There was a recording label called Washington Hit Makers. Junior
Walker was one of their artists. What happened to the label and what
may have happened to the recordings - many of which were never
released.?

Hello Fil800

I have managed to track down a little information for you on the
"Washington Hit Makers" (WHM).

In 1988 Rick Webb joined with Al Johnson and Hal Walls Jr to form a
music production company.  Soon after this WHM was formed as a small
independent record company, following in the veins of most
independents they primarily released music that they enjoyed and
loved.  In fact Rick Webb was also an artist on this label as well as
Vice-President!

Other acts on the label included C.J's Uptown Crew, Eramis, Defiant
Giants and Main Event and of course Junior Walker (who released "I'll
Go Where Your Music Takes Me" with WHM).

The latest contact information I have been able to track down is this
(although a search through the Yellow Pages suggests this information
may be out of date now):

WASHINGTON HIT MAKERS
3707 Georgia Ave., N.W Washington D.C 20010
Tel: (202) 291-0070 

The information I have managed to uncover shows that they released
material in 1988 until at least 1993.  I have been unable to locate
anything after this date so I fear the worst after that date and the
label may have closed.

As with most record companies when they fold or stop producing albums
the music stays copyrighted to the company and therefore the property
of WHM.  Like all record labels they usually pay for the recordings to
be made and have ownership of them once the record is recorded
(although this does depend on the artist involved and the contract
they signed).

If you are looking for old recordings released by WHM your best bet is
to look through second-hand music stores - there are several excellent
directories on the internet that may be able to help you.  Their
catalogues are always changing so what you find one day may differ
from the next.  The ones I use regularly are:

http://www.netsounds.com
http://www.gemm.com
http://www.ebay.com

URLs of interest:
http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:q8tKkNTID50J:www.peoplesmusic.com/english_rick_webb_info.shtml+%22Washington+Hit+Makers%22&hl=en

http://www.black-music-collectors.com/labels/washington_hit_makers.htm

http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/jwalker.htm

http://www.nightowlclub.com/tributes/jrwalker/about.htm

I hope you have found this answer helpful.  If you have any further
questions or queries regarding this please ask for clarification and I
will do my best to help.

Thanks for your help

You left out the main group on the lable that had a hit..........."MYSTIQUE".

MYSTIQUE recorded "Salute to the Delphonics" and signed in 1989 with
WHM to release it. The song was a big regional hit. A year later the
"MYSTIQUE LOVE,MYSTIQUE" cd was released.  Two local hits came from
that cd....."I LOVE YOU SO" and "ANYTHING FOR YOU".  MYSTIQUE
continued until 1999 when group members departed and continue in the
music business today, the group was together for 20 years.