American. Curtom was initially Curtis Mayfield's publishing company; it expanded to include a record label in 1968, and it was, unsurprisingly, dedicated to Soul / R&B music. 'Billboard' of the 15th of June 1968 reported that the new label, with Eddie Thomas as president, had signed with Buddah - as part of the agreement Mayfield was to produce records for that company. In 1971 Mayfield took over as president of Curtom ('BB', 15th May), and the following year the company took a step in the direction of Rock by signing Ruby Jones ('BB', 22nd January 1972). The venture into that genre seems to have proven unsatisfactory, as Curtom soon went back to dealing its more usual forms of music. The deal with Buddah lasted until the end of 1974. 'BB' of the 7th of December of that year revealed that Mayfield and his business partner Marv Stuart were taking Curtom to Warner Bros, where it would become one of that company's custom labels.
Curtom stayed with Warner Bros. until the start of 1979, at which point 'BB' of the 13th of January broke the news that another move was taking place, this time to RSO in a worldwide deal. RSO was said to be eager to establish itself more firmly in the Disco / Soul area, while it was reckoned that Curtom would stand to gain more 'crossover' exposure. Described as being partway between a label deal and a production arrangement, the agreement included an option for RSO to purchase Curtom and its associated publishing arms. In November 1980, however, RSO fired its Black Music promotions staff. This led to a falling-out with Curtom, and that company promptly re-employed half of those staff ('BB', 22nd November). After a brief link-up with Capitol, Curtom seems to have been shelved, but it reappeared in the late 1980s.
In Britain, Curtom product was initially made available on the Buddah label. 'Record Retailer' of the 4th of September 1968 claimed that, following Buddah's move from Pye to Polydor, Curtom was to be given its own logo, but that didn't happen, and Curtom records continued to come out on the Buddah label. Buddah returned to Pye in the spring of 1974 but, as had happened in America, Curtom split late that year, moving to WEA ('Music Week', 14th December 1974). Buddah retained the rights to the existing catalogue for a year, along with two forthcoming Curtis Mayfield LPs. 'MW' of the 22nd of March 1975 added that WEA had gained the rights to Curtom worldwide, with the exception of those two Mayfield albums.
The first couple of Curtom singles under the new deal came out on Warner Bros. in the UK, but Curtom was given its own label identity (1) in the summer of 1975; its singles continued to share a numerical series with those of Warner Bros. It registered in the Singles Chart twice under its own name, with the Impressions' 'First Impressions' b/w 'Old Before My Time' (K16638; 10/75), which reached the No.16 spot, and 'If My Friends Could See Me Now' b/w 'Runaway Love' by Linda Clifford (K-17163; 5/78), which stalled at No.50. In line with the worldwide deal signed by its American parent, when the agreement with WEA expired, on the 31st of December 1978, Curtom signed with RSO. As was the case in the States, the new deal didn't involve a discrete label identity, and into the early '80s Curtom's records came out on the RSO label with a small Curtom logo added (2). The only one of them to feature in the Charts was Linda Clifford's version of 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' b/w 'Hold Me Close' (RSO-30; 3/79), which just about got into the Top 30. The last of them appeared in November 1980. In line with developments in America, Curtom made a comeback as an actual label in 1988, via PRT in this country.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.