The history of the label covers three distinct 20th Century Fox-related operations in the analog era, ranging chronologically from about 1938 to 1981.

[1] Before the merger, Fox Film Corporation tried out a couple of short-lived record labels in conjunction with its Movietone sound system.

Although Movietone was a dedicated sound-on-film system, in 1929-30 Fox produced some soundtracks on disc to accompany features shown in theaters not yet equipped for optical sound.

Matrix numbers are variable, but the earliest known records in this series correspond to the picture Sally, Irene and Mary (1938) and the latest ones to The Gang's All Here (1943).

[7] During Onorati's tenure, 20th Fox was at its most ambitious and the album program was oriented towards an adult audience, whereas the singles attempted, without much success, to crack the sales charts.

Other releases, such as those featuring Glenn Miller, George Gershwin, and Shirley Temple, were sourced from vault film elements.

[10] Upon assuming the top job at 20th Fox, Basil Bova's first order of business was to quell rumors that the label planned to merge with Cameo-Parkway Records.

[15] Appearing before the film's release by about two months in June 1963,[16] the soundtrack debuted at #2 on the Billboard album chart and sold steadily.

The 20th Century Fox studio closed its newsreel division in 1963,[18] cutting off the label's access to documentary audio for use in a series of current events albums, and tentative steps towards branching out into folk music and psychedelic rock were stopped altogether.

[19] 20th Century Fox Records enjoyed one more hit album with the soundtrack to Valley of the Dolls, though it did not contain Dionne Warwick's version of the film's theme.

The label also had major hits with Barry White's The Love Unlimited Orchestra, Love Unlimited, Carl Douglas (best known for the song "Kung Fu Fighting"), Edwin Starr, Stephanie Mills, Leon Haywood, Carl Carlton and the Star Wars soundtrack in 1977.

By 1970, with the parent 20th Century Fox in financial trouble (which eventually led to discontent that resulted in the ousting of Darryl Zanuck), the new output of the record company dropped to zero.

Russ Regan, a veteran "record man", became the new head of the label, a move that increased their credibility in the business considerably.

Barry White then set up his own label, Unlimited Gold Records, through CBS, which had performed the pressing duties for 20th since 1972, after he chose not to renew his contract with Fox in 1978.

All of its catalog and contracts for then-current artists including Stephanie Mills, Dusty Springfield and Carl Carlton were transferred to Casablanca Records, which PolyGram had purchased in 1977.