Tops, 1956.
vinyl condition: G (some surface noise)
Formed in Los Angeles in 1947 as Tops Music Enterprises by Carl Doshay and Sam Dickerman, two gentleman who sold used jukebox 78 RPM records to grocery stores, drug stores, and five-and-dime stores. With Tops, they decided to enter the record business by recording and releasing "knockoff' cover version records featuring session musicians and vocalists at a price of 39 cents (as opposed to 79 cents from the major labels.)
By the mid-1950s, the company, now based in Hollywood, hired Dave Pell as house producer and arranger as the company's success was starting to overwhelm the pair. It also began recording artists past their Hit Parade heyday (like Lena Horne, Mel Tormé, and The Ink Spots) as the 45 RPM single began taking hold.
In 1958, Doshay sold the company to Geiger counter manufacturer Precision Radiation Instruments (P.R.I) primarily to ease its tax burdens.