Content deleted Content added
m Invert for dark mode |
|||
| (26 intermediate revisions by 21 users not shown) | |||
Line 1:
{{Short description|American record label}}
{{
{{infobox record label
▲ | founded = {{start date|1976}}
▲ | distributor = [[Sony Masterworks]]
▲ | genre = [[Various]] (1976–1986)<br/>Contemporary jazz (1988–1990)<br/>Hard rock, [[Heavy metal music|metal]] (1999–2002)<br/>Classical Crossover (2013–)
| country = U.S.
| location = <!-- headquarters city and state -->
Line 13:
}}
'''Portrait Records''' was a sister [[record label|label]] of [[Epic Records]] and later of [[Columbia Records]]. Notable artists [[Cyndi Lauper]] and [[Sade (band)|Sade]] signed with Portrait, but their contracts were absorbed by Epic after that incarnation of the label was shuttered.
==History & Overview==
Portrait began in [[1976 in music|1976]] as a sister label of Epic; its initial signings were [[Joan Baez]], [[Burton Cummings]], and the [[The McCrarys|McCrarys]]. Cummings' "Stand Tall" was the lead-off single. Baez's ''[[Blowin' Away]]'' album and the McCrarys' self-titled debut bowed in early 1977. The label design was similar to that of [[Columbia Records|Columbia's]] singles; design on it was in grey tones, while the logo was handwritten orange with a red outline. This was also the launch of Epic/Portrait/Associated (EPA) under the CBS moniker.
Line 19 ⟶ 21:
One of the signings the label had was the band [[Heart (band)|Heart]]. The band had been signed with [[Mushroom Records (Canada)|Mushroom Records]], but left after a dispute in [[advertising]] their ''[[Dreamboat Annie]]'' album. The print ads led some fans to think that the sisters [[Ann Wilson|Ann]] and [[Nancy Wilson (guitarist)|Nancy Wilson]] were [[lesbian]]s. Portrait snatched the group up quickly, releasing the single "[[Barracuda (song)|Barracuda]]" before ''[[Little Queen]]'' was to hit the shelves. The McCrarys also scored big with "You".
By 1979, however, Epic was looking to consolidate some of its low-end producing labels and, for a short time, Portrait and Epic had both names on the same label. In 1980, only [[Heart (band)|Heart]] was picked up from Portrait; releasing ''[[Bébé le Strange]]'', after which they took a two
Baez left the label after the release of her 1979 ''[[Honest Lullaby]]'' album; she later admitted in her 1987 memoir, ''And a Voice to Sing With'', that she regretted signing with the label, describing her having left her previous label ([[A&M Records|A&M]]) for Portrait as "the stupidest career move I ever made".
Line 27 ⟶ 29:
By the end of 1986, the only act making money on this label was Lauper.{{citation needed|date=November 2012}} Her album ''[[True Colors (Cyndi Lauper album)|True Colors]]'' went [[Music recording sales certification|platinum]], but it wasn't enough to keep the label afloat. At the end of 1986, Portrait was shuttered again.
In 1988, the label re-emerged once more but as a contemporary [[jazz]] outfit, with signings as diverse as [[Stanley Clarke]], [[Ornette Coleman]], Prime Time and Japanese import [[T-Square (band)|T-Square]]. The logo changed dramatically. This time the label had two: the primary one was a painted P with the word "portrait" in a red block, while the secondary one was an outline drawing of a woman. This one was gone by 1990.
Epic did try to make the label work two more times: in
In late 2012, [[Sony Masterworks]] reactivated the label as a classical music imprint with its first artists
==Artists==
===
* [[Burton Cummings]]
* [[Saga (band)|Saga]]
* [[Heart (band)|Heart]]
* [[Cyndi Lauper]]
* [[Eddy Grant]]
* [[The Elvis Brothers]]
* [[Bill Nelson (musician)|Bill Nelson]]
* [[Sade (band)|Sade]]
* [[Joan Baez]]<ref name="Joan Baez 'And a Voice to Sing With: A Memoir'">{{cite book
Line 51 ⟶ 55:
| isbn= 0-7126-1827-9}}</ref>
* [[Toyah Willcox|Toyah]]<ref>[http://www.discogs.com/Toyah-Minx/master/105190 Toyah "Minx" (1985) at Discogs.com]</ref>
* [[Accept (band)|Accept]]
===
* [[Cinderella (band)|Cinderella]]
* [[Great White (band)|Great White]]
* [[Ratt]]
* [[The Union Underground]]
===
* [[Jackie Evancho]]
* [[Natalie Imbruglia]]
* [[The Piano Guys]]
* [[Yanni]]
==See also==▼
* [[List of record labels]]▼
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Sony Music}}
▲==See also==
{{Authority control}}
▲* [[List of record labels]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 1976]]
[[Category:Record labels established in 2012]]
Line 74 ⟶ 83:
[[Category:Rock record labels]]
[[Category:Pop record labels]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Columbia Records]]
[[Category:Epic Records]]
| |||