Label Socks
Description: Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was influential in the creation of Southern soul and Memphis soul music. Stax also released gospel, funk, and blues recordings. Renowned for its output of blues music, the label was founded by two siblings and business partners, Jim Stewart and his sister Estelle Axton. It featured several popular ethnically integrated bands (including the label's house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s) and a racially integrated team of staff and artists unprecedented in that time of racial strife.
Description: Red Bird and Blue Cat were the brainchildren of songwriters Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller with help from old-time record-biz guy George Goldner. Formed at the cusp of the Beatles' arrival in the U.S., their success ratio was phenomenal, keeping the girl-group sound alive and actually extending it into the area of mop-top mania that had redefined pop music. Blue Cat Records (US) was a subsidiary label of Red Bird Records. It had a hit in 1965 with "The Boy From New York City" by The Ad Libs.
Description: Founded in 1980, quintessential New York City label, 99 Records (pronounced “nine-nine,” not “ninety-nine”), was among the most influential independent labels of its time, with an influence still reverberates today. The label’s sound was every bit as distinct and as it was diverse, touching on post-punk, disco, dub reggae and even avant-classical, highlighted by exhilarating experiments in minimalist art-funk, and polyrhythmic grooves. Despite being a shoestring operation run out of a record store, 99 sold an unbelievable number of records with minimal distribution, and was at one point the most successful indie label in New York City.
Description: Diamond Records was a record label, based in New York City, which was founded in 1961 by former Roulette Records executive Joe Kolsky. Another Roulette exec, Kolsky's brother Phil Kahl, joined Kolsky in the venture the following year. Success for the label was slow but they got their first big hit in 1962 with "Loop de Loop" by Johnny Thunder. That record led to a distribution deal with EMI to distribute Diamond recordings on Stateside Records in the UK. Diamond recordings were issued in Canada by Apex Records until roughly 1967, when a Canadian version of Diamond was set up. The label released a total of eight albums in its entire history.
Description: Cerveza Chango is a beer featured in Robert Rodriguez films such as Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn and Sin City. The beer is named after Chango, the Santeria Orisha of thunder, lightning, and gunpowder. You know it's a shady place if they serve Chango. Chango is a poor-quality beer. It's not improved by the facts that the staff at the Tarasco Bar not only serves it flat and warm, but also pees in each keg.
Description: Casablanca Records, Inc. was formed in 1973 by former Buddah Records executives Neil Bogart (who named the label as a homage to the classic film Casablanca), Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris and Buck Reingold. The label was initially distributed by Warner Bros. Records until September 1974, but Bogart decided to distribute the label independently after being disillusioned with the lack of success under Warners.
Description: Starday Records was an influential American country music label founded in 1952 by Jack Starnes and Pappy Daily in Texas. Originally focused on regional country and hillbilly music, it soon moved operations to Nashville, becoming a major force in independent country recording during the 1950s and 1960s. Starday gained a reputation for promoting traditional country, rockabilly, bluegrass, and gospel artists, and was instrumental in launching the careers of performers like George Jones, Red Sovine, and The Blue Sky Boys. The label was known for catering to rural audiences and had a successful mail-order business.
