Domino Records (1957)

Domino Records was formed in 1957 by eleven classmates of a night-school course in music marketing, each of whom contributed a weekly sum of five dollars for corporate expenses.[1] The most commercially successful record released by Domino was by a Caucasian doo-wop quartet originally named "The Spades", who soon changed their name to Slades since their original name was sometimes construed as a racial slur.[1] The 1958 single "You Cheated" was a hit in Texas and drew the attention of much larger labels interested in national distribution.[1] The biggest interest came from Dot Records, but Domino declined the distribution deal, deciding they wanted hire their own distributor and keep the group on Domino.[1] The chosen distributor did not meet expectations, and copies intended for the national market remained in storage.[1] Rebuffed, Dot then recorded their own group named "The Sheilds" to cover the Slades' song.[1] Dot's version charted on Billboard at number 12, while the original just reached number 42.[1] In 1959, the label put out a call to young artists local to Austin, hoping to find additional new talent.[3] By the end of 1959 all but three of the original partners had departed, leaving the label moribund. These three, Anne Miller, Kathy Parker and Lora Jane Richardson, decided to re-start the label in 1960 and expand into new genres.[1] The label, which encouraged its artists to self-pen their material, retained publishing rights to original songs.[1] This decision led to an infusion of funds when The Fleetwoods covered the Slades' first recording "You Mean Everything to Me" as the B-side of "Mr. Blue."[1] Otherwise success eluded the label, and it closed in 1961.[1]

Domino Records is considered Austin's first noteworthy record label.[1]

Sonny Rhodes felt that he was treated more fairly at Domino Records than he was with several other labels he recorded for.[4]

In 1998 Ace Records released The Domino Records Story, a compilation of the label's releases.[1]