Although small in operation (approximately 10 employees), Prelude Records was huge in terms of its influence on Dance music. Formed by former Scepter and Chess Records executive Marvin Schlachter, Prelude created a stir with one of their first releases, 1978's In the Bush. From there, with the help of in-house songwriter/producers Patrick Adams and Francois Kevorkian, the label remained at the cutting edge of Dance music creativity for nearly a decade. Prelude Records closed down in 1986 and Schlacter sold the label's catalogue to Canada's Unidisc Records, but Prelude continues to be well remembered among Dance music fans and historians.
Marvin Schlachter worked at Scepter Records for nearly a decade until leaving to head a new label, Janus Records, formed as a subsidiary of Chess Records. After a few years, Janus was folded into Chess with Schlachter as overall head of Chess Records. He left Chess in the mid-1970's and decided to set up an independent label to capitalize on the emerging success of Disco. Marvin Schlachter was encouraged by the possibilities for an independent label in an environment where major record labels were not investing significant resources. Two of the first individuals hired on to work for Prelude were songwriter/producer Patrick Adams and disc jockey/remixer Francois Kevorkian. As recounted by Francois Kevorkian, he was originally hired as an A&R man, but soon found himself in the production booth working on Musique's Keep On Jumpin' album.
Keep On Jumpin', released in 1978, featured the intense percussive Disco of In the Bush. Produced by Patrick Adams, the song and album become one of the biggest New York Disco hits of the year. The recordings featured the vocals of Jocelyn Brown, Christine Wiltshire and Gina Tharps, but, according to Marvin Schlachter, the production and mixing talents of Patrick Adams and Francois Kevorkian were the real stars. Throughout its existence, Prelude continued to be a label devoted to nurturing the talent of Dance music producers and mixers. Prelude was also focused on Dance clubs for its customer base. Releases of 12-inch singles during Prelude's existence outnumbered its releases in any other format, including albums.
Teenage Canadian phenomenon France Joli was one of the next Prelude success stories. At the tender age of 16 she recorded Come To Me and scaled the upper reaches of Pop and Disco charts. In 1979 another of Prelude's classic recordings, Inner Life's I'm Caught Up (In a One Night Love Affair), featured the vocals of Jocelyn Brown and production talents of Patrick Adams. Prelude had paid $17,500 for the right to license the recording for release. For the time, it was an unheard of sum for a Dance single. Prelude survived the downfall of Disco by keeping its corporate ears and eyes on the underground clubs in New York and delivering music that led the way in the development of Dance music of the early 1980's.
James Williams and Hubert Eaves III, the duo known simply as D Train, created their debut recordings at Prelude in 1981. Eaves handled the production duties, but Francois Kevorkian remixed the tracks to make them ready for the dancefloor. You're the One For Me, the duo's first single, topped the Dance chart and pointed the way for the development of Garage. Prelude continued to release Dance hits into the mid-1980's including recordings by Gayle Adams, the Nick Straker Band, and Sharon Redd but the sound of Dance music was changing again and Prelude did not keep pace with new independent Dance music labels such as Streetwise and Sleeping Bag. In 1986, with the House revolution beginning, Marvin Schlachter elected to close the doors of Prelude.