Musicor's best-selling artists ran the gamut of genres. The label's most successful artist was
pop star
Gene Pitney, who gave Musicor its biggest hits with "
It Hurts to Be in Love" and "
Only Love Can Break a Heart".
Bert Berns produced
Jimmy Radcliffe's recording of the
Burt Bacharach and
Hal David song "Long After Tonight Is All Over" in 1964 that proved to be one of
Northern Soul music's most enduring anthems. After a few years with no hits, popular R&B vocal group
the Platters made a comeback on Musicor with the Northern Soul classics "I Love You 1000 Times" and "With This Ring". Other artists rounding out the Musicor stable included
Johnny Hartman,
Kenny Dino,
Harmon Bethea,
Steve Rossi (of the comic duo Allen & Rossi),
Puerto Rican sensation
Tito Rodriguez, Former
RCA Victor orchestra leader and arranger
Hugo Winterhalter, Girl Group Soul vocal trio
the Toys, rock group
Street People which featured
Rupert Holmes.
Country music singer
George Jones recorded prolifically for Musicor from 1964 to 1972, including two albums of duets with labelmate
Melba Montgomery. Musicor also produced some of the earliest recordings featuring the
Moog synthesizer. The
one-hit wonder Hot Butter scored a Top 10 hit for the label in 1972 with the song "
Popcorn" (which was also Musicor's last big hit).
The Electric Moog Orchestra was also on the Musicor roster, specializing in synthesized versions of music from the film
Star Wars. ==See also==