Majestic Records Inc.

The recording division of the Majestic Radio & Television Corporation was launched in early 1945, and produced the Majestic label until declaring bankruptcy in 1948. Majestic Records was headed by former NYC mayor James J. Walker. Eli Oberstein was recruited to serve as executive vice-president, general manager and head of A&R. Oberstein's involvement stemmed from a deal in which he sold his Classic Record Company (makers of Elite (3) and The Hit Record labels), his Transcriptions Inc. studio and his New Jersey Plastics pressing plant to the Majestic Radio & Television Corporation. The first Majestic records were advertised in April 1945 and continued The Hit Record's 7100 catalog-numbering sequence. The early Majestic catalog featured many of Hit's former artists, such as The Three Suns, Louis Prima And His Orchestra and Cootie Williams And His Orchestra. One notable contribution made by Majestic was the use of overdubbing on a regular basis. Although the technique had been used occasionally in the past, it was perfected and popularized by Robert Fine, who was Majestic's chief recording engineer. Trouble at Majestic began upon the recruitment of Ben Selvin in June 1945. Selvin sued Oberstein for unpaid commission fees, and was then given responsibility for selecting the titles to be recorded. A disgruntled Oberstein left the company soon thereafter, and subsequently sued Majestic for breach of contract. When Selvin left the company in 1947, a widespread shake-up among Majestic personnel began. Artists began defecting for other companies, and Majestic filed a Chapter 11 petition in February 1948, and then a Chapter 10 bankruptcy petition in June of the same year. Company assets were sold to Mercury Record Corporation for a winning bid of $142,000.