|
Dana Records was an American record label specializing in Polish material and polka music. Started by Walter Dana, for a time it was a significant player in the recorded music market in the United States. ==History== Dana Records was founded in New York by Walter Dana in 1945, with first released occurring in 1946.〔 The label initially concentrated on Polish music, but the real specialization was in the area of dance music, and in particular the Polka. Dana said, "The polka, to me, has a very powerful dance rhythm. It makes people feel happy, and I like to see people happy." Dana transformed the Eastern European polka by increasing the tempo, and adding trumpet and saxophone sections to traditional instrumentation. Instrumental soloists, occasionally jazzy, were joined to the mix. In this way the recordings were able to appeal to both traditional ethnic audiences, and broaden the appeal for new listeners.〔 In 1948 the label had a huge success with ''Helen Polka'', causing the label to pick up distributors, and also giving it the financial stability to enter into the pop (using the "Broadway" brand) and Latin American markets. In the fall of that year, Dana significantly expanded its available catalog when it acquired Syrena Records' catalog from Wlodziemierz Falencki, who had shipped large numbers of Syrena masters from Poland in expectation of war. The label issued its first LP record in 1949, all previous releases had been in the 78rpm format. As the major labels lost interest in ethnic music, Dana was able to lure several top bands to its roster. Walt Solek, previously with both Columbia and Victor, had a huge hit for Dana with "Who Stole the Kishka?" which appealed to both Polish-American audiences and the general public.〔Greene p.199〕 1952 was likely the label's biggest year, as a poll by Billboard ranked it third in income among all record labels, above such labels as Capitol and Decca.〔〔 That year Coral Records took up distributing the label in the Chicago area, while at the same time Dana felt its brand was generally well-enough recognized that they dropped the Broadway imprint and began using the Dana label for pop releases as well.〔 Walter Dana sold Dana Records to Jerry Blaine in 1954, which brought a complete overhaul of Dana's distribution. Walter Dana remained president of his namesake record label for a time after the sale. The fast-tempo of the east-coast polka style did not connect well with mid-western audiences. To gain a share of that market, Dana connected with Alvin Sajewski, to help the label land Chicago talent. Recording sessions took place in Chicago, but Walter Dana continued to supervise the sessions, often re-arranging the music to fit the abilities and talent of the musicians in the studio. Dana's sale percentage of 78rpm records was stronger than industry average, as it was not until 1957 that sales of 45rpm discs equaled that of the 78s. Dana had started pressing the 78rpm discs in vinyl, similar to the 45s, but switched back to selling the 78rpm format in shellac because of dealer demand, as the dealers found that they would sell several copies of the fragile shellac pressings as customers returned to replace their broken copies.〔 July 1959 saw the Jerry Blaine company move its headquarters to a new building on West 47th Street in New York, along with its now-sister companies Jubilee and Josie. After Walter Dana quit the company for "overextension", Dana Records was operated as a division of Fiesta Records.〔 Dana Records had a million-selling record in 1961 with Frank Wojnarowski's ''Matka''. Wojnarowski had been with Dana since the early days of the company and had helped popularize the east-coast polka sound which appealed to all audiences. ''Matka'', however, was more strictly a hit among Polish-American audiences, making the gold record certification of this particular recording all the more unusual.〔Greene p.204〕〔Greene p.245〕 By 1988, Dana Records had moved their offices to Miami Beach, Florida. Many of Dana's masters were probably destroyed in a warehouse fire.〔 As with other smaller labels, Dana used unusual marketing techniques. They partnered with the Manischiewitz Wine Company, in which they named one of their songs "Wine Polka" while supplying DJs with bottles. The fare offered by Dana was often written by the orchestra leaders, or by Walter Dana himself.〔 Song titles were often designated during the recording session. In one instance, the piece was named "Shut-Out Polka" in commemoration of a victory by the company softball team over the previously-unbeaten team fielded by Columbia Records. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Dana Records」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|