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SWAN

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For all Unofficial/ Bootleg releases of this label please use [l629151] Philadelphia based label, founded in 1957 by [a=Bernard Binnick] and [a=Tony Mamarella] and active for about ten years. The label sprang into prominence in 1964 when it delivered The Beatles' second American number one hit, 'She Loves You'. After EMI's American company Capitol turned down The Beatles' first singles, their manager, Brian Epstein licensed them to several small American labels. He leased 'She Loves You' to Swan in 1963, but it only became a hit after Capitol finally broke The Beatles with 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand' and Swan was able to successfully re-activate it in January 1964. In the '50s, America's longest-serving DJ and TV host [a=Dick Clark (2)] was an investor in Swan and other small record companies, but after a congressional investigation following allegations of payola involving record companies and radio stations he gave up his label interests.