CD - VA - Coed Records Story

Tracks
The Crests - Sixteen Candles,The Rivieras - Count Every Star,The Harptones - Foolish Me,The Calendars - I'm Gonna Laugh At You,The Duprees - Have You Heard,Trade Martin - Joanne,The Crests - Trouble In Paradise,The Rivieras - Moonlight Serenade,Sheron Ivy - Believe Me,The Harptones - All In Your Mind,Ronnie & The Schoolmates - Don't, Don't, Don't Drop Out,The Duprees - Why Don't You Believe Me,The Crests - The Angels Listened In,Trade Martin - Strategy,The Harptones - Rain Down Kisses,The Visions - Down In My Heart,The Rivieras - Stay In My Heart,Johnny Maestro - Model Girl,Ralph London - Some Day You'll Be My Girl,The Harptones - Answer Me, My Love,Sheron Ivy - I Need You,Trade Martin - That Stranger Used To Be My Girl,The Harptones - What Will I Tell My Heart?,The Calendars - You're Too Fast,The Duprees - You Belong To Me,Ralph London - Lovely, Lovely Girl,The Joytones - This Love That I'm Giving You,The Crests - Step By Step,The Rivieras - Moonlight Cocktail,The Harptones - The Last Dance.
New York's Classy Coed Label Blazed A Trail Through The Us Charts In The Late 50s And Early 60s With A Series Of Doo Wop And Pop Singles Which Really Were Something Special.
Bandleader And Music Publisher George Paxton Might Never Have Formed Coed Were It Not For The Changes Wrought Upon The American Record Industry By The Rock'n'roll Explosion Of The Mid-50s. Paxton Had Much In Common With Archie Bleyer, Another Former Bandleader Who Had Launched A Successful Record Label, Cadence.
Paxton Moved In Exalted Musical Circles And Didn't Care Much For Rock'n'roll, But Like Bleyer He Was Willing To Compromise Some Of His Principles In The Interests Of Commerce. He Was A Patrician Who Eschewed The Shoddy Standards Of Many Of His Contemporaries And Brought A Sense Of Dignity And Craftsmanship To The Record Making Process. Unlike His Rivals, He Had No Time For Amateurs, The Main Reason Why All The Vocalists On This Cd Perform To Such A High Standard.
As A Successful Music Publisher, Paxton Had No Real Need To Launch A Record Company And Was Only Persuaded To Do So By His Business Partner, Marvin Cane, Who Was Slightly Younger And More Intuitive. Sensing The Need To Cater For The Rock'n'roll Market, Paxton Had Signed Several Young Black Songwriters Including Luther Dixon, Billy Dawn Smith And Ollie Jones To His Publishing Firm In 195
7. They Wrote Several Hits For The Likes Of Perry Como, Pat Boone And Nat King Cole, Successes Which Led Indirectly To The Formation Of A Recording Off-Shoot, Coed Records In April 195
8.
Anticipating Its Launch, It Was Smith Who Introduced The Crests, A New York Vocal Group, To Paxton And Cane. No-One Got Through The Door At Coed Unless They Could Count Bars And Sing In Tune And Although The Crests Came From The Streets, They Boasted An Exceptional Lead In Johnny Maestro Whose Precise, If Somewhat Solemn Delivery Resonated With That Money-Making Teenage Sound. For The Next Couple Of Years, The Crests Were Rarely Off The Charts Mostly With Material Co-Written By Smith. Coed Also Scored With The Rivieras, An R&B Quartet Who Swayed Paxton With Their Mellow Interpretations Of Standards And Compliant Professionalism. They Made Their Coed Debut In June 1958 With A Revival Of Count Every Star, A Song Which Had Brought Paxton His First Success As A Music Publisher Back In 1950. This Minor Hit Was Followed In Early 1959 By Their Silky Rendition Of The Old Glenn Miller Hit, Moonlight Serenade, Their Highest Charting Record.
In Common With Other Tightly Run Independent Labels Such As Cadence And Philles, Coed Pursued A Policy Of Concentration Rather Than Proliferation. Its Artists' Roster Was Necessarily Small To Enable Paxton And His Staff To Concentrate All Their Resources On Individual Releases. The Results Spoke For Themselves: Between May 1958 And December 1963, Coed Released 87 Singles Of Which 32 Reached The Hot 100. Us Compiler Walter Devenne Has Concentrated (Though Not Exclusively) On The Glorious Vocal Group Records Which Formed A Large Part Of Coed's Repertoire.
Towards The End Of 1961, Marvin Cane And Paxton Had A Difference Of Opinion Over The Future Of Adam Wade, A Recent Signing, Whom Cane Believed Was A Potential Star In The Johnny Mathis Mould. The Partnership Was Dissolved With Paxton Retaining Ownership Of The Label That Continued Its Winning Streak. Debut Discs By The Duprees (You Belong To Me) And Trade Martin (That Stranger Used To Be My Girl) Both Made The Us Charts In Late 196
2. The Duprees Went On To Consolidate With Further Hits, Mostly Sentimental Material Which Reflected Paxton's Own Musical Leanings. The Duprees' Final Hit On Coed, (It's No) Sin Came In February 1964 The Very Month The Beatles Made Their Us Chart Debut With I Want To Hold Your Hand. Things Would Never Be The Same.
Mastered In Stereo From The Original Tapes By 'Little Walter' Devenne And Our Own Duncan Cowell, The Coed Records Story Reflects The Care And Attention Coed Originally Lavished On These Classics From The Golden Age Of New York Pop.