Tyscot Records Celebrates 30 Years in Ministry and Business

Photo above: Bryant Scott, President and CEO of Tyscot Records, Donavan Hartwell, Radio One air personality, Christine Scott, musician and wife of Dr. Leonard Scott, President and Board Chairman Tyscot, Inc., Al "The Bishop" Hobbs, Events Coordinator for Indiana Black Expo and Chairman of the Gospel Music Workshop of America Announcers Guild, and Rev. Henzy Green, Indianapolis Pastor. Indianapolis, IN (PRWEB) July 18, 2006 -- Tyscot Records, the Indianapolis based company that is recognized by many industry experts as the oldest surviving independent gospel label in the nation, is celebrating 30 years of producing, manufacturing and producing good gospel music.

Tyscot was established in 1976 by Leonard Scott, a practicing dentist, and L. Craig Tyson, as a recording vehicle for the Christ Church Apostolic Choir, the label’s first artist. Although Scott and Tyson had to work hard to get radio airplay for their artists at first, they gained momentum in the 1980’s with artists such as the Pentecostal Ambassadors and Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts.

Tyson later relocated to another State and relinquished his share of the label to Dr. Scott, who continued to operate it simultaneously with his dentistry practice. In 1988 Dr. Scott’s son Bryant took over the day to day operations, becoming general manager.

During the late 80’s and early 90’s, Tyscot experienced tremendous growth and success mostly due to the recordings of a new artist at that time named Rev. John P. Kee. Rev. Kee and his New Life Community Choir had climbed the charts with each successive recording to land in the number one position in 1992 with the recording, We Walk By Faith.

The company faced a severe crisis in 1993 when Dr. Scott was told that Tyscot’s distributor had filed for bankruptcy and would not be able to give the label money that had been generated from the sale of its albums. This meant, in turn, that Tyscot would not be able to pay its artists.

“But each of our artists stayed with us and renewed their contracts even though there was no guarantee they would be compensated,” said Scott. As the 1990’s progressed, Tyscot experienced tremendous success with John P. Kee, whose 1999 release, “Not Guilty,” sold more than 500,000 copies and gave Tyscot a Gold Record.