Editing Janus Records

{{Short description|American record label}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Janus Records
| logo = Janus Records logo.jpg
| logo_caption = 
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| industry = [[Record label]]
| foundation = 1969<br>[[United States]]
| founder = [[General Recorded Tape]]<br>[[GRT Records]]
| location = [[United States]]
| defunct = 1979
| fate = Active<br>Tax Dormitory{{Citation needed|reason=Google shows no meaningful results for "tax dormitory". It may be a poor translation or neologism for "bankruptcy"|date=June 2020}}
| assets = US$6.6million
| parent = 43 North Broadway, LLC
}}

'''Janus Records''' was a [[record label]] owned by [[GRT Records]], also known as [[General Recorded Tape]]. The label was in operation from 1969 to 1979.

== History ==
Janus was founded in July 1969, as a joint venture of GRT and [[United Kingdom|British]] label [[Pye Records]].<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=jSgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Janus+Records+GRT+Pye&pg=PA94 "GRT, Canada, Go Into Discs, Distribute Five More Labels."] ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', August 9, 1969. Retrieved 2012-03-26.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=rykEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Janus+Records&pg=PA4 Executive Turntable (column)]. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', August 23, 1969. Retrieved 2012-03-26.</ref>  In its early years of operation the bulk of Janus' acts were U.S. issues of Pye product.  Its first major hit was "[[Baby Take Me in Your Arms]]" by Jefferson, in late 1969.  Other acts in Janus' early years included Pye artists [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]], [[Pickettywitch]] and [[Sounds Orchestral]]. Up to the middle 1970s, the label's president was [[Marvin Schlachter|Marv Schlachter]], who later ran the ill-fated [[Pye Records#Pye in the US|U.S. Pye]] label, which by 1977 had evolved into [[Prelude Records (record label)|Prelude Records]]. GRT assumed sole ownership of Janus in 1971, after Pye pulled out of the venture.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=NEUEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Janus+Records+GRT+Pye&pg=PA1 "Pye May Quit Janus As GRT Is Reshuffled"] by Mike Gross. ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', March 20, 1971. Retrieved 2012-03-26.</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=xwgEAAAAMBAJ&dq=Janus+Records+GRT+Pye&pg=PA18 "Music Tapes Are Profitable"] (p. 16). ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', September 25, 1971. Retrieved 2012-03-26.</ref> Ed Dejoy of [[Baltimore]], MD followed Schlachter as president. [[Allan Mason]] was vice president in charge of A&R.

Artists who had hits on Janus included [[Potliquor]], [[Mungo Jerry]], [[The Whispers]], [[Cymande]], [[Charlie (band)|Charlie]], [[Al Stewart]], [[Ian Thomas (Canadian musician)|Ian Thomas]], Dickie Goodman and [[Ray Stevens]] on Barnaby Records. Janus also released [[Scott English]]'s original recording of "[[Brandy (Scott English and Richard Kerr song)|Brandy]]", which would be covered in 1974 by [[Barry Manilow]] as "[[Mandy (Barry Manilow song)|Mandy]]". [[Chess Records]] was administered as a division of Janus in the early 1970s. Janus also distributed [[Westbound Records]] from 1970 until 1975,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Scott |first=TONE |date=2024-03-30 |title=ORG Music's 'Westbound Records' reissue series: Rare Soul restored! |url=https://www.goldminemag.com/columns/org-music-westbound-records-reissue-series-rare-soul-restored |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=Goldmine Magazine: Record Collector & Music Memorabilia |language=en}}</ref> and [[Barnaby Records]] from 1974 to 1979.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Barnaby Label Album Discography |url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/cadence/barnaby.html |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.bsnpubs.com}}</ref>

In the early 1970s Janus also released American editions of recordings made by [[Bill Haley & His Comets]] for the European [[Sonet Records]] label (including the 1971 single "A Little Piece at a Time" (Janus 162), which would be Haley's final North American 45 rpm single release). They also released recordings by the British [[progressive rock]] band [[Camel (band)|Camel]] as well as titles by [[Kayak (band)|Kayak]], [[Harvey Mandel]], [[Judas Priest]], [[Lucifer's Friend]], and the [[Baker Gurvitz Army]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Janus Album Discography Preview |url=https://www.bsnpubs.com/la/janus/janus.html |access-date=2024-04-25 |website=www.bsnpubs.com}}</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
* [http://www.globaldogproductions.info/j/janus.html Janus Records Discography] by Global Dog Productions
* [http://www.45cat.com/label/janus-us International Janus discography] at 45cat

== See also ==
* [[List of record labels]]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:American record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1969]]
[[Category:Record labels disestablished in 1979]]
[[Category:Rock and roll record labels]]
[[Category:1969 establishments in the United States]]