SEECO

Sidney Siegel Parlayed was a jeweler who started his business in an old house destroyed during the First World War. This was a wedding gift from his father-in-law; but due to the poor condition of the building, the upper floors were left unused, leaving only the first level, which was more than ideal to start a business. Thus, in 1941 he opened the Siegel House, where they sold jewelry, radios, records and furniture. Howard Roseff, his cousin, who worked with him in the store since his childhood, was the one who became his right hand in the record company years later.

The majority of the record clients were Puerto Ricans, since the house provided the most devine Argentinean and Mexican music, as well as the actual hits in terms of rumbas, boleros, tangos, etc.

During the first decade of the the 1940s, the boom of record companies was a key piece for radio stations that stored their material and generated a perennial struggle for publishing rights. Sidney Siegel was aware that the method of musical companies would have a negative end if they would continue with the same mechanism, so poorly advised in terms of local music. But there was an important detail, since in his business he had great demand in those musical genres he was selling. And despite the vision of Siegel, it was an imminent fact, that several artists were left without work and, observing the great potential that the popular singers had, decided to give a turn to the business line. Seeing the demand of RCA Victor, Columbia Records and Decca Records, he knew that he did not count on his support and decided to move his company in Canada. Seeco Records began its operations in 1944.

Due to the high demand, he creates sublabels, such as Tropical Records and Bronjo Records. During the decades of the 1940 and 1950, due to fame, and the catalog of artists that he owned, he opened recording houses in different parts of the world as well as partnerships with existing record companies. In 1953 he released his first album of 12 ', while those of 10' both in 33 and 78 r.p.m. continued the business until the mid-1960s.

Seeco Discography