Enoch Light

Violinist who led a successful dance band, "Enoch Light and the Light Brigade". A prolific band, they broadcast nationally from the Grill Room of the Taft Hotel in New York from the late 1920s to the late 1940s.

In the 1930s Light also studied conducting with the French conductor Maurice Frigara in Paris.

Enoch Light released myriad albums in various genres of music under a variety of names during the late 1950s and early 1960s. Some were released under Grand Award Records, a subsidiary label he founded in 1955. The music was intended for older audiences, presumably because he saw them as more-serious audiophiles who had more money to spend on high end stereo equipment, as opposed to most popular music of the time, which was generally intended for teenagers and young adults. During this time, he pioneered many recording techniques such as the use of 35 mm magnetic film instead of magnetic tape, reducing "wow and flutter", being driven by sprockets rather than a rubber pinch wheel. The recordings were released under the "35MM" series, starting from "Stereo 35-MM" released by Command Records.

B.A. degree from Johns Hopkins Taught at NYU President of Waldorf Records, 1954-1959 Pioneer of four-channel recording.

Founded Grand Award Records in 1955 in Harrison, NJ.

Founded Command Records (originally named Command Performance Records) in 1959 in Harrison, NJ.

In 1965, Light sold the Command record label, which had released the Persuasive Percussion series, to ABC Records, which itself was subsequently sold to MCA Records. After the sale, the quality of those records plummeted dramatically. The signature gatefold format (along with Light's prose) was immediately discontinued, and the covers changed to budget labels pressed on recycled vinyl.[citation needed] In 1975, they were completely discontinued.

Light retired from music entirely in 1974 and died four years later.

He holds the record for having the most charting LPs without having a Top 40 single, as reported by Casey Kasem on the American Top 40 broadcast of 14 October 1978.

On 25 June 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Enoch Light among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.