MCA Label Story
By David Edwards, Mike Callahan & Patrice Eyries
Last update: May 30, 2025





The parent company of MCA was the Music Corporation of America which was founded in Chicago in 1924. The Music Corporation of America was a talent agency. It became incorporated as MCA Inc. in 1958 and started trading as a public stock in 1959. MCA got in the record business when it acquired American Decca Records in 1962 along with Universal Pictures which Decca owned. With Decca Records came their subsidiary labels, Coral and Brunswick and their budget label Vocalion.

In 1966, MCA established a subsidiary label formally called Universal City Records, but more commonly known for its logo, UNI Records. In 1967 MCA purchased the Kapp Record label from David Kapp and placed it under UNI Records. Also in 1967, MCA established the MCA label in the UK for issuing US Decca/Brunswick/Coral material in the UK and in 1970 formed MCA Records in Canada.

In December, 1972, the Decca, Coral, Vocalion, Kapp and UNI labels in the US were eliminated and the MCA label was established here, also. MCA took out three full-page advertisements in the December 2, 1972, issue of Billboard Magazine. They announced (page 14) "MCA Records, Inc. announces MCA Records. A new label from the end of the rainbow. MCA Records. An old name for the best in entertainment. A new name for a label with the best. MCA Records. A premium label. A gold label. MCA Records. With Decca, UNI, and Kapp. New Gold. Where the rainbow ends." On page 15, they advertised the first MCA single, Elton John's "Crocodile Rock" [MCA-40000]. On page 11, they advertised the first MCA album/8-track/cassette, Neil Diamond's Hot August Night [MCA MCA2-8000, a 2-LP set].

The next week, MCA announced that Artie Mogull had been hired as VP for creative services, bringing with him his Signpost label. By January, 1973, MCA started a massive reissue campaign, reissuing and renumbering almost a thousand LPs from the back and current catalogs of Decca/Coral, Kapp, Signpost and UNI. Current artists with these labels were absorbed into the new MCA imprint. MCA acquired the catalogs of ABC/Dunhill/Dot/Paramount/Impulse Records in 1979 when it bought the Gulf + Western record labels. MCA purchased the Chess Record Labels from All Platinum in the mid-1980s.

The discography of MCA is very confusing. Many albums were reissued multiple times with different numbers. Often, when changing album catalog numbers, the printed album cover was not changed at all and the new number was stamped on the old cover in gold or just with a small sticker covering the old number with the new number on the cover.

In 1995, the distiller Seagram's Company LTD purchased 80 percent of MCA and the company was renamed Universal Music Group.

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 MCA Records. 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 2018, 2025 by Mike Callahan.



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