Parent company Decca Records Genre Pop, rock, jazz Location New York City | Status Inactive Country of origin U.S. Founded 1973 | |
 | ||
Artists Buddy Holly, The Crickets, The Rock and Roll Trio, Teresa Brewer, The McGuire Sisters Albums Buddy Holly, In Style With the Crickets, Steppenwolf, The "Chirping" Crickets, Mel Tormé at the Crescendo | ||
Coral Records was a subsidiary of Decca Records formed in 1949. It recorded pop artists the McGuire Sisters and Teresa Brewer, in addition to Buddy Holly.
Jazz and swing music was issued on Coral in the 1940s. After Bob Thiele became the head of the label in 1954, it produced pop and rock musicians such as Buddy Holly, Jackie Wilson, Lawrence Welk, and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gormé. He also produced hit songs by his wife, Teresa Brewer. In the 1950s, the label recorded Debby Reynolds's hit song "Tammy". In 1954 Coral became known as Vogue Coral in the UK.
Coral stopped issuing new material in 1971. In 1973, MCA amalgamated Decca, Kapp Records and Uni Records under the single MCA Records banner, and Coral was repositioned as a mid-line and budget album reissue label in the U.S. and internationally. This version of Coral (whose labels identified the imprint as "MCA Coral") lasted into the 1980s. Some product from MCA's former Vocalion Records budget label was manufactured with MCA Coral labels that bore Vocalion catalog numbers and was shipped in sleeves still bearing the Vocalion trademark, presumably to cut costs.