Ollie McLaughlin

Ollie Anderson McLaughlin (March 24, 1925 – February 19, 1984) was an American record producer and record label owner. He discovered Del Shannon, and also organized or produced recordings by Dave Brubeck, Chet Baker, Dorothy Ashby, Barbara Lewis, and the Capitols, among many others.

Biography He was born in Carthage, Mississippi, United States,

In 1960, he heard a country band led by Charles Westover, known at the time as Charlie Johnson, and recorded the band's demos, which he sent to Harry Balk and Irving Micahnik of Talent Artists in Detroit, Michigan. As a result, Westover was signed by Bigtop Records, and agreed to change his name to Del Shannon. McLaughlin had Shannon re-record one of his songs in New York City, using band member Max Crook's Musitron as lead instrument, and the resulting single, "Runaway", reached No. 1 in the Billboard chart in April 1961.

In the early 1960s, McLaughlin set up Karen Records, the first of three record labels named after his daughters, the others being Carla and Moira. Among the hit records he produced in the early and mid-1960s were "Hello Stranger", "Baby I'm Yours", and "Make Me Your Baby" by Barbara Lewis; "Love Makes The World Go Round" by Deon Jackson; and "Cool Jerk" by the Capitols.

McLaughlin lived in Detroit from about 1970. He died at Sinai Hospital in 1984, aged 58.