American record label created by Mercury Records in 1961 to release material outside its focus at the time on pop and orchestral music. Shelby S Singleton Jr. was put in charge of the label. It was run by Singleton with artist. Fach took over after Singleton left Mercury in 1966. After Philips bought Mercury and established Fontana as a subsidiary for international music, Smash became a de facto country label with some rock, R&B and pop mixed in.
Notable artists include Bruce Channel, Dickey Lee, The Walker Brothers, The Angels, Bill Justis, The Left Banke, The Swingin' Medallions, Jimmy Castor, Jay and the Techniques, the Sir Douglas Quintet and James Brown (briefly, during a contract dispute with King Records (3) in 1962-64).
The label lasted until 1970 when Roger Miller and Jerry Lee Lewis, by then a country artist, were moved to parent label Mercury. Singleton left Mercury in 1967 and bought Sun Records from Sam Phillips two years later.
The label was revived three times since then (in 1979 as a reissue label, in 1985 as a country label and in 1989 for PolyGram's late 1980s Timepieces reissue 45 series for singles originally on Smash's All Time Hits reissue series, using a reproduction of that label [later copies were issued on Mercury]), each occasion short-lived.
In 1991, PolyGram decided to reactivate Smash Records one more time under the PolyGram Label Group — this time, as a Dance and Club music imprint with a completely new logo, effectively putting an end to the previous era and changing the label's direction completely. In 1992, Smash was signed over to Island Records (an autonomous PolyGram subsidiary) as their second Dance imprint alongside Great Jones.
The label had finally ceased operation permanently in 1996.
Please Note: For the post-1991 Smash releases, please use Smash Records.
For bootlegs and unofficial releases, please use Smash (11) or Smash Records (18).