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20th Century Fox Records
20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century-Fox. The history of the label covers three distinct 20th Century Fox-related operations in the analog era, ranging chronologically from about 1938 to 1981.
20th Century-Fox (now 20th Century Studios) was formed through the merger of Darryl F. Zanuck's Twentieth Century Pictures with the Fox Film Corporation on May 31, 1935. Before the merger, Fox Film Corporation tried out a couple of short-lived record labels in conjunction with its Movietone sound system. Although Movietone was a dedicated sound-on-film system, in 1929-30 Fox produced some soundtracks on disc to accompany features shown in theaters not yet equipped for optical sound. Between 1933 and 1937, a custom record label called Fox Movietone was produced starting at F-100 and running through F-136. It featured songs from Fox movies, first using material recorded and issued on the RCA Victor Bluebird label and halfway through switched to material recorded and issued on ARC's dime store labels. These scarce records were sold only at Fox Theaters.
In 1938, 20th Century-Fox began a new, semi-private line of records employing white labels with typed, or mimeographed, information. Matrix numbers are variable, but the earliest known records in this series correspond to the picture Sally, Irene and Mary (1938) and the latest ones to The Gang's All Here (1943). These discs were limited exclusively to studio properties recorded on 20th Century-Fox soundstages and were used for promotional purposes and as giveaways to staff and visitors to the studio itself. After this small scale venture was discontinued, 20th Century-Fox stayed out of record production for about 15 years, though its music division remained very active in licensing 20th Century-Fox musicals and soundtrack music for use on record albums to other companies, such as that for the 1956 film The King and I, released on Capitol Records. The studio also had success in the 1950s with films starring popular singers Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, with Presley making his film debut in Love Me Tender (1956) and Boone debuting in Bernardine and then following it up with April Love (both 1957).
Fox set up a record company in South Africa and started talks with Roulette Records to form a partnership in the US but talks fell through and Fox decided to set up their own company in the US.
20th Fox Records was established in 1958 with Henry Onorati at its head; Onorati was hired away from Dot Records to run the new label. Onorati brought with him "Carol of the Drum," a Katherine K. Davis Christmas carol that had been recorded at Dot, but not released; it was retooled as "The Little Drummer Boy" and issued on 20th Fox as a single by the Harry Simeone Chorale. It became a Christmas standard in short order and put the label on a sound footing. During Onorati's tenure, 20th Fox was at its most ambitious and the album program was oriented towards an adult audience, whereas the singles attempted, without much success, to crack the sales charts.
20th Fox albums often appeared in deluxe packaging, and sometimes the film soundtrack albums featured narration or were bridged with dialog from the films.
Other releases, such as those featuring Glenn Miller, George Gershwin, and Shirley Temple, were sourced from vault film elements. 20th Fox also featured new albums by veteran artists such as Eubie Blake, Claude Hopkins and Stuff Smith; Hugo Winterhalter made his debut as a leader on 20th Fox.
In 1962, Onorati resigned from 20th Fox and went back to Dot; his last 20th Fox project was the soundtrack album for The Longest Day. Onorati was replaced by Basil J. Bova.
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20th Century Fox Records
20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century-Fox. The history of the label covers three distinct 20th Century Fox-related operations in the analog era, ranging chronologically from about 1938 to 1981.
20th Century-Fox (now 20th Century Studios) was formed through the merger of Darryl F. Zanuck's Twentieth Century Pictures with the Fox Film Corporation on May 31, 1935. Before the merger, Fox Film Corporation tried out a couple of short-lived record labels in conjunction with its Movietone sound system. Although Movietone was a dedicated sound-on-film system, in 1929-30 Fox produced some soundtracks on disc to accompany features shown in theaters not yet equipped for optical sound. Between 1933 and 1937, a custom record label called Fox Movietone was produced starting at F-100 and running through F-136. It featured songs from Fox movies, first using material recorded and issued on the RCA Victor Bluebird label and halfway through switched to material recorded and issued on ARC's dime store labels. These scarce records were sold only at Fox Theaters.
In 1938, 20th Century-Fox began a new, semi-private line of records employing white labels with typed, or mimeographed, information. Matrix numbers are variable, but the earliest known records in this series correspond to the picture Sally, Irene and Mary (1938) and the latest ones to The Gang's All Here (1943). These discs were limited exclusively to studio properties recorded on 20th Century-Fox soundstages and were used for promotional purposes and as giveaways to staff and visitors to the studio itself. After this small scale venture was discontinued, 20th Century-Fox stayed out of record production for about 15 years, though its music division remained very active in licensing 20th Century-Fox musicals and soundtrack music for use on record albums to other companies, such as that for the 1956 film The King and I, released on Capitol Records. The studio also had success in the 1950s with films starring popular singers Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, with Presley making his film debut in Love Me Tender (1956) and Boone debuting in Bernardine and then following it up with April Love (both 1957).
Fox set up a record company in South Africa and started talks with Roulette Records to form a partnership in the US but talks fell through and Fox decided to set up their own company in the US.
20th Fox Records was established in 1958 with Henry Onorati at its head; Onorati was hired away from Dot Records to run the new label. Onorati brought with him "Carol of the Drum," a Katherine K. Davis Christmas carol that had been recorded at Dot, but not released; it was retooled as "The Little Drummer Boy" and issued on 20th Fox as a single by the Harry Simeone Chorale. It became a Christmas standard in short order and put the label on a sound footing. During Onorati's tenure, 20th Fox was at its most ambitious and the album program was oriented towards an adult audience, whereas the singles attempted, without much success, to crack the sales charts.
20th Fox albums often appeared in deluxe packaging, and sometimes the film soundtrack albums featured narration or were bridged with dialog from the films.
Other releases, such as those featuring Glenn Miller, George Gershwin, and Shirley Temple, were sourced from vault film elements. 20th Fox also featured new albums by veteran artists such as Eubie Blake, Claude Hopkins and Stuff Smith; Hugo Winterhalter made his debut as a leader on 20th Fox.
In 1962, Onorati resigned from 20th Fox and went back to Dot; his last 20th Fox project was the soundtrack album for The Longest Day. Onorati was replaced by Basil J. Bova.