Sol Rabinowitz

Sol Rabinowitz was the creator of the brand new York City-based R&B label Baton Information, house to doo wop hitmakers like the Rivileers as well as the Hearts. Rabinowitz started his music profession like a salesman with Malverne, the brand new York distribution arm of Mercury Information. When competitor Cosnat Distributors obtained with Jubilee Information, Rabinowitz was designated to release a Malverne-backed label of his personal. He started scouting local skill, and while going to the Triboro Record Store in Queens he was directed in direction of the Rivileers, a Jamaica quintet whose demonstration rendition of “ONE THOUSAND Celebrities” was on document in the shop. After re-recording the monitor with professional program players, Rabinowitz provided the acetate to WWRL disk jockey Tommy “Dr. Jive” Smalls, who performed the disc double that same night to rapturous listener response. Around once, Malverne pulled from the offer, but Rabinowitz forged on, persuaded “ONE THOUSAND Celebrities” was popular. Dubbing the business Baton, he leased work place and slice a distribution cope with Los Angeles-based Central Record Product sales. Issued in early 1954, “ONE THOUSAND Stars” proved an enormous strike in both NY and L.A., but distribution among was spotty, as well as the record by no means caught on countrywide. Singles by Friend Tate and Milan Dark brown followed, with year’s end the Rivileers notched another small hit using their rendition from the perennial “(I REALLY LIKE You) For Sentimental Factors.” In early 1955, Baton also obtained using the Hearts’ “Lonesome Lamps,” a staple of DJ Alan Freed’s WINS playlist. Additional notable Baton produces included Ann Cole’s “In the Chapel,” the Fidelitys’ “THE ITEMS I REALLY LIKE,” and Noble “Thin Guy” W’ “CRISIS.” In the springtime of 1959, Rabinowitz shuttered the label when confronted with mounting financial issues, and a following venture, SIR Information, hardly lasted a season.