Imago Records Explained

Imago Records (The Imago Recording Company) was an American independent record label, which was active during the early 1990s. It was started by Terry Ellis after he left his previous record label, Chrysalis Records.

In 1990 Ann Munday was hired as Vice President and General Manager in their New York office.[1]

Several influential artists released albums through Imago, including Rollins Band, Aimee Mann, Paula Cole and Love Spit Love[2] as well as alternative, gay hip-hop artist and rapper Sha-Key (aka Hanifah Walidah).[3] Despite building a slate of up and coming alternative rock artists, the company ran into serious financial difficulties when, in December 1994, the company's former financial backer Bertelsmann Music Group pulled funding.[4] This left many of their artists scrambling to find new labels.[5]

In 1996, Henry Rollins and his new label DreamWorks SKG sued Imago, alleging "fraud, deceit, undue influence and economic coercion" on the label's part.[6]

Artists

All of the following artists released albums on the Imago label:[2]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Full text of "Cash Box" . 16 November 1991 . Cash Box Pub. Co. . 2018-02-10.
  2. Web site: All Music - Imago Records . . 2009-07-19 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090808203644/http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg . August 8, 2009 .
  3. Web site: Hanifah Walidah – The Oakland Artists Project . 2023-06-12.
  4. Web site: Imago Records Sues DreamWorks . . 1996-06-12 . 2009-07-19.
  5. Web site: [{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p44869/biography|pure_url=yes}} All Music - Paula Cole ]. 2009-07-19. .
  6. Web site: Henry Rollins Sues Imago Records. https://web.archive.org/web/20150214045341/http://www.mtv.com/news/508008/henry-rollins-sues-imago-records/. dead. February 14, 2015. MTV News. 24 February 2016.