Ric-Tic Records

Ric-Tic Records was a record label set up in the 1960s in Detroit, Michigan, United States by Joanne Bratton and Eddie Wingate. Twinned with the Golden World label, Ric-Tic featured many soul music artists and was seen as an early competitor for fellow Detroit label Motown.^[1] Motown's owner, Berry Gordy was unhappy with the success of Ric-Tic and in 1968 paid $1 million for the signature of many of the label's artists.^[2]

In 2003, it was established that Ric-Tic was named for the deceased son of co-founder Bratton and her then husband, boxer Johnny Bratton. The boy, named Derek and known to his family as Ricky, Ric, or Ric-Tic, died at the age of 11 in 1962.^[3]

Many early recordings on the Ric-Tic label by artists such as Freddie Gorman, Edwin Starr, and J. J. Barnes were re-released in the 1970s by Motown to coincide with the popularity of the Northern soul music scene in the UK.^[1] The group The Fantastic Four were also signed to the Ric-Tic, and became the label's best-selling act, outselling Edwin Starr in the United States. Much like Starr, they continued to record under Motown when Ric-Tic was absorbed by the record company. The Detroit Emeralds (having just moved to Detroit and added the word "Detroit" to their group name) recorded briefly for Ric-Tic, achieving their first R&B Chart (#22) success with "Show Time", released in 1967. They then joined Westbound Records in 1970.