Wisconsin Recording Studio Locations [City] and Record Labels

1.     Part of our new Depot Museum music exhibit consists of records, 45s and LPs [a few 78s] from nearby recording studios by local musicians/bands. However, we also include others from many different Wisconsin locations; here are most of those areas [Note: Most are not represented in our collection].

1. Wisconsin Recording Studio/Pressing Locations

“Sauk City”, “Eau Claire”, “Appleton”, “Racine”, “Saukville”, “Milwaukee”, “Hales Corners”, “Durand”, “Green Bay”, “Sussex”, “Madison”, “Waukesha”, “New Glarus”, “West Allis”, “Burnett”, “Lake Geneva”, “La Crosse”, “Racine”, “Waupaun”, “Whitewater”, “Eagle”, “Juneau”, “Burlington”, “Philips”, “Stevens Point”, “Wisconsin Rapids”, “Franksville”, “Plymouth”, “West Bend”, “Washington Island”, “Hubertus”, “Hartford”, “Janesville”, “Menomonee Falls”, “Wausau”, “Bowler”, “Kenosha”, “Hartland”, “Palmyra”, “Boscobel”, “Sheboygan”, “Fredonia”, “Oshkosh”, “Watertown”, “Hager City”, “Superior”,  “Willard”, “Theinsville”, “Fort Atkinson”, “Brownsville”, “Coon Valley”, “New Richmond”, “Dodgeville”, “Lannon”, “Monroe”, “Potter”, “Port Washington”, “Baraboo”, “Mequon”, “Fond du Lac”, “Neenah”, ‘Sturtevant”, “Germantown”, “Mosinee”, “De Soto”, “Rhinelander”

Wisconsin Record Labels

ABA Records [Green Bay], ABE Records [Sturtevant], Age of Aquarius [Div. of Cuca Record Corporation – Sauk City], Airkraftian [Eau Claire], Aisle 2 Records [Neenah], Akashic Records [Milwaukee], Alte Kameraden Records [Germantown], Altenburgh Jazz [Mosinee], American [Cuca], American Investment Co. [De Soto], Anawim {Fond du Lac], Andoll Records [Baraboo], Angel Dog Records [Brookfield], Angel Magic Music [Madison], Appleton Records [Appleton], Ardelle Records [River Falls], Ark Records [Wausau]. Armada Records [Milwaukee], Atomic Records [Milwaukee], Audio Phonic Records [Natural Sound Recording Studio – Racine], Audio Unlimited [Rhinelander], Audiocraft Recording [Neenah], Audiophile [Saukville/Mequon],

Back Porch Records [Milwaukee – CDs only?], Badger Records [Racine], Balloon [Milwaukee], Bananas [Hales Corners], Beer Creek [Durand], Beer City [Milwaukee], Big Beat Records [Milwaukee], Big Daddy Records, Big Sound/Northland [Wausau], Birdie ?, Blackhole, Blarney, Blue Baby, Blue Eagle, Blue Hour [Milwaukee], Blue Ribbon Records [Milwaukee and Thiensville],Blue Ridge, Boat, Bojo, Boom! [Coulee Recording Corp, La Crosse], Breezeway, Bright, Bulge, Buzdum,

Cadet, Castalia, Castle, Champ [Milwaukee], Chord, Cine Vista [Monroe-Appleton/Fox Cities], Citation/Cite [Wausau], Claremont [Castle Productions, Lake Geneva], Cinch [Milwaukee], Continental, Cornbelt, Coulee/Transaction, Count [Milwaukee], Couth Youth, Crusada, Cuca,

D&C [LaCrosse], Demo [Milwaukee], Disc Jockey, Domino, Double Eagle [Saukville], Draeger, Dutch [Div of Cuca – Shane Todd, 1061], Dyno ?,

Earth/Plastic Earth [Madison], Edelweiss [Cuca], Elginola, End of the Trail, Energy ?, Enterprise 13 [Racine/Milwaukee], Epicenter, Erro [Milwaukee], Excel,

Fan Jr. [Madison], Feature/Rampro [Janesville], Friends Club, Fire ?, Flame, Fossil, Fox River, Frozen Sky Records [West Allis],

Gibbs Record, Gold Record, Gold Star [Appleton],

Hal Leonard, Happy Time, Helvetia, *HG Studio [Franksville], Hodag [Rhinelander], Hollywood Records [Roosevelt Music], Homegrown, Homestead,

Icebergg, IMR, International Artists/Rif [Richland Center], Intrepid ?, I.R.S. ?, Island Exchange,

JBM Sound Productions [Note: Most out of New Prague, MN], Jo-Cur, Jolly Dutchman, Just Think,

Kandy, KEL [Oskosh], Ken-Tone, Key, Kick-Off, KL Recording {Hubertus}, K.O. Recording Studios, INC. [Kaukauna], Kovac Record, KRB, KWB,

Lawrence U., LB, Leaf [Janesville], Le Ron, Lilyfern, Lindy [La Crosse], Little Fort/Little Fort Company [Al Schultz], Lombardi, Lompri [Racine], Long, Love Day ?,

Magic Touch/Dynamic Sound [Milwaukee], Mag-Na-Craft Studios [Milwaukee], Makin’ Jam, Mammoth, Maple Tiwg, MCM, Mean Mountain Music, Mercury Wing ?, Merle [Racine], Mermaid, Midgard [Madison], Michaels, Michigan Archives, Micro [Sauk City], Milwaukee Sound Service [2418-B N. 18th St, Tel: Hopkins 0627-J, “The Voice of Milwaukee” Scat Johnson, 78rpm], MMC [Madison – Honey & the Dew Drops only], Mono, Moo-Town, Mountain Railroad,

Nas Dovia Records ?, New [N.E.W. or NEW], New Phoenix [Hartland], North Star Appli., North Star, Northland,
Odessa, Owl [Wausau],

Page/Raynard [Milwaukee], Pageant, Pal, Paramount [Port Washington and/or Mequon, also sub-labels Broadway, Famous, Puritan], Parkway [formerly Ivanhoe, Al Schultz, possibly Waukegan, ILL.], Pentagon, Pfau [Milwaukee], PKC, Plowboy, Polka Dot [Cuca], Polka Dot [Manitowoc, Wis. – Sax Steiner and His Fabulous Orchestra], PoLKadot [Northland Sales, De Pere, Wisconsin, Lawrence Duchow and His Red Raven Orchestra], Polkaland, Polka-time, Polkatime, Polonia, Pop, Pro-Gress/Water Street [Milwaukee],

Racon, Rainbow, Raven Records, Raynard/page [Milwaukee], RCB, Reflection, Redbird Recording [Wausau],Reflector, Rerun, Revolution [Milwaukee], Ribbit, Rollo, Rusty Rose, RY [Richie Yurkovich],

Sara [Cuca], Schusters, Sentry Custom Recording, Shade Tree Recording Studios [Milwaukee], Sonic/Hodag [Rhinelander], Sound [Radio Doctors – Milwaukee], Spectacular Records [Booze Bros.], Spin, Spruce Tree, Squeezeboz, Star, Star Light, Starlight [Racine], Star Line, Studio Sound, Sunblind, Swastika Records [Cuca], Swing Rock ?,

Tangent, Target, Teen Town, Tee Pee, Tell, TJB, Tomorrow River Music, Tool Room, Top Gun/Top Gun “Country” Records [Div. of Cuca], Trade Wind, Transaction, Traveler, Trend [Madison], Trick Knee,
USA, UW-Madison,

Valley, Vera VM,

Warmouth [Recorded by Mag-Na-Craft], Washington Records [3076 N. 13th, Milwaukee, Wisc. 53206; group “First Family”], Weary Wolf, Willow, Win-Mil, Window [Sheboygan], Windspirit, Wis. Power & Light Co.,  Wisconsin Polka Tunes, Wisconsin Folklife Center, Wisconsin Public Radio, Wright,
Yesterday’s Memories

Now…what you have to remember about some of the Wisconsin record label names, is that some are used elsewhere, either with different graphics and/or with naming variations. So if you’re thinking about collecting some “vinyl” be such to check the labels and album back covers. A number of Wisconsin musicians/bands also recorded with studios outside of Wisconsin, so be sure you know what you want to collect!

Also note-worthy is that many record labels have variations in themselves. “Blue Eagle” from Sussex has several, as does “New Phoenix” from Hartland. One of the most prolific Wisconsin labels is “Cuca” out of Sauk City. Besides variations on their main label, they produced many sub-labels, like “Sara”.