Nonesuch at 50: A Record Label Without Borders
The Nonesuch Explorer series introduced world music to American audiences long before it was called world music. Holzman says Nonesuch — with its distinctive logo, album covers and its own bins in record stores — reversed industry trends in the 1960s.
“Large record labels like RCA and Columbia financed their serious music-making out of their pop successes,” Holzman says. “Nonesuch was so successful at the end of its first year that suddenly I had an extra half million dollars in cash with which to finance the Butterfield Blues Band, The Doors, Queen, etc. And so Nonesuch provided the financial kindling for the explosion that Elektra became.”
In the years that followed, Hurwitz’s Nonesuch has enjoyed huge success with the Gipsy Kings and the Buena Vista Social Club. He also signed the Kronos Quartet and composers Steve Reich and John Adams, and broadened the label’s scope to include Emmylou Harris and songwriter Randy Newman.