MTM Records

MTM Records was an American independent record label specializing in country music. It was founded in 1984 as a subsidiary of the production company of the same name owned by actress Mary Tyler Moore.[1]

After MTM Enterprises was sold to Britain's Television South PLC in July 1988, the label was purchased by and absorbed into RCA Nashville. Howard Stark was the label's President, and Tommy West, originally of the musical duo Cashman and West, was Senior Vice President (both Stark and West worked together at ABC Records in the 1970s); staff songwriters included Radney Foster and Bill Lloyd of Foster & Lloyd, as well as Larry Boone and Hugh Prestwood.[1]

In its four years of existence, fifty-two singles on the MTM label charted on the Billboard country singles chart.[2] The label also signed three rock music acts: The Metros[3] from Minneapolis, Minnesota, who were discovered on Star Search; In Pursuit, a New Wave rock group, and The Voltage Brothers, a family R&B act from Philadelphia. None of those groups' output charted.

When MTM's catalogue was purchased by RCA, Becky Hobbs, Paul Overstreet, and Judy Rodman were transferred to RCA's roster. Holly Dunn then signed with Warner Bros. Nashville, and her MTM masters went with her (Warner Bros. re-released the original MTM hit version of Dunn's hit, "Daddy's Hands," as the B-side of her 1990 hit single "Maybe I Mean Yes"). The Girls Next Door signed with Atlantic Records, but their MTM hits are still owned by RCA.