Weiss, who was born in Romania, lived in the Bronx from the 1920s, and began working as a furrier.
In the mid-1940s, with his brother Sam, he started distributing records produced in California by Leon René, soon expanding into distributing records by other companies including Modern and Apollo.
In 1953, he set up his own label, Old Town, taking its name, and its early stationery, from that of a wholesale paper business in Brooklyn for whom Weiss worked.
[3] Old Town had its first hit with the 1958 single "We Belong Together" by Robert & Johnny, and had further hits by Billy Bland ("Let the Little Girl Dance"), the Solitaires ("Walking Along "), the Fiestas ("So Fine"), the Capris ("There's a Moon Out Tonight"), the Earls ("Remember Then"), and others.
In addition, Old Town released many vocal records that were successful in the New York area, but did not break nationally or internationally.