It was founded by Joe and Wanda Chesky who marketed it as "the king of polkas" releasing a substantial catalog of polka bands primarily from the New England area, as well as the Great Lakes states.

[2] Their artists included Bob Uguccioni, Wesoly Bolek, Fred Gregorich & the Del Fi's, Big Ted Nowak, Big Steve & the Bellaires, Walt Cieslik, Happy, Louie, Walt Solek, Jimmy Sturr, Al Soyka, and their son, Larry Chesky, who became largely identified with the label.

[3] In its earliest years, the label appeared as a subsidiary of Al Solka's "Glo Records" of Somers, Connecticut, and for two decades was based out of 3 Granville Street, expanding into a larger space at 34 Martin Street in 1972.

[4] Rex Records remained active in some capacity into the late 1980s, releasing a limited set of 100 cassettes recording the music rolls of the Holyoke Merry-Go-Round organ in 1988, during the fundraising effort which saved it—Chesky himself having been a fixture at Mountain Park for decades.

[5] While the label was primarily dedicated to polka, especially big band polka, the label would also expand to include pressings Irish traditional music in the 1970s, producing more than a dozen such albums under the heading "Rex Heritage Disc", including several from the Emerald Isle as well as local Holyoke Irish artists.