The 1980s
In 1983,
Arista Records owner
Bertelsmann sold 50% of Arista to RCA. In 1985, Bertelsmann and RCA Records formed a joint venture called RCA/Ariola International.
[27] The following year, RCA Corporation was acquired by
General Electric [[GE) and it sold its 50% interest in RCA Records to its partner Bertelsmann. The company was renamed
BMG Music for Bertelsmann Music Group.
[28] BMG revived the old RCA "lightning bolt" logo that was retired in 1968 to differentiate RCA Records from the other RCA divisions, which GE either liquidated, sold, or closed. BMG also revived the "RCA Victor" label for Red Seal, Broadway and soundtrack releases and other musical genres outside of rock, pop and country music. In 1986, Bob Buziak, formerly an artist manager, was appointed president of the label.
During the mid-1980s, RCA Records operated at a deficit, due in part to "overpriced deals" with pop stars including
Kenny Rogers and
Diana Ross. In 1986, the label bought back $25 million in unsold albums and lost $35 million during the fiscal year 1987. As a partial corrective, a decentralized style of management which allowed RCA Records to function as a free-standing entrepreneurial business was implemented for 1988. Buziak drastically cut the RCA roster from around 40 acts to 11, and began to rebuild it with a focus on developing artists, including artists acquired through marketing and distribution agreements with
Beggars Banquet Records, a British punk rock label, and
Jive Records, whose roster included
Schooly D,
Kool Moe Dee, and
DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince.
By the end of the fiscal year 1988, RCA Records had gross revenue of $236 million in the United States, its most profitable year to date.
Bruce Hornsby's
The Way It Is sold more than three million albums, and the
soundtrack for the film
Dirty Dancing, which cost RCA $200,000 to produce, sold 15.6 million copies in less than two years. Its follow-up,
More Dirty Dancing, composed of song tracks which had been left out of the first album, was produced for $80,000 and went on to sell more than 5.6 million. Among the most successful acts for RCA Records during the 1980s were the
Eurythmics,
Love and Rockets,
Joshua Perahia,
Rick Astley,
Dolly Parton,
Juice Newton, and
Bucks Fizz.
[29][30]
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