Mercury Record Corporation president Irving Green announced the formation of the company’s new pop subsidiary label, Smash Records, in March 1961. Smash was seen as an opportunity for greater exposure and sales for both newly-signed talent and for independently cut masters. In the summer of 1961, the label achieved its first number one hit on the
Billboard Hot 100, "
Wooden Heart," by
Joe Dowell. In November 1961, label head Charles Fach announced the label would move into the "country and western" field, and announced the signing of two artists, Billy Deaton and Howard Crockett. Mercury A&R chief
Shelby Singleton was tapped to head the C&W production. Singleton was interested in Southern styles, and had recruited east Texas's
Big Bopper and
Johnny Preston to the parent label. Eventually, Smash Records' roster expanded to include artists from other music genres, such as
Frankie Valli,
James Brown,
Bruce Channel,
Roger Miller,
The Left Banke,
Bill Justis, and
Jerry Lee Lewis. A dispute with
King Records led James Brown to release all of his band's instrumental recordings between
1964 and
1967 on Smash. Smash also released three of Brown's vocal recordings, including his 1964 proto-
funk single "
Out of Sight". Smash shared the numbering system for its singles with other labels that the label distributed. The most significant of these was
Fontana Records. Mercury discontinued the Smash label in 1970. After Smash parent Mercury was acquired by
PolyGram in 1972, the Smash imprint was used for reissues in the 1980s. PolyGram revived Smash in 1991 as an
R&B/
dance label with its offices located in
Chicago. It was first under the PolyGram Label Group (PLG) umbrella, then under the
Independent Label Sales (ILS) umbrella, then under
Island Records until the imprint was retired in 1996. One of the hits Smash saw during this period was "
People Are Still Having Sex" by house music producer
LaTour. Another successful artist on the dance charts was
Jamie Principle. ==Artists==