Mala Album DiscographyMala's singles series started in 1959 with a long-forgotten disc by the Hi Boys, "Billy Boy"/"Draw" [Mala 400]. About a dozen singles were issued the first year, including singles by Sy Oliver, Herb Lance (who two years later charted with the Classics on the Promo label with "Blue Moon"), Jeanie Allen, and the Hully Gully Boys. Another dozen singles in 1960 were also by largely unknowns, but they did include a pair of early singles by David Gates ("What's This I Hear"/"You'll Be My Baby", Mala 413, and "Happiest Man Alive"/"The Road That Leads To Love", Mala 418). The year 1961 brought another eighteen mostly forgettable singles, with another David Gates offering mixed in ("Jo-Baby"/"Teardrops In My Heart", Mala 427).
Early in 1962, Mala issued a single by R. Dean Taylor ("I'll Remember"/"It's A Long Way To St. Louis", Mala 444), almost a decade before his "Indiana Wants Me" hit in 1970. David Walker, once the lead singer for the gospel group Mighty Clouds of Joy, hit psudonymously as Bunker Hill with "Hide and Go Seek, Part 1" [Mala 451], which made #33. Although Walker had several followup singles, both under his own name and as Bunker Hill, none caught on.
In 1963, perennial label-wanderer Link Wray (and his Ray Men/Wraymen) signed with Mala for two singles ("Hold It"/"Big City After Dark", Mala 456 by Ray Vernon and the Ray Men, and "Dancing Party"/"There's A Hole In The Middle Of The Moon", Mala 458, by Link Wray and the Wraymen).
Near the end of 1963, the BigTop label folded and Mala took over many of their artists. Don & Juan, Johnny & the Hurricanes, and the Royaltones appeared on Mala about that time. Del Shannon, BigTop's major artist, formed his own label, Berlee, upon leaving BigTop in 1963, but lack of distribution soon discouraged Del, and he eventually settled in at sister label Amy in 1964.
In 1964, Mala scored its biggest hit yet with Ronny and the Daytonas' "G.T.O.," a song directed at the
then-current car craze and celebrating Pontiac's hot new model of the same name. Ronny and the
Daytonas were a Nashville studio group. "Ronny" is John "Bucky" Wilkin, backed by a cast of famous
Nashville session men, including Bobby Russell, Chips Moman, Johnny MacRae, and others. A
completely different touring group was formed for public appearances. The touring group later recorded
as the Hombres ("Let It Out, Let It All Hang Out" on Verve-Forecast). Because of the huge hit, "G.T.O.,"
Mala re-started their
album series with an LP of the same name [Mala 4001]. When the group hit with "Sandy" about two
years later, Mala followed with a second album, Sandy [Mala 4002].
Other artists on the roster in 1964 included the Del Satins (Dion's backup group after splitting with the Belmonts), ex-Madison artists Nino & the Ebbtides and Gary Stites, the Rag Dolls ("Dusty"), and Nashville songwriter Chip Taylor (later to write the garage-rock anthem "Wild Thing").
1965 brought Jimmy Clanton, veteran hitmaker from the Ace label of Jackson, Mississippi, to Mala, but he failed to recapture the magic that got him a number of hits in 1959-63. Also that year, Little Caesar and the Consuls had a hit with "(My Girl) Sloopy" [Mala 512]. They were a Canadian group not to be confused with Little Caesar and the Romans.
The Van Dykes were a soul trio from Ft. Worth, Texas, who recorded "No Man Is an Island" for the tiny Hue label before signing with Mala. (They are not the same group that recorded chart records in 1961 on Donna and DeLuxe.) Bobby Wood, a Memphis session man who had had a minor hit with "If I'm a Fool For Loving You" [Joy 285] in 1964, joined Mala in 1966, but failed to dent the charts. The Emperor's [no, I don't know why the apostrophe is in there, either] were a sextet from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that had one mid-chart single, "Karate" [Mala 543], in late 1966, then faded from the scene.
1966 also saw the Mala label enter into international music. The
Carlton Show Band [LP 4004] was a Canadian group who had a long running TV show on CTV called
The Pig 'N Whistle. Peppi Morreale [LP 4003], of course, was a well known Latin American artist
who had been performing in clubs and resorts since the 1950s.
The year 1967 brought the biggest selling artists the Mala label ever had. They were the Box Tops, who
hit with the #1 song "The Letter" [Mala 565] in the fall of 1967 and rolled up ten more chart singles before
the group disbanded in 1970. The gravel-throated lead voice was that of Alex Chilton. Other members
were Gary Talley, John Evans, Billy Cunningham, and Danny Smythe. (Both Evans and Smythe left the
group in late 1967, being replaced by Rick Allen and Tom Boggs.) Even though the Box Tops were by
far the label's biggest sellers, all their albums were issued on the parent Bell label. In fact, Mala had
ceased putting out albums in 1966, and all albums by Mala artists were issued on Bell starting in 1967.
Other artists on Mala from 1967 onward were Reparata and the Delrons, Bruce Channel, Gene Simmons, the Pieces of Eight, Mickey Lee Lane, Canadian Chad Allen (formerly of the group that became the Guess Who), and British artists Frankie Vaughan, Billy Fury and Spooky Tooth. Most of these artists had their hit days well behind them when they reached Mala. The last single on the label was the Box Tops' "Turn On A Dream" [Mala 12042] in the autumn of 1969. After that, Mala was folded back into the parent Bell label and ceased to exist as a separate label.
The Mala album label is dark blue with silver print. "mala" in a silver box above the center hole.
We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Bell/Mala Records, which we believe is currently owned by Arista Records. Should you want to contact Arista, or should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 1999, 2003 by Mike Callahan.
