For all unofficial / bootleg release of this label please use Modern Records (6) instead. "Hollywood" sometimes added to the label artwork.
This label was formed in the spring of 1945 (as Modern Music (7)) in Los Angeles, California, by the brothers Joe Bihari, Saul Bihari, and Jules Bihari. Les Bihari joined his brothers after the Second World War. The label name changed to Modern Records in 1948. The Bihari Brothers recorded country & western, jazz, popular, blues, and gospel, but the main focus was rhythm & blues.
The brothers built Modern into a major blues and R&B label. Their first success was "Swingin' the Boogie" by Hadda Brooks. They bought a pressing plant, and divided tasks among them equally, with Jules responsible for talent spotting and recording, Saul for manufacturing, and Lester for distribution. Joe worked with Ike Turner as a talent scout in the Memphis area, discovering Johnny "Guitar" Watson among others.
In the early 1950s the Biharis launched several subsidiaries: RPM Records (5), Flair Records (5) and Meteor Records, which was set up in Memphis in 1952 and was headed by Lester Bihari. Successful artists on the Biharis' labels included B.B. King, Elmore James, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Lightnin' Hopkins, Lowell Fulson, Rufus Thomas and Charlie Feathers.
Later they launched more subsidiaries: Crown Records (2) featuring artists like Johnny Cole, Vic Damone, Trini Lopez with Johnny Torres, Jerry Cole, Dave Clark Five, and United Superior Records. In the sixties they launched a subsidiary Yuletide Series, which specialized in Christmas records (mostly with Johnny Cole and the Robert Evans Chorus).
In the mid 1960s Modern Records went bankrupt and stopped operating, but the catalogue went with the management into what would become Kent. After the deaths of Saul, Lester and Jules Bihari, the labels' back catalogue was licensed to Ace Records Ltd. (UK) in the mid 1980s, with the Label becoming Kent Records, and then later purchased by them during the '90s. Since December 1st, 1990, P-Vine Records has purchased the back catalogs of Modern Records and is managing the master recordings in the territory, which extends to East Asia, Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Australia.
45 RPM Catalog Number, Date and Label Identification:
779 through 980 (1950–1956): Glossy red or glossy black.
981 through 1028 (1956–1958): Flat black.
