Smash Records


Smash Records was an American record label founded in 1961 as a subsidiary of Mercury Records by Mercury executive Shelby Singleton and run by Singleton with Charlie Fach. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966. Its recording artists included Frankie Valli, James Brown, Bruce Channel, Roger Miller, The Left Banke, Bill Justis, and Jerry Lee Lewis.
A dispute with King Records led Brown to release all of his band's instrumental recordings between 1964 and 1967 on Smash. Smash also released three of Brown's vocal recordings, including his 1964 proto-funk single "Out of Sight".
Smash shared the numbering system for their singles with other labels that they distributed. The most important of these was Fontana Records. Mercury discontinued the Smash label in 1970.
Mercury label owner PolyGram used the Smash imprint for reissues in the 1980s. PolyGram revived Smash in 1991 as an R&B/dance label with its offices located in Chicago. It was first under the PolyGram Label Group umbrella, then under the Independent Label Sales umbrella, then under Island Records until the imprint was retired in 1996. One of the hits Smash saw during this period was "People Are Still Having Sex" by house music producer LaTour. Another successful artist on the dance charts was Jamie Principle.

Artists