How We Began...
(Our offices in the 1990's pictured below)
“I never wanted to be right — I just wanted the record to exist and be heard.”
Obsoletone Records began in 1964 at the dawn of Beatlemania, as a bad idea with good intentions. Founded by Mortimer “Moishe” Blumenthal, the label chased bullseyes with more confidence than accuracy, releasing records fueled by impatience, trend panic, and the belief that the next single would fix everything. Most didn’t. The misses piled up, the hits never arrived, and the catalog disappeared into basements, storage units, and mislabeled boxes.
In the late 1990s, the label resurfaced under Mortimer’s grandson, Eli Blumenthal, who abandoned the dream of success in favor of preservation. What he inherited wasn’t a business so much as an archive of near-myths: forgotten 7-inches, unfinished sessions, imaginary cassette compilations, and genre experiments from parallel timelines. Obsoletone became an intentionally anachronistic reissue label, devoted to remastering formats that defy playback — while also releasing new music from artists he would discover that had no other choice but Obsoletone to put out their songs.
The story comes full circle with Samuel Blumenthal, Mortimer’s great-grandson. While cataloging what remained, Samuel uncovered the lost singles Mortimer had actually released — and many that never made it past the pressing plant. With his father Eli's blessing, he is bringing Obsoletone Records into the age of streaming, opening decades of beautifully ill-timed music to the world to enjoy through streaming.
