The World of Budget Vinyl Records

12/1/23

Charlie Owens & The Sensational Ink Spots- Sensational Ink Spots- Full LP Crown Records – CST 217

This album is by Charlie Owen's Sensational Ink Spots... an "Imposter" Ink Spots group in that it contained no original members of The Ink Spots

Baritone Vocals – George Bledsoe Bass Vocals – John Dix Lead Vocals – Charlie Owens Tenor Vocals [2nd Tenor] – Stanley Morgan

A1 Diane A2 Always A3 If I Painted Your Picture A4 To Me A5 Crazy Heart B1 Among My Souvenirs B2 Beyond The Reef B3 Sorrento B4 Ida B5 Walk The Sun

Crown Records was the doing of the infamous (depending on who you talk to) Bihari brothers. These men made a living exploiting musicians for their cheap vinyl record empire- which started out as a semi-reputable R&B label through Modern Records. However, even then, their practices of listing themselves as song co-writers when they copyrighted their artist's music before releasing their records foreshadowed the sketchy behavior they engaged in to make a quick buck. By keeping as much of the record sales revenue to themselves, they made a living at the expense of the artists their records featured.

Between 1957-1972 Crown records turned out around 740 unique album releases. The vast majority of which is already online by those that claim to have ownership rights of the material. The label issued records of every popular music genre by obscure no-names and older material of more prominent name artists. The odds of one finding a Crown Record at your nearest thrift store is pretty decent; they made them deep and sold them cheap after all.

11/15/23

Phil Martin Orchestra- For Swingin' Dancers- Crown Records (CLP 5027)

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For Swingin' Dancers by Phil Martin Orchestra Crown Records (CLP 5027)

Tracklist:

1. Swingin' Dancers
2. Sweet Georgia Brown
3. Hawaiian War Chant
4. Tiger Rag
5. Bouncin'
6. True Blue Lou

7. One O'Clock Jump
8. King Porter Stomp
9. Temptation
10. Goodbye
11. Stompin' At The Savoy

Crown Records was the doing of the infamous (depending on who you talk to) Bihari brothers. These men made a living exploiting musicians for their cheap vinyl record empire- which started out as a semi-reputable R&B label through Modern Records. However, even then, their practices of listing themselves as song co-writers when they copyrighted their artist's music before releasing their records foreshadowed their sketchy behavior to make a quick buck. By keeping as much of the record sales revenue to themselves, they made a living at the expense of the artists their records featured. Between 1957-1972 Crown records turned out around 740 unique album releases. The vast majority of which is already online by those that claim to have ownership rights of the material. The label issued records of every popular music genre by obscure no-names and older material of more prominent name artists. The odds of one finding a Crown Record at your nearest thrift store is pretty decent; they made them deep and sold them cheap, after all.

11/1/23

Crown Records- String Of Pearls - Music Made Famous By Glenn Miller- Full LP

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Listen HereCrown Records was the doing of the infamous (depending on who you talk to) Bihari brothers. These men made a living exploiting musicians for their cheap vinyl record empire- which started out as a semi-reputable R&B label through Modern Records. However, even then, their practices of listing themselves as song co-writers when they copyrighted their artist's music before releasing their records foreshadowed their sketchy behavior to make a quick buck. By keeping as much of the record sales revenue to themselves, they made a living at the expense of the artists their records featured. Between 1957-1972 Crown records turned out around 740 unique album releases. The vast majority of which is already online by those that claim to have ownership rights of the material. The label issued records of every popular music genre by obscure no-names and older material of more prominent name artists. The odds of one finding a Crown Record at your nearest thrift store are decent; they made them deep and sold them cheap, after all.

10/15/23

Promenade Records A55-14 2A/B 45 RPM EP

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Promenade Records was a budget record label run by the infamous Synthetic Plastics Co. of Newark, New Jersey, a major manufacturer of a series of budget record labels that had a considerably large hold of the budget record marketplace up through the early 1970s. In 1972 copyright laws changed, allowing songwriters to prohibit budget record labels from using their music. Being banned from making knock-offs of hit material was extremely problematic for many budget record companies- many simply had to close their doors forever. The generic music market had become oversaturated with two decades worth of budget record labels selling classical, easy listening, background, pipe organ, barbershop, show tunes, Hawaiian, "tribute" albums, folk, religious, polka, Latin, jazz, and sentimental/generic music aimed at an older audience alive during the 1950s and 1960s. However, before 1972, Synthetic Plastics Co. issued their products across several lines of budget record labels such as Diplomat, Spin-O-Rama, Promenade, Peter Pan, and so forth. This company's most generic record releases did not even have a record label name, just a passing notation of their manufacturer. Many SPC record releases were generic in every sense of the word.

10/1/23

Tops Records 78 RPM EPs R292/294

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Tops Records was a giant of the budget record label world in the 1950s. Tops/Mayfield Records set the bar of budget record label releases to an all-time high, blowing the Eli Oberstien and Don Garner record lines out of the water in terms of quality and price. Every new budget record label company that joined the market in the late 1950s typically had at least full-color photo jackets and liner notes. Tops also issued their albums in 45 rpm EP sets; a practice of larger record labels was employed to ensure they were reaching as many potential customers as possible.

Enjoy the eight fake hit covers!

9/1/23

Utah Symphony, Maurice Abravenal conducting.- 1976 Sampler- Full 33 1/3 RPM Flexi Eva-Tone Record

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Flexi records are about as budget as records come, regardless of who commissioned them- they were often giveaways, freebies, or novelty items sold at a relatively low cost to the consumer.