Goldisc Album Discography
George Goldner, never at a loss for founding a new record label, established Goldisc Records in
February, 1960. The first single released made the Billboard top-30 a little more than a month
later. The record was "Barbara" by the Temptations [Goldisc 3001], a New York-based vocal group that
predated the more famous Motown Temptations by about a year. "Barbara" made #29 on
Billboard, #38 on Cash Box, and #26 on Music Vendor, so it was a solid across-
the-board hit, a good start for the label.
The Temptations were fronted by Neil Lapidus (aka Neil Stevens) with Larry Curtis, Artie Sands, and Artie Marin. They might just as well have been named "The Arties," since their manager was Artie Ripp (a few years later the founder of Kama Sutra Records.) Their two follow-up singles failed to chart, although "Fickle Little Girl" [Goldisc 3007] did get some airplay on WIBG in Philadelphia in July, 1960. By the time the Motown group started gathering steam, Stevens had gone solo and the group had abandoned the name. Over the years, there have been quite a few groups by that name, going back at least to 1956.
The next chart hit on Goldisc was "Flamingo Express" by the Royaltones [Goldisc3011], which only
made #82 on Billboard,, but reached the top-50 on the other two national music charts, Cash
Box and Music Vendor. Even better, it reached #4 in Cleveland and #5 in Chicago,
suggesting it was a far bigger hit in their home Midwest region. The Royaltones were an instrumental
group hailing from Dearborn, Michigan. They were David Sanderson (guitar), George Katsakis (sax),
Mike Popoff (piano), Greg Popoff (drums), and Kenny Anderson (bass). They had had a #17 hit with
"Poor Boy" [Jubilee 5338] in 1958, and were one of fellow Michigan native Del Shannon's touring bands.
Shannon remarked in the 1980s that the Royaltones were his favorite backing band, which resulted in
them reconnecting after decades, just a few years before Shannon's untimely death in 1990.
Two more of the Royaltones' Goldisc offerings scraped the bottom of the charts, "Royal Whirl" [Goldisc 3017, #119 Cash Box in March, 1961], and "Peppermint Twist" [Goldisc 3026, #139 Cash Box in December, 1961]. The group also had the distinction of having the last record issued on the Goldisc 3000 series, "Do The Early Bird"/"Scotch And Soda" [Goldisc 3028, early 1962].
After Goldisc went dormant, the Royaltones moved to Bell's Mala subsidiary, where they had a #36 R&B single with "Our Faded Love" in April, 1964. The record also made top-10 in Detroit/Windsor.
The only other national chart single on the Goldisc 3000 series was "I'm So Happy (Tra La La)" by the
Ducanes [Goldisc 3024, #109 Billboard in July, 1961]. The Ducanes were a vocal group from
Bergenfield, NJ, and were made up of Louis Biscardi (lead), Jeff Breny (first tenor), Rick Scrofani
(second tenor), Eddie Brian (baritone), and Dennis Buckley (bass). Only sixteen years old at the time of
the recording, none other than Phil Spector worked with them on the song, and brought in a young Jimi
Hendrix on guitar. It turned out to be the group's only record. Given a subsequent opportunity to record
by Liberty Records, they made fun of the song they were asked to record, adding barnyard noises and
such. They were banished from the studio, and that was that. Just another case of wasted youthful
opportunities, I guess.
Other artists among the 26 singles issued on Goldisc from 1960-1962 were Richie Robin, Ivory Joe Hunter, the Dialtones, the Georgettes, Dee & Lee, the Velours, the Pageants, Harold Teen & The Collegiates, the Dreamers, Vito & Victoria, Jacqueline & The Jills, Eddie Bee, and Bobby Bishop.
The label only released three LPs (all mono), two by Little Richard after he quit rock and roll, and one by Ivory Joe Hunter. Little Richard had no singles on the label.
In 1963, Goldner started a new series on Goldisc using catalog numbers G-1, G-2, etc. The numbers
went to G-17 (two numbers are not known to be released), and then a single numbered G-50 was also
issued in 1964. The artists on this second series are mostly obscure, but G-4 was a girl group called the
Sierras who had an "answer song" to the Essex' "Easier Said Than Done." It was called "I'll Believe It
When I See It" [Goldisc G-4, #108 Billboard in August, 1963]. Surprisingly, the song made #22 in
Cleveland and #23 in Chicago but didn't chart in New York, the home town of the R&B group. They
apparently had no other chart success.
Other artists on the G-1 series were the Persians, LaRose Phillips, the Star-Drifts, Jimmy & Wayne, Billy Gallant, the Planetts, Lew Weber, the Tassells, Tommy Dae, Little Jan, Alan & the Quaddells, the Eastsiders, and Mary Ann Lorri.
Unlike many of the other labels owned by George Goldner, Goldisc was not immediately sold, but just went dormant for well over a decade. In 1978, it was purchased by Timeless Entertainment Goup in Florida. Timeless has since used it as an oldies label, releasing over 100 back-to-back oldies 45s using the same Goldisc label that was introduced in 1960 (minus the lettering around the gold disc).
