Cuca Records began operations in 1959 as a recording studio and record label in Sauk City,
Wis. owned and operated by James Kirchstein. With equipment purchased from the defunct Pfau
label in Milwaukee, Cuca Records offered artists a full package of services: recording, disc
pressing and LP jacket design, printing and shrink-wrapping. Kirchstein recorded any artist
interested in making a record, mostly Wisconsin-based musical acts. He recorded principally
old-time artists, but also blues, rock, folk and gospel. The company issued recordings under
various labels such as Cuca, Sara, Polka Dot, Night Owl and Top Gun Country. Cuca had
success early with the Fendermen's recording of "Muleskinner blues" in 1960, which enabled
Kirchstein to build a new recording studio which he designed himself.
In 1973, with a decline of public interest in old-time music, and increasing costs of
record production, Kirchstein moved away from producing new recordings, focusing instead on
reissuing and marketing his existing catalog in other formats (cassettes and compact discs).
He reorganized the company, renaming it American Music Corporation, mainly issuing a small
number of new recordings on the American and AMC labels, as well as reissuing the Cuca
catalog as well as old time recordings originally issued by Pfau Sound and Recording
Studios, and by Wright Records. Under the new company name, Kirchstein managed licensing
deals of Cuca recordings to other record labels and established an online presence to sell
his recordings.
In 2019, Kirchstein sold the company, including the original master tapes, to Numero
Group.
