TK Records

{{Short description|1972–1981 American record label}} {{Infobox record label | name = TK Records | image = File:TK_Records.jpg | image_size = | parent = Henry Stone Music | founded = {{start date|1972}} | founder = Henry Stone & Steve Alaimo | defunct = {{end date|1981}} | distributor = Henry Stone Music<br />Rhino Entertainment/Parlophone (since 2013; Sunnyview catalog) | genre = Various | country = United States | location = Hialeah, Florida | url =  }}

'''TK Records''' was an American independent record label founded by record distributor Henry Stone and Steve Alaimo in 1972.<ref name = "AP">{{cite news |author= |title=Henry Stone, Co-Founder of TK Records, Dies at 93 |url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/henry-stone-founder-tk-records-724420|magazine=The Hollywood Reporter |agency=Associated Press |date=10 August 2014|access-date=15 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011102440/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/henry-stone-founder-tk-records-724420|url-status=live|archive-date=11 October 2016}}</ref> and based in Hialeah, Florida.<ref name="Herald">{{cite news|last1=Cohen|first1=Howard|title=Founder of the 'Miami Sound,' TK Records' Henry Stone dies at 93|url=http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article1979074.html|access-date=15 July 2016|newspaper=Miami Herald|date=8 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623183728/http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/article1979074.html|url-status=live|archive-date=23 June 2016}}</ref> The record label went bankrupt in 1981.<ref name="AP" />

"TK" was inspired by the initials of sound engineer Terry Kane, who built a recording studio in the attic of Stone's office in Hialeah.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.discomusic.com/people-more/57_0_11_0_C/|title=Henry Stone|work=DiscoMusic.com|access-date=10 January 2015}}</ref>

TK Records is closely associated with the early rise of disco music. In May 1974, the label released the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 No. 1 hit "Rock Your Baby" by George McCrae, cited as one of the earliest examples of disco.<ref>https://www.wonc.org/from-miami-soul-to-disco-gold-the-legacy-of-rock-your-baby/#:~:text=George%20McCrae%27s%20debut%20single%2C%20%E2%80%9CRock,the%20forefront%20of%20popular%20music.</ref> A little more than a year after McCrae's hit, the record label struck gold with KC & The Sunshine Band, releasing five singles that reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100: including "Get Down Tonight", "That's the Way (I Like It)", "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty", "I'm Your Boogie Man", and "Please Don't Go". The KC & The Sunshine Band single "Keep It Comin' Love" reached No. 1 on Billboard's erstwhile Hot Soul Singles chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref> [https://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100/1977-10-01 The Hot 100 1977] Billboard magazine Retrieved 03 May 2025</ref>

TK had numerous subsidiary labels, which included Cat Records, Drive Records, Wolf Records, and Bold Records. At one point, they had established a gospel label named Gospel Roots.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_nCfAiOKBw | title=- YouTube | website=YouTube }}</ref> Artists signed to TK Records and its subsidiaries included Betty Wright, Clarence Reid a.k.a. Blowfly, The Beginning of the End (Alston); Timmy Thomas, Benny Latimore (Glades); Peter Brown (Drive); Foxy, Kracker, T-Connection (Dash); Jimmy "Bo" Horne (Sunshine Sound); Little Beaver, Gwen McCrae (Cat); Bobby Caldwell (Clouds); and Anita Ward (Juana).

In 1980, TK Records encountered financial problems and the label was acquired by Morris Levy's Roulette Records; a merger of the two labels created Sunnyview Records, which had success with the electro hip hop group Newcleus.<ref name="discogs">{{cite web |author= |title=Sunnyview |work=Discogs.com |url=https://www.discogs.com/label/275530-Sunnyview |access-date=17 July 2016}}</ref> The last single to be released on TK Records was "Weird Al" Yankovic's "Another One Rides the Bus" (1981), based on Queen's song "Another One Bites the Dust". In 1986, Henry Stone formed Hot Productions with Paul Klein and continued to re-release the TK Records catalog on CD until Sunnyview's acquisition by EMI-Rhino in 1989.<ref name="discogs" /> Rhino owns the North American rights to the Sunnyview/TK catalog; internationally, the catalog was managed by EMI until 2013,<ref name="discogs" /> when Rhino's newly acquired sister label Parlophone took over after Warner Music Group's purchase of the remaining EMI assets.

On October 12, 2013, Henry Stone received a proclamation from Hialeah's then-mayor, Carlos Hernandez, declaring it TK Records Day every year on October 12.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Stone |first=Henry |date=March 21, 2024 |title=October 12th Is TK Records Day In Hialeah |url=https://henrystonemusic.com/happy-tk-records-day/ |access-date=March 21, 2024 |website=Henry Stone Music}}</ref>{{fact|date=May 2022}}

==Wolf Records (subsidiary)== '''Wolf Records''' was a jazz subsidiary that released only three albums, each produced by Joel Dorn: *1976: ''Encourage the People'' – Robin Kenyatta *1977: ''After the Dance'' – Harold Vick *1978: ''Innocence'' – Kenny Barron

There is a present-day Austrian record label of the same name that was founded in 1982 and specializes in releasing blues music.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.wolfrec.com/wolf-story.html |title=Wolf Records > Wolf Story |publisher=Wolfrec.com |access-date=December 14, 2011}}</ref>

== See also == * List of record labels

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== *[http://bsnpubs.com/florida/tk/tkstory.html The TK Records Story from BSN Pubs] *{{discogs label|label=T.K. Records}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tk Records}} Category:1972 establishments in Florida Category:1981 disestablishments in Florida Category:Record labels based in Florida Category:Rhythm and blues record labels Category:Disco record labels Category:Record labels disestablished in 1981 Category:Record labels established in 1972 Category:Companies based in Miami Category:EMI Category:Rhino Entertainment Category:Labels distributed by Warner Music Group