Bigtop Records was an American record label started by music executive Johnny Bienstock and the major music publisher Hill & Range Music and was co-owned along with Big Top Record Distributors (sic). Hit artists included Del Shannon, Johnny and the Hurricanes, Lou Johnson, Sammy Turner, Don and Juan, and Toni Fisher. Big Top Record Distributors also distributed Paul Case's Dunes Records label in the early 60's, which had hits from Ray Peterson ("Corrina, Corrina") and Curtis Lee ("Pretty Little Angel Eyes"), both records produced by Phil Spector. Bell Records briefly distributed Bigtop prior to the label closing, around 1965.
In the UK, Bigtop licensed its records to London Records. Its current UK licensees are Ace Records (United Kingdom).
There was a subsidiary, Big Hill Records, which only issued a few singles by Lou Johnson after Bigtop closed.
Big Top may refer to:
A circus is a company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other object manipulation and stunt-oriented artists. The term 'circus' also describes the performance which has followed various formats through its 150-year modern history. Philip Astley is credited with being the 'father' of the modern circus when he opened the first circus in 1768 in England. Early circuses were almost exclusively demonstrations of equestrian skills with a few other types of acts to link the horsemanship performances. Performances developed significantly through the next fifty years, with large scale theatrical battle reenactments becoming a significant feature. The 'traditional' format, whereby a ringmaster introduces a varied selection of acts that mostly perform choreographed acts to traditional music, developed in the latter part of 19th century and continued almost universally to be the main style of circus up until the 1970s.
The Vodafone Big Top 40 is a chart show broadcast on 140 radio stations in the UK with an audience each week of 2.5 million listeners. It is the single biggest radio programme on UK Commercial Radio, and around twice the size of its competitor. The chart has no affiliation with the Official Charts Company as it is based on radio airplay and music download figures provided by iTunes.
The Vodafone Big Top 40 was launched following the demise of Hit40UK, and is produced by Global Radio, broadcast from the studios at Leicester Square in London. It claims to be the first real-time chart ever to be broadcast in the United Kingdom and broadcasts on 140 local commercial radio stations across the country.
The first show was broadcast on Sunday 14 June 2009 at 16:00.
The show was originally presented by Capital radio DJs Rich Clarke and Kat Shoob, with Heart radio DJ Matt Wilkinson deputising both Clarke and Shoob. The radio broadcast also features voice over artist Howard Ritchie who announces the chart position for each of the songs broadcast, along with the names of the presenters and radio station it is being broadcast on. Clarke presented his final show on 29 December 2013, with Marvin Humes joining the show from 5 January 2014., with Greg Burns deputising Marvin.
Painted expressions filling the stands
Are the best at twisting animal balloons
And it's so funny watching the magician
Pulling big green rabbits out of little leather pouches
Under the Big Top there's a tickle in my ear
It's creepy, crawly, scary
I don't feel fear
-CHORUS-
Under the Big Top
You've got a home
If they can fill the seats
And pay the loan
There went a donkey and an elephant
Telling everyone about what is to come
And when the birdies sing, I am reminded
Not everyone who cries "Lord, Lord" will enter the Kingdom
Under the Big Top there's a tickle in my ear
It's creepy, crawly, scary
I don't feel fear
(repeat CHORUS)
Under the Big Top there's a tickle in my ear
It's creepy, crawly, scary
I don't feel fear
Blank expressions filling the pews
Are the best at twisted animal views
And it's so funny to watch the minister
Pulling big green rabbits out of little leather purses