopper | Big Bopper]] and [[Johnny Preston]] to the parent label. <ref name=gillett>{{cite book| first=Charlie| last=Gillett | year= 1996| title= The Sound of the City: The Rise of Rock and Roll| edition= (2nd Ed.)| publisher= Da Capo Press| location=New York, N.Y.| isbn= 0-306-80683-5| page= 51}}</ref> 

Eventually, Smash Records' roster expanded to include artists from other music genres, such as [[Frankie Valli]], [[James Brown]], [[Bruce Channel]], [[Roger Miller]], [[The Left Banke]], [[Bill Justis]], and [[Jerry Lee Lewis]]. 

A dispute with [[King Records (United States)|King Records]] led James Brown to release all of his band's instrumental recordings between [[1964 in music|1964]] and [[1967 in music|1967]] on Smash. Smash also released three of Brown's vocal recordings, including his 1964 proto-[[funk]] [[Single (music)|single]] "[[Out of Sight (song)|Out of Sight]]".<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web
|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p3779/biography|pure_url=yes}}
|title=James Brown Biography
|publisher=allmusic
|access-date=November 22, 2006
}}</ref>

Smash shared the numbering system for its singles with other labels that the label distributed. The most significant of these was [[Fontana Records]]. Mercury discontinued the Smash label in 1970.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/mercury/smash/smash.html |title=Smash Album Discography |publisher=Bsnpubs.com |access-date=May 30, 2014}}</ref>
[[Image:SmashRecords1990slogo.png|thumb|right|150px|1990s Smash Records logo]]

After Smash parent Mercury was acquired by [[PolyGram]] in 1972, the Smash imprint was used for reissues in the 1980s. PolyGram revived Smash in 1991 as an [[R&B]]/[[Dance music|dance]] label with its offices located in [[Chicago]]. It was first under the PolyGram Label Group (PLG) umbrella, then under the [[Fontana Distribution|Independent Label Sales (ILS)]] umbrella, then under [[Island Records]] until the imprint was retired in 1996. One of the hits Smash saw during this period was "[[People Are Still Having Sex]]" by house music producer [[LaTour]]. Another successful artist on the dance charts was [[Jamie Principle]].