History Creator / CapitolRecords

[[caption-width-right:350:The iconic "swirl" label design used on Capitol singles from 1962-1968.[[note]]It was also used from 1979 to 1981 on singles by The Knack.[[/note]]]]

* Creator/MelBlanc [[note]]He recorded singles as himself and as his various ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' characters.[[/note]]

* Creaqtor/BillCosby

British music conglomerate EMI bought 96% of Capitol Records' stock in 1955, effectively acquiring the company.[[note]]EMI had already lost the right to distribute U.S. Columbia releases in Europe, and their contract with RCA was about to expire, so they wanted to make sure they would still have access to top American talent.[[/note]] The landmark Capitol Tower building began construction soon after and was completed a year later. Several artists joined the label during the 1950's, including Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, Music/TheFourFreshmen, Creator/StanFreberg and The Kingston Trio.

British music conglomerate EMI bought 96% of Capitol Records' stock in 1955, effectively acquiring the company.[[note]]EMI had already lost the right to distribute Columbia releases in Europe, and their contract with RCA was about to expire, so they wanted to make sure they would still have access to top American talent.[[/note]] The landmark Capitol Tower building began construction soon after and was completed a year later. Several artists joined the label during the 1950's, including Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, Music/TheFourFreshmen, Creator/StanFreberg and The Kingston Trio.

* Creator/DavidMcCallum [[note]]A classically trained musician as well as an actor, he recorded a few instrumental albums for Capitol during the height ''Series/TheManFromUNCLE'''s popularity.[[/note]]

[[/index//

[[caption-width-right:350:The iconic "swirl" label design used on Capitol singles from 1962-1968.[[note:†]]It was also used from 1979 to 1981 on singles by The Knack.[[/note]]]]

[[caption-width-right:350:The iconic "swirl" label design used by Capitol from 1962-1968.[[labelnote:†]]It was also used from 1979 to 1981 on singles by The Knack.[[/labelnote]]]]

Founded in 1942 by songwriters Johnny Mercer and Buddy [=DeSylva=] and businessman Glenn Wallichs (owner of Wallichs Music City), it was the first West Coast-based label in the United States. By the end of the decade, it already acquired a stable of prominent artists such as Music/NatKingCole, Stan Kenton, Margaret Whiting and many others, allowing it to rank among the "Big Six" labels[[labelnote:†]](the other five were [[Creator/RCARecords RCA Victor]], [[Creator/ColumbiaRecords Columbia]], Mercury, Decca and Creator/{{MGM}} -- all of which, including Capitol, had their own pressing plants)[[/labelnote]]. The Canadian branch was established in 1949.

EMI bought 96% of Capitol Records' stock in 1955, effectively acquiring the company. The landmark Capitol Tower building began construction soon after and was completed a year later. Several artists joined the label during the 1950's, including Music/FrankSinatra, Music/DeanMartin, Music/TheFourFreshmen, Creator/StanFreberg and The Kingston Trio.

After several years of near-total ownership[[labelnote:†]](EMI increased their stake in Capitol Records to 98% in 1968 only to have Capitol merge with Audio Devices, Inc., causing their ownership to drop to 68% -- they increased their holdings back to 70.84% in 1972)[[/labelnote]], EMI purchased the remaining shares of Capitol by 1976.

From 1964 to 1970, Capitol had a subsidary label called Tower Records, which released "lower profile" artists such as The Standells and Music/PinkFloyd. As several of those artists were later recognized as "garage bands", Tower acquired a reputation as a GarageRock label. The Tower label was unique to the United States -- its artists were distributed on the main Capitol label in Canada and overseas. From 1968 onwards, Capitol was the North American distributor of The Beatles' Apple Records.

!!Capitol performers, past and present, with TVTropes pages:

* Music/TheYardbirds †