bell records

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Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 by Arthur Shimkin in New York, NY after the rights to the name were acquired from Benny Bell who used the Bell name to issue risque novelty records.

In it’s early stages, Bell recorded popular music and comedy. By 1959, Al Massler was President of Bell. Massler formed Mala Records in 1959 as a subsidiary label to Bell, Mala recorded popular, rock and roll and R&B music. Massler also formed another subsidiary, Amy Records, in 1960. Amy recorded , , , and . The original Bell records of the ’50s generally tended toward cover versions of popular hits of the times, much as the Tops label did, or “generic” non-hit pop. After Massler became president, they concentrated more on albums, much like budget pop labels such as Strand. The orchestral backup was first-rate on many of these, with bands such as Sy Oliver and Burt Bacharach appearing.

But music was dying out as the ’50s closed, and by the turn of the decade, some changes needed to be made if the label was to survive. By 1959, the Bell label itself was almost inactive on the singles side, perhaps partly due to the aforementioned “image” problems. Instead of fighting Bell’s established reputation when entering the rock and roll 45 marketplace, Massler shifted primarily to Mala and (later) Amy for singles, and used Bell as an album label.
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