The
Crewe label was started as part of the "Crewe Group of Companies" in 1969. It was located at
1841 Broadway in New York City. It was a relatively short-lived follow-on to the NewVoice/DynoVoice
labels that Bob Crewe ran in the mid-1960s.
In 1969, Crewe also put out an album of his own on the CGC label. Later in the 1970s, Crewe recorded
as the Bob Crewe Generation and as B.C.G. for 20th Century and Elektra. Almost as a set of bookends,
Crewe reissued this same album in 1971, as the Crewe label was winding down. This time, it was Crewe
1600, and issued in "4-2-1 Stereo Visual Sound," which was allegedly compatible with mono, stereo and
"decoded" quadraphonic. It used the unfortunate slogan, "Puts an eye in your ear."
The first record issued by the Crewe label itself was a single by the Four Seasons, a group Bob Crewe
had produced since their early days with Vee-Jay seven years earlier. It was Crewe 333, "And That
Reminds Me (My Heart Reminds Me)" (b/w "The Singles Game"), which reached the top 50 on the pop
charts in the Fall of 1969. It was the only single issued on the label by the Four Seasons.
Crewe had produced several acts and placed them with other labels before he consolidated on the
Crewe label. One of these acts was William Oliver Swofford, or "Oliver." Swofford was a North
Carolinan who had had some modest success as a songwriter, writing the Cryan' Shames' "Young Birds
Fly" a year earlier. He linked up with Crewe for a top-3 record in Spring, 1969, with "Good Morning
Starshine" [Jubilee 5659], one of the seemingly endless songs from the Broadway musical Hair.
By the time a followup single was in order, Crewe had established the label and the next one was Crewe
334, "Jean" (from The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), which made #2. With two gigantic hits, Crewe
put out its first album, Good Morning Starshine [Crewe CR-1333]. Oliver followed those hits with
a top-40 entry, "Sunday Mornin'" [Crewe 337] and a minor charter, "Angelica" [Crewe 341, #97]. By
1971, after the Crewe label was discontinued, Swofford moved to United Artists, but couldn't repeat the
success he had two years earlier, as his best showing was "Early Mornin' Rain" [UA 50762], which only
made #124. Swofford died at age 54 of cancer in February, 2000.
Drawing from his DynoVoice catalog, Crewe tried a remixed Greatest Hits album for Mitch Ryder
and the Detroit Wheels, with horns and strings overdubbed. Unfortunately, this album has been an
annoyance to record collectors ever since.
The Crewe label also issued several singles by Lesley Gore, and an album was considered but
apparently shelved. Crewe also issued discs (including an LP) by the Rationals, who had recorded for
Cameo-Parkway before that label morphed into Abkco.
The label also put out a series of Ben Bagley albums featuring risque drawings of Burlesque dancers on
the covers and "revisiting" the songs of well known songwriters of the era. Bagley had been issuing
various albums in this genre since the early 1960s, and at least some of these were reissues, although
the cover artwork seemed to be new. These Bagley collections were later reissued on Ben's own
Painted Smiles label, using the same catalog numbers. The Painted Smiles issues continued the artwork
series.
By mid-1971, with the reissue of CGC-1000 and the issue of the last 45 (by the Bob Crewe Generation),
the Crewe label folded up shop.
The Crewe label was green with black print, except for Crewe 1600, which was red with black print. The
logo was a white stylized "C" at the top left of the label, with "crewe" to the right of the "C." Around the
bottom of the label on early issues was "CREWE RECORDS, A DIVISION OF THE CREWE GROUP OF
COMPANIES, 1841 BROADWAY, NEW YORK, NY 10023". Later, this changed to "DISTRIBUTED BY
BELL RECORDS, A DIVISION OF COLUMBIA PICTURES INDUSTRIES, INC., 1776 BROADWAY,
NEW YORK, N.Y. 10019."
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 DynoVoice/NewVoice Records, which is currently inactive. 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, 2006 by Mike
Callahan.
Cover |
Number - Title - Artist - [Release Date] (Chart) Contents |
CGC LABEL: | |
CGC 1000 - Let Me Touch You - Bob Crewe Generation [1969] Stella By
Starlight/Golden Earrings/To Each His Own/Barbarella/Moon River//Together/Wives And
Lovers/An Angel Is Love/Let Me Touch You/Two For The Road
| |
CREWE LABEL: | |
CR-1333 - Good Morning Starshine - Oliver [1969] (8-69, #19) Who Will Buy (S)/The
Arrangement (S)/Can't You See (S)/Letmekissyouwithadream (S)/Ruby Tuesday (S)//Jean (S)/Good
Morning Starshine (S)/In My Life (S)/Where Is Love (S)/Both Sides Now (Clouds) (S)
| |
CR-1334 - The Rationals - Rationals [1969] Barefootin'/Segue/Temptation Bout To Get
Me/Segue/Guitar Army/Segue/Something's Got A Hold On Me/Segue/Deep
Red//Sunset/Segue/Glowin'/Segue/Handbags And Gladrags/Ha-Ha
| |
CR-1335 - All the Heavy Hits of Mitch Ryder - Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels [1969]
Remixed greatest hits package from the NewVoice catalog, but with horn and string overdubs on songs
marked with an asterisk (*). I Never Had It Better (*S)/Devil With a Blue Dress On-Good Golly Miss
Molly (S)/Sock It To Me Baby (S)/Too Many Fish In the Sea-Three Little Fishes (S)/You Are My Sunshine
(*S)//Come See About Me (*S)/Little Latin Lupe Lu (S)/Please, Please, Please (S)/I Got You (*S)/Jenny
Take a Ride (S)
| |
CR-1336 - For Fox Sake, Vol. 1 - The Fox [1969] Secondhand Love/Lovely Day/As She
Walks Away/Glad I Could/Butterfly/Look In The Sky//Goodtime Music/Mr. Blank/Man In A Fast
Car/Birthday Card/Madame Magical
| |
CR-1337 - Alan Jay Lerner Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1969] Songs
performed by Blossom Dearie, Dorothy Loudon, Roddy McDowall, Jerry Orbach, Nancy Walker, Ann
Hampton Callaway, Robert Marks, and Arthur Siegel. Progress/Love Song/I Love You This Morning/This
Is My Holiday/Sunday Jumps/The Day Before Spring/God's Green World/Economics/You Haven't
Changed At All/You're All The World To Me/Every Night At Seven/Mister Right/This Is The Life/Open
Your Eyes/You've Got A Hold On Me/My Last Love/I'm Your Man/A Jug Of Wine/My Love Is A Married
Man/Sur Les Quais De Ramsdale, Vermont/A Toujours/Too Late Now
| |
CR-1338
| |
CR-1339
| |
CR-1340 - Cole Porter Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1970] Reissue of Ric
3002 from 1964. Come On In - Ronny Graham, Kaye Ballard, & Bibi Osterwald/A Little Skipper From
Heaven Above -Ronny Graham/You're A Bad Influence On Me - David Allen/I've Still Got My Health -
Kaye Ballard/But In The Morning, No - Ronny Graham & Kaye Ballard/Since I Kissed My Baby Goodbye
- David Allen/By The Mississinewah - Kaye Ballard & Bibi Osterwald/I'm Throwing A Ball Tonight - Bobby
Short/Far Far Away - David Allen & Kaye Ballard/Solomon - Bibi Osterwald/It Ain't Etiquette - Ronny
Graham/Tale Of The Oyster - Kaye Ballard/I Worship You - David Allen/Red, Hot, And Blue - Kaye
Ballard, Bobby Short, & Bibi Osterwald
| |
CR-1341 - Rogers & Hart Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1970] Artists include:
Dorothy Loudon, Danny Meehan, Charlotte Rae, Cy Young, Ann Hampton Callaway, Arthur Siegel, and
Sandy Stewart. The Garrick Gaieties Opening/Come And Tell Me/This Funny World/Send For Me/I Must
Love You/Morning Is Midnight/Don't Tell Your Folks/At The Roxy Music Hall/I Still Believe In You/Singing
A Love Song/I Blush/How Was I To Know?/ Why Do You Suppose/Everybody Loves You/Like Ordinary
People
| |
CR-1342 - Vernon Duke Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1970] Songs
performed by Blossom Dearie, Gloria DeHaven, Tammy Grimes, Anthony Perkins, Rex Reed, and Joan
Rivers. The Theatre Is A Lady/Low And Lazy/Now/Sugarfoot/Just Like A Man/Water Under The
Bridge/Spring Again/Life's A Funny Present/Lady/Words Without Music/If You Can't Get The Love You
Want/Roundabout/I Cling To You/That Moment Of Moments
| |
CR-1343
| |
CR-1344 - Oliver Again - Oliver [1970] (5-70, #71) The Twelfth Of Never (S)/Comfort Me
(S)/Young Birds Fly (S)/Until It's Time For You To Go (S)/Leaving On A Jet Plane (S)//I Can
Remember (S)/The Picture Of Kathleen Dunne (S)/Buddy (S)/If You Go Away (S)/Angelica (S)
| |
CR-1345 - Harold Arlen Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1970] Songs by Nancy Andrews, David Burns, Phyllis Diller, Estelle Parsons, Blossom Dearie, Gloria De Haven, and Charles Rydell. God's Country/Spring Fever/Fancy Free/Rabelais/What Can You Say In A Love Song/Runaway World/This Time The Dream's On Me/Sing My Heart/Shoein' The Mare/Now I Know/With The Sun Warm Upon Me/Public Enemy Number One/Moanin' In The Mornin'/While You Are Young/Don't Rock The Boat, Dear | |
CR-1346
| |
CR-1347
| |
CR-1348
| |
CR-1349
| |
CR-1350 - Arthur Schwartz Revisited - Ben Bagley (Various Artists) [1970] Artists
include Cab Calloway, Blossom Dearie, Gloria De Haven; Phyllis Diller, Warde Donovan, Charles
Rydell, Ethel Merman, and Jimmy Durante. What A Wonderful World/Blue Grass/Love Isn't Born, It's
Made/There's No Holding Me/Miserable With You/In The Noonday Sun/Got A Bran' New Suit/Tennessee
Fish Fry/Goodbye To All That/Smokin' Reefers/That's For Children/Haunted Heart/You And I Know/Right
At The Start Of It
| |
Crewe421 1600 - Let Me Touch You - Bob Crewe Generation [1971] Reissue of CGC
1000. Stella By Starlight/Golden Earrings/To Each His Own/Barbarella/Moon River//Together/Wives And
Lovers/An Angel Is Love/Let Me Touch You/Two For The Road
|