Moby Dick Records

37°45′38.7″N 122°26′04.7″W / 37.760750°N 122.434639°W / 37.760750; -122.434639

Moby Dick Records
Founded1980
Founder
  • Bill Motley
  • Victor Swedosh
Defunct1984
Distributor(s)Self-distributed
GenreDance, Post-disco
Country of originUSA
LocationSan Francisco, California

Moby Dick Records was a small disco record label founded by Boys Town Gang producers Bill Motley (DJ Bill Motley) and Victor Swedosh in 1980.[1][2] Its headquarters were located at 573 Castro Street, San Francisco, California, United States.[2] Swedosh also owned the Moby Dick Bar (opened in 1977) located in the Castro district.[1][3]

The label was known for "The Moby Dick Sound" and contributing to "Frisco Disco". Its famous acts included Boys Town Gang, Yvonne Elliman and Patrick Cowley. Moby Dick also distributed C & M Records, as well as associating with the late night partiers from the Trocadero Transfer, a popular disco nightclub at the time.[4]

“In fact, Moby Dick Records, the owners, they were some of the first to go too, from AIDS. They were a big up-and-coming record label, big competition with us, and they disappeared.”

— John Hedges, of Megatone Records

Moby Dick Records closed in 1984, after seven of its ten core employees died of AIDS.[5][6]

References

  1. ^ a b Shapiro, Peter (2013). Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-1466894129. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  2. ^ a b Kuroff, Barbara N. (1982). Songwriter's Market. Writer's Digest Books, University of California. p. 241. ISBN 0898790867. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  3. ^ Downing, Shane (2016-09-26). "Now A Legacy Business, Castro's Moby Dick Expresses Concern Over Fund's Implementation". Hoodline. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
  4. ^ Gamson, Joshua (2013). The Fabulous Sylvester: The Legend, the Music, the Seventies in San Francisco. New York: Henry Holt and Company. p. 206. ISBN 9781466850163.
  5. ^ Luce, Henry Robinson (1987). Time Magazine. Vol. 130. Time Inc. p. 196.
  6. ^ Dayal, Geeta (2016-10-26). "San Fran-disco: how Patrick Cowley and Sylvester changed dance music forever". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-06-30.
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