Rhino began as a record store in LA. It then began releasing records, mostly novelty stuff: Fred Blassie (Pencil Neck Geek), Wild Man Fischer, Gefilte Joe & the Fish, etc. After a couple years of novelty discs and a few rock reissues, they licensed the Monkees titles. In the ealy 80's, the Monkees were being rerun on TV. The albums rode on the coattails of the TV reruns and sold like wildfire. Rhino eventually acquired the Monkees catalog from Columbia Pictures. Rhino began licensing more rock reissues and grew exponentially. It was being pressed by Capitol back then. A few years later, Rhino was sold to WEA, who began pressing their discs.
After acquisition, Rhino evolved into the reissue arm of WEA, especially for boutique products, such as SACD. Earlier this decade, Rhino began their Handmade line for limited edition reissues marketed by internet and mail order only.
Linda
"Go to Rhino Records on Westwood Boulevard." Wild Man Fischer