Solar Records

SOLAR (acronym for Sound of Los Angeles) Records was an American record label founded in 1977 by Dick Griffey. SOLAR began in 1975 as Soul Train Records, founded by Dick Griffey and Soul Train creator Don Cornelius. The first act they signed was an R&B vocal quartet they named The Soul Train Gang (Gerald Brown, Terry Brown, Judy Jones, Patricia Williamson, and later Denise Smith). Griffey formed a collective called Shalamar, using a host of session singers to record “Uptown Festival,” a disco-length medley of early Motown hits.