The label issued 12
albums over the course of its existence, but with the exception of
A Christmas Gift for You, the focus was always on the
single. However, Philles X-125 is a reissue of Philles 119, and X-125 exists with two different
B-side tracks, as "
Winter Wonderland" (1964) and "Winter Blues" (1965) were substituted for the original flipside, "Harry and Milt Meet Hal B" (1963). "Harry and Milt" and many other flipsides were deliberately undistinguished instrumentals, which were intended to focus attention on the A-sides. These B-sides were originally credited to the A-side artists, but later pieces were credited to the Phil Spector Group. Also, most discographies, including the one in the
Back to Mono booklet, list two items with catalogue number Philles 123. "Stumble And Fall" by
Darlene Love was released and then withdrawn (both stock and promos exist) in August 1964 (according to
Billboard magazine). Its number was replaced with "
Walking in the Rain" by
The Ronettes, which came out that October. Philles 111 also has two B-sides: "My Heart Beat a Little Bit Faster" and "Playing for Keeps." The last few singles (134, 135, and 136) received much less airplay than their predecessors. Although singles 134 and 135 were "charted" by
Billboard, single 136 did not—although both promo and regular stock copies exist. The promotion-only single "(Let's Dance) The Screw" by
The Crystals is known only in the form of a handful of promotional copies and one stock copy. After the chart failures of the last few singles, Phil Spector stopped producing and releasing new records on Philles. In the summer of 1966, he signed
Bob Crewe and
Jeff Barry to produce The Ronettes and
Ike & Tina Turner. The label effectively ceased operations in 1967, and Spector did not return to
production work for another two years. There was one more Philles record,
The Phil Spector Spectacular. It was released only to radio stations in 1972, along with a letter from Phil. The Philles catalog is now administered by
Sony Music Publishing, which acquired the catalogue when it bought
EMI Music Publishing, with
Sony Music's
Legacy Recordings imprint handling distribution rights for the Philles catalog through a new licensing deal which was finalized in September 2009. Prior to this deal, the Philles reissues were handled by
ABKCO Records.
Production The singles were produced by Spector, with five and one half exceptions: Philles 101, 103, and 104 were produced by Lester Sill prior to his departure from the company; Philles 133 by Jeff Barry; Philles 134 by Bob Crewe; and the B-side of Philles 136 was produced by
Ike Turner. For years, The Righteous Brothers' Bill Medley has insisted that he produced "Unchained Melody" (Philles 129) but that has never been confirmed: as an album track for
Just Once in My Life, Spector delegated production of such tracks to Medley. As the B-side to "Hung On You", early presses did not specify its producer on the label – Spector usually produced throwaway instrumentals on the B-side to focus on the A-side. When the track boomed in popularity, Spector eventually opted to claim credit in later presses. Of the non-Spector productions, only "I Can Hear Music" charted and it rose no higher than 100th place. Every one of Spector's productions made the charts in the U.S., with the exceptions of Philles 136, one of the two Philles 123's, the withdrawn Philles 105, and the
holiday single both times. Eighteen Philles records made the
Top 40, the label topping the charts twice with Philles 106 in 1962, and again with Philles 124 in 1965. ==Notable artists==