Editing Dot Records (section)

===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.