Dreidel Recordings and Filmworks was an American record label as well as film and television production company founded in 1976 by Carl Andy which was distributed and funded in part by CBS Records. Aside from distributing Andy's own music, they also handled acts like the Scottish pop-rock group Taking Back Friday and Japanese pop idol Seiko Matsuda in the United States.
Dreidel also produced movies and television series, mainly films directed by Carl Andy himelf, most of these movies were released by Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. Pictures.
History[]
Following the release of Big Big Band in 1975, CBS offered Andy a new deal that offered him total creative control and enough money to form a label of his own through which CBS would distribute. Andy had contemplated about the decision before deciding to go with it. Following the success of his 1975 feature Toby, Andy had become a self-made millionare and used this newfound success to further develop his label, which had not yet been named until 1976 when he called it Dreidel, named after the four-sided spinning top commonly played durring Jewish holiday of Hanukkah (Andy is Jewish). The first release under the label was Yeminite Classics (1976), a compilation of traditional songs by Israeli singer Benjamin Nahum. following this would be Andy's own album, Experience (1977).
Andy would eventually sign on many more acts to expand Dreidel's roster. Most famously is the Scottish pop-rock band Taking Back Friday whom was handled in the UK by EMI. Andy heard a demo tape of their music and was surprised to learn that many US labels had turned them down, including EMI's own Capitol Records. Andy immediately signed them for the US and Canada with distributor CBS handling their music internationally, according to keyboardist and founding member Jerry Maclyn, "He was perhaps the only person who really wanted to give us a shot, without him we would've been lost in obscurity". Another act Andy signed was Seiko Matsuda from Japan, Andy felt her music could sell well outside of Japan despite the language barrier, this caused a debate between Andy and CBS on whether North American consumers would buy non-English music, Andy responded "Nobody tends to understand what they're saying in Italian Opera but people still buy those records anyway". CBS relented and allowed Andy to heavily promote Matsuda's US releases, which became best-sellers for the company, but especially in the Asian-American markets.
Also around this time, a sub-label was formed called Dreidel Spoken Word Records, a division focused on non-music releases such as Comedy albums and Storybook titles, such as the Toons from Around the World storybook albums.
Following the failure of Astro Boy, Andy's stock was down, and so he sold the label to CBS Records (which had just been bought by Sony the prior year) in 1989 (along with some active contracts to the main Columbia and Epic labels) and the division shut down with the releases of Shalom Aleichem and the soundtrack to The Mamiya House, the Movie and TV arm was also sold to frequent Andy collaborator and friend Garrett Fredrickson to turn his Nightstorm Entertainment label into a fully fledged production company.
Today, the music library is currently distributed by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings, with most re-releases going under the Columbia and Epic labels, with Columbia handling Jazz and soft rock music, (such as Carl Andy) and Epic handling the more pop and classic rock music. Some however differ depending on pre-existing deals, for example, Taking Back Friday's catalog is currently handled in the UK by Warner Music Group under the Parlophone label while Legacy/Epic Records handles the rights internationally (non-UK).
Artists[]
- Carl Andy (1977-1989)
- Four Musketeers
- Seiko Matsuda (1981-88, North America only)
- Clark Murray (1983-88, contract absorbed by Columbia)
- Benjamin Nahum (North America only)
- Taking Back Friday (1979-87, North America only, contract absorbed by Epic)
Filmography[]
- Kippah (1978) co-production with United Artists
- Military Brats (1979) co-production with Fantasy Films, distributed by Universal Pictures (uncredited)
- The Hollywood Connection (1980) co-production with Paramount Pictures
- Sea of Troubles (1980) co-production with Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures
- Little Caesar (1981) co-production with Orion Pictures, distributed by Warner Bros.
- Space Firebird (1982) Re-edit of a 1980 Japanese film, co-production with The Ladd Company and Tezuka-USA Productions, distributed by Warner Bros.
- Faith of a Rabbi (1982) co-production with Walt Disney Productions and Neue Constantin Film
- Cross Country Chase (1983) co-production with Orion Pictures
- The Cat Creeps (1983) co-production with Universal Pictures
- The Last Days of the Sun (1984) Re-edit of a 1983 Japanese film, co-production with The Geffen Company, Act III Communications and Madhouse, distributed by Warner Bros. (Uncredited)
- Taking Back Friday: Rising Sun (1985) co-production with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
- The Boy from the Blue (1985) co-production with 20th Century Fox
- Vegas Shuffle (1986) co-production with Universal Pictures
- Modern Fairy Tale (1986) co-production with United Artists
- The Booter (1987) co-production with Vision International, distributed by Orion Pictures
- Rabbit Hole (1988) co-production with United Artists
- Dollhouse (1989) co-production with Universal Pictures, final production
Credit only[]
Films that Dreidel merely picked up, all 4 were released by Orion Classics.
- Wandering Clouds (1982) released in 1984
- The Life of a Boy (1984) released in 1985
- Gwen: The Book of Sand (1985) released in 1986
- The Adventures of Enrico (1986) released in 1987
- The Journey to Melonia (1989) released in 1990
Logo Gallery[]
