The Dimension label was formed by Don Kirshner in 1962 in New York City. Kirshner owned a song publishing company with Al Nevins called Nevins-Kirshner. Working for them was the talented husband and wife songwriting team of Carole King and Jerry Goffin, and Kirshner formed Dimension as a recording outlet for Goffin and King songs and productions. The original name for the label was to have been Companion Records, but Kirschner discovered that name was already in use.

Carole King started writing songs for Don Kirshner in 1958 at age 17. Teamed with husband Jerry Goffin they wrote, "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" for the Shirelles, "Take Good Care of My Baby" for Bobby Vee, "Her Royal Majesty" for James Darren and dozens of others.

Dimension records concentrated almost entirely on the "girl group" sound. Reputedly, Goffin and King used their teenage baby-sitter Eva Narcissus Boyd to sing "Loco-motion". "Loco-motion" by Little Eva is one of the all-time great dance records. The song gave Dimension a number one hit on their first release in the summer of 1962. Little Eva followed that up with "Keep Your Hands Off My Baby" in the fall of 1962.

The back up singers on "Loco-motion" were the Cookies: Dorothy Jones, Margaret Ross and Earljean McCree. The Cookies had a big hit on Dimension with "Chains" at the end of 1962. They followed that up with "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)" in early 1963. McCree, as "Earl-Jean," also recorded the original version of "I'm Into Something Good" on Colpix in 1964, well before Herman's Hermits made the song into a hit.

In the summer of 1962, Carole King herself recorded "It Might As Well Rain Until September" and had a hit. The song was actually a demo, and Dimension just took the acetate and recorded it on tape as the master. Years later, when Bob Hyde and Water DeVenne were looking for the master tape, they came across a small box with the "master" tape, surface noise and all. For this reason, the song has always had surface noise when reissued. Carole King went on to much greater fame in the early 1970s when she recorded the multi-platinum album "Tapestry" on Ode Records.

There were two albums issued on Dimension Records. The first was by Little Eva, and the second was a fine compilation of Dimension hits with Carole King, the Cookies and Little Eva. Dimension Records continued to issue 45s into 1965, when Kirschner sold the label to Columbia Pictures. Roulette Records acquired the Dimension masters in the 1970s, and Roulette itself was sold to Rhino in the late 1980s

The Dimension label is violet with black printing. "DIMENSION" in white above the center hole. "A DIVISION OF NEVINS-KIRSHNER ASSOC. INC." at the bottom of the label. The Little Eva album was issued in both mono and stereo, while the Dimension Dolls album was mono only.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Dimension Records, which we believe is currently owned by Rhino. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 1999 by Mike Callahan.