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Time Life
Direct Holdings Global LLC, through its subsidiaries StarVista Live,
Direct Holdings Global LLC
Lifestyle Products Group and Time Life, is a creator and direct
marketer that is known for selling books, music, video/DVD, and
multimedia products. The current focus of the company is music, video and
entertainment experiences (such as cruises) as the book division closed in
2003. Its products have been sold throughout North America, Europe,
Australia, and Asia through television, print, retail, the Internet,
telemarketing, and direct sales. Current operations are focused in the US
and Canada with limited retail distribution overseas.

Time Life was founded in 1961 as the book division of Time Inc. It took its
name from Time Inc.'s cornerstone magazines, Time and Life, but
Type Private
remained independent of both. Starting in 1967, Time Life combined its
book offerings with music collections (two to five records) and packaged Founded 1961
them as a sturdy box set. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the selection of Headquarters Fairfax, Virginia and
books, music and videos grew and was diversified into more genres. When New York City
record labels were no longer producing vinyl albums in 1990, Time Life Owner Time Inc. (1961–
transitioned to CD. In the mid-1990s, Time Life acquired Heartland Music, 1990)
with the Heartland Music label now appearing as a brand. This company Time-Warner
was subsequently sold off and is no longer associated with Time Life.
(1990–2001)
AOL Time Warner
At the end of 2003 Time Life was acquired by Ripplewood Holdings L.L.C. (2001–2003)
and ZelnickMedia Corporation to become part of Direct Holdings Ripplewood
Holdings L.L.C.
Worldwide L.L.C. Direct Holdings Americas Inc. operates as a leader in the
(2003–2007)
sale of music and video products under the Time Life brand. Since 2003,
ZelnickMedia
Direct Holdings US Corp is the legal name of Time Life, and is no
Corporation (2003–
longer owned by its former parent Time Warner, later Time Inc. in June 9, 2007)
2014. In March 2007 Ripplewood led a group that took The Reader's Reader's Digest
Digest Association private and treated Time Life as a division of RDA. By Association (2007–
2003 onward, a disclaimer on the copyright stated that it is "not affiliated 2013)
with Time Warner Inc. or Time Inc.," who owns the Time and Life Mosaic Media
magazines, which this company name came from. Investment
Partners (2013–
In 2013 Reader's Digest Association sold Time Life to Mosaic Media present)
Investment Partners.[1] Number of 60 (as of 2015)
employees
Website timelife.com (http://t
imelife.com)
Contents
Book series
Music
Pop music enters the picture
Saguaro Road Records
List of series
Video
See also

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References
External links

Book series
The Time Life company was founded by Time, Incorporated, in 1961, as a
book marketing division. Its name is derived from Time and Life
magazines, two of the most popular magazines of the era, both owned by
the company. It also was the holding company of television and radio
combo stations KLZ-TV-AM-FM in Denver, WFBM-TV-AM-FM in
Indianapolis, WOOD-TV-AM in Grand Rapids, Michigan, KERO-TV in
Bakersfield, California, and KOGO-TV-AM-FM in San Diego, many of
which were sold to McGraw-Hill in 1972; however, Time Life kept WOOD-
TV, which became WOTV after the sale of the other stations, and remained
owned by the company until 1984. Time Life was based in the Time Life Time-Life Building in Rockefeller
building in Rockefeller Center. Center in New York City

Time Life gained fame as a seller of book series that would be mailed to
households in monthly installments, operating as book sales clubs. Several
of these book series garnered substantial critical acclaim unusual for a
mass-market mail order house. For example, the series Library of
Photography of the early-1970s featured very high-quality duotone
printing for its black-and-white reproductions in its original edition, and
was of course able to draw on Life's vast archive of journalistic and art
photographs from virtually every major photographer; Foods Of The World
featured contributions by M. F. K. Fisher, James Beard, Julia Child, Craig
Claiborne and many others; and The Good Cook series, edited by Richard Time-Life statue in front of the Time-
Olney, featured contributions from Jeremiah Tower, Jane Grigson, Michel Life building
Lemonnier, and many others. Other series of high regard covered nature
and the sciences, as well as the history of world civilizations. The science
books are interesting as ephemera of their time. The content of these series was more or less encyclopedic, providing
the basics of the subjects in the way it might be done in a lecture aimed at the general public. There was also a series
on contemporary life in various countries of the world. Some other series are much less highly regarded, especially the
later output as the publisher moved away from soberly presented science and history toward sensationalism, pop
history, and DIY-themed books. The books, whatever their quality, are easy to find at low prices on the used-book
market, due to their being published in the millions of copies. (Some of the items in this list may also be single books
not in a series, but followed the same types of themes as the book series.)

Yet, of some series it is known that a particular title in the series enjoyed a much smaller print run than the other
volumes in the series, resulting the after-market value of that particular volume and/or the set as a whole increasing.
Examples include the fourteen volume "40th Anniversary Edition" The Civil War: A Narrative and the 18-volume
Voices of the Civil War series, where the volumes "Petersburg Siege to Bentonville" and "Shenandoah 1864" are the
rarer ones respectively.

Nonspecific U.S. topic series were habitually translated into other languages (French being the most predominant, due
to Time Life's desire to have bordering French-Canada served as well), and disseminated through local branches of
Time-Life Books in the intended target markets. However, not rarely were these translated versions truncated for
various reasons. The Dutch language versions—disseminated through Time-Life Books [International] BV,
Amsterdam, the local branch for mainland Europe at the time located at Ottho Heldringstraat 5, 1066 AZ Amsterdam,
Netherlands—of History of the World (as "Time Life Wereld Geschiedenis"), The Epic of Flight (as "De Geschiedenis

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van de Luchtvaart") and The Enchanted World (as "Het Rijk der Fabelen"), for example, were shy of four, seven, and
nine volumes respectively in translation, whereas the German-language version of The Old West (as "Der Wilde
Westen," and, even though American specific, translated nonetheless due to the continued popularity of the Western
genre in Germany), disseminated through the Amsterdam branch as Time-Life Bücher, was shy of seven volumes.

Of at least one book series is known that it was initiated by a local branch and not by the American mother company;
the 1986–89 book series Australians at War was initiated by Time-Life Books Australia for that country, and
therefore relatively rare on American soil.

American Country
The American Indians (1992–96, 23 volumes)
The American Wilderness (1972–77, 27 volumes)[2]
Ancient Civilizations—historic archeological discoveries
The Art of Sewing[2]
Australians at War (1986–89, 16 volumes)—series chronicling Australia's participation in 20th-century warfare
Canada, by Brian Moore and the editors of Life (1963)
A Child's First Library Of Learning—series of educational books by Time–Life
The Civil War series (1983–87, 28 volumes)—not the same as The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote
Classics of the Old West[2]—while executed in the same vein, not the same as "The Old West," as these are
deluxe facsimile reproductions of memoirs of Old West contemporaries
Classics of World War II (The Secret War) (24 volumes)
Collector's Library of the Civil War (1981–85, 30 volumes)[2]—deluxe facsimile reproductions of participants'
memoirs
Collector's Library of the Unknown (24 volumes)
Curious and Unusual Facts
The Emergence of Man[2]
Enchanted World (21 volumes)—best-selling Time–Life series
Echoes of Glory (1991, 3 volumes)—set dealing with the arms and equipment of the Civil War armies,
complemented with a Civil War atlas
The Encyclopedia of Collectibles[2]
The Epic of Flight[2]
Eyewitness (children's series on nature, science, and civilization)
Family Library ("How Things Work in your Home," "The Time-Life Book of the Family Car," "The Time-Life Family
Legal Guide," and "The Time-Life Book of Family Finance")[2]
Fitness, Health, and Nutrition
Fix It Yourself
Foods of the World[2]
Fresh Ways—cookbook series
The Good Cook[2]
Great Ages of Man—history of each of the major civilizations of human history[2]
The Great Cities[2]
History of the World (1991, 24 volumes)
Home Repair and Improvement[2]—with commercials, starring Bob Vila from 1984 to 1992
How Things Work
Human Behavior[2]
The Kodak Library of Creative Photography
Library of Health[2]
Library of Nations
The LIFE History of the United States[2]
LIFE Library of Photography[2]
LIFE Nature Library, (25 volumes)[2]
LIFE Science Library, (26 volumes)[2]
LIFE World Library[2]

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Lost Civilizations
Mysteries of the Unknown(33 volumes)—best-selling Time–Life series
The New Face of War (9 volumes)—survey of the major fields of modern warfare
The Old West[2]
Planet Earth Series[2]
The Seafarers (1978–81, 22 volumes)[2]
The Third Reich Series (21 volumes)
This Fabulous Century[2]
Time Frame—A survey of history by time periods instead of by civilization
Time–Life Library of America[2]
Time–Life Library of Art[2]
The Time–Life Library of Boating[2]
The Time–Life Library of Gardening[2]
Time Life Library of Curious and Unusual Facts
Time Reading Program[2]
Three Hundred Years of American Painting
Understanding Computers
Voices of the Civil War (1996–98, 18 volumes)—reproducing letters from participants
Voices of Triumph (3 volumes)—African American history
Voyage Through the Universe—series on Astronomy
Wild, Wild World of Animals—based on the TV series
What Life Was Like
The World's Wild Places[2]
Wings of War (26 volumes)—reproductions of wartime aviator's memoirs
World War II series (40 volumes)[3]
100 Years of Hollywood
Time Life no longer publishes books, as its book division was closed in 2003. Time Inc./Time Warner, however,
continues to publish similar material through Time Home Entertainment Inc.

Music
Time Life added music in 1967, selling box sets and collections through Time–Life Records. During the 1960s and
1970s, the collections released by Time–Life Records catered to a conservative adult audience, with genres including
classical, jazz, swing and orchestral music; and the music of operas and Broadway theatre. On occasion, Time Life
offered popular music (generally pre-1955 music, as opposed to pop and rock music airing on contemporary hit radio
stations in the United States at the time) in box sets. Although there were television advertisements, Time Life
advertised most of these sets in magazines, specialty catalogs and direct mail.

In the early 1980s, Time Life began branching out, offering a series of albums focusing on country music. The first
series was 1981's "Country Music," with volumes focusing on a particular artist and featuring eight or nine tracks per
album. Twenty volumes were issued, with many of country's greatest artists of the time (Charley Pride was the first
artist featured) getting their own album. But until the mid-1980s, Time–Life did not feature a rock music-intensive
series for customers, preferring to cater to older adults with conservative music tastes.

Pop music enters the picture

Time Life's first successful foray into rock music came in 1986, with a series called "The Rock 'n' Roll Era." Each
volume in that series—like similar series that followed—focused on a particular year (in this case, 1955 through 1964—
the early, pre-Beatles years of rock music), a stylistic trend or particular artist influential in rock music. Each volume
had 22 tracks, and was said to contain the original hit recording by the original artist (although this wasn't always true
on early pressings of the early albums in the series). The songs themselves represented the most important and

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popular songs from the period or subject featured. An essay published by Both Sides Now Publications noted that
Time-Life's move into rock music came at a time when much of the adult audience Time-Life catered to grew up
during the rock-and-roll era and, as such, the new series was consistent with its goal of catering to an adult audience.[4]

"The Rock 'n' Roll Era" series was a big success, and by the time the final volume was issued in the early 1990s, more
than 50 different volumes (including two Christmas albums) had been released. This paved the way for more country
and pop music-intensive series, including "Country USA," "Classic Rock," "Sounds of the Seventies," "Sounds of the
Eighties," "Your Hit Parade" (a series featuring popular music of the 1940s through early 1960s) and "Super Hits."
Like the earlier series, each volume issued had its own paperback booklet containing liner notes and information
about the songs, with the addition of placement on various Billboard magazine charts.

Like the earlier box sets featuring other musical styles and genres, the country and pop music series were advertised in
magazines, catalogs and direct mail. By this time, some of these collections were advertised on television: either
commercials or 30-minute infomercials. The television advertisements used slogans (e.g., "Relive your high school
days ..."), clips of songs included in each volume (along with a scrolling list of other titles), a commercial spokesman
(usually a performer or legendary disc jockey relevant to a given series, such as Rick Dees for a 1970s-intensive
collection and Ralph Emery for a country music series) and testimonials from customers attesting to the quality and
value of the albums, to pitch a given series. Key selling points of these collections are that each track was digitally
transferred to the desired format using the original master recordings, as opposed to being "re-records"; and that the
most popular and requested songs by customers could be found in a single collection (as opposed to a customer having
to purchase many albums to obtain just a few desired tracks).

Customers were given a choice of which format they wanted their box set: either vinyl albums (through 1990), 8-track
or cassette tape, or compact disc; today's box sets are offered only as compact discs.

While most of Time Life's box sets and releases were critically hailed, there were also some minor faults pointed out by
critics. For instance, several early pressings of the early volumes in "The Rock'n'Roll Era" series contained stereo re-
recordings of the original hits (something that would be corrected on later pressings, either with the correct original
recording or a replacement track). Sometimes, the most popular songs of a given time period were omitted, frequently
due to licensing issues. Examples included The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for the Classic Rock and "Super
Hits"/"AM Gold" series; and Prince, Madonna, Whitney Houston and Michael Jackson on the main Sounds of the
Eighties series.

Through 2010, several different series Time Life had offered were available on a subscription basis, either by calling a
1-800 number or sending a completed postcard-sized card and payment to Time–Life. Purportedly, the customer
would get a specific volume (as advertised on TV or in a magazine) first, before receiving a new volume roughly every
other month (on the format of their choice); customers and had the option of keeping just the volumes they wanted. In
time, each volume was also offered for individual sale.

Several of the series – especially the pop, rock, country and rhythm and blues series – had retail versions for sale,
released after the entire series was issued. Typically, these were sold at discount stores, often grouped in three-CD sets
of 12 tracks each and having the most popular of the series' tracks, and cover artwork and naming loosely based off the
subscription/catalog-exclusive titles. Additionally, the "Classic Country" series had special 15-track single-CD versions
of several of its volumes issued for retail sale (in addition to budget 3-CD sets).

Saguaro Road Records

In 2008 Time Life launched Saguaro Roads Records as an in-house music recording label.

Under this label, albums have been released with Adam Hood, Blind Boys of Alabama, Bo Bice, Brandy and Ray J,
Collin Raye, Dion, Edwin McCain, Hank Williams (estate), Jim Brickman, Joan Osborne, Lonestar, Marc Cohn, Mark
Chesnutt, Patty Loveless, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Tanya Tucker, The Grascals, Angie Stone, Waylon Jennings and Don

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McLean.

Since its launch Saguaro Roads Records has had seven Grammy nominations. Notable releases include Patty
Loveless's Mountain Soul II which one a Grammy for best Bluegrass Album in 2010, Hank Williams: The Complete
Mother's Best Recordings which was nominated for a Grammy in the Best Historical Album category in 2010, Joan
Osborne's Bring it on Home which was nominated for Best Soul album in 2012, The Beatles' "First Recordings: 50th
Anniversary Edition" which was nominated for Best Album Notes in 2012, and The Blind Boys of Alabama's Down in
New Orleans which won a grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album.

List of series
The following list shows many of the collections the company has released, but is by no means exhaustive.

'60s Country
'60s Music Revolution
'60s Gold (discontinued)
'70s Music Explosion (discontinued)
'80s Music Explosion (discontinued)
100 Classics for Relaxation
AM Gold (discontinued; was first issued as "Super Hits")
The Beethoven Collection
Best of Soft Rock
Big Bands
Billboard #1 Hits of the 70's
Blues Legends (discontinued)
Blues Masters (discontinued)
Bobby Jones Presents Ultimate Gospel
Body and Soul
Body Talk (discontinued)
The British Invasion
Classic Bluegrass (discontinued)
Classic Country
Classic Drive (discontinued)
Classic Love Songs of the 60's
Classic Radio Hits (discontinued)
Classic Rock (discontinued, was a collection of mid- to late-1960s music)
Classic Rhythm and Blues
Classic Soft Rock
Classic Soul Ballads
Classic Love Songs of Rock 'n' Roll (2016)
Classic Love Songs of Rock 'n' Roll (discontinued)
Classical Power
Contemporary Country (discontinued)
Country Jukebox
Country Music Explosion
Country Music Hall Of Fame Presents Classic Country
Country Music Of Your Life
Country USA (2011)
Country USA (discontinued)
Country's Got Heart
Dick Clark's Jukebox Gems
Disco Fever (discontinued)
Easy 80's
Easy Listening Classics

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Edge Of The 80s (discontinued)

Fabulous Fifties, The (discontinued)
Faith Hope & Country
Flower Power
Folk Years, The (discontinued)
Giants of Jazz (discontinued)
Glory Days Of Rock 'n' Roll (discontinued)
Great American Songbook
Gold And Platinum The Ultimate Rock Collection (discontinued)
Golden Age of Country
Golden Age of Pop
Great Composers
Great Men of Music
Grooves (discontinued)
Guitar Rock (discontinued)
Hard & Heavy (discontinued)
Heart Of Rock 'n' Roll, The (discontinued)
The Heart Of Classic Rock
History Of Rock 'n' Roll, The (discontinued)
Instrumental Favorites
It All Started with Doo Wop (discontinued)
Jukebox Memories
Lifetime of Country Romance
Lifetime of Romance (discontinued)
Legendary Singers
Legendary Voices
Legends Of Country
Legends: The Ultimate Rock Collection (discontinued)
Living the Blues (discontinued)
Living the Gospel (discontinued)
Magic of Love (discontinued)
Malt Shop Memories
Midnight Soul
Modern Rock (discontinued)
The Motown Collection
The Mozart Collection
Music of Your Life
Opry Video Classics
The Ultimate Oldies but Goodies Collection (discontinued)
Party Rock
Pop Goes The 70s
Pop Memories of the 60's
Pop Revolution (discontinued)
Power of Love
Prom Night
Pure Rhythm and Blues
Quiet Storm
Rhythm & Blues
Rhythm-Grooves (discontinued)
Rock & Romance
Rock 'n' Roll Era (2013)
Rock 'n' Roll: Legendary Years (discontinued)
Romancing the '60s
Romancing the '70s
Romantically Yours
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Classic Soul Ballads

Singers & Songwriters
Smooth Soul
Solid Gold Soul (discontinued)
Songs 4 Ever (discontinued)
Songs 4 Life (discontinued)
Songs 4 Worship
Songs For Lovers (discontinued)
Soul Of The 60s
Soul Of The 70s
Soul Story (discontinued)
Sounds Of The 70s (discontinued)
Sounds Of The Sixties (discontinued)
Sounds of the Seventies (discontinued)
Sounds of the Eighties (discontinued)
Sounds of the Nineties (discontinued)
Spirit Of The 60s (discontinued)
Superhits
Superstars of Country (discontinued)
Superstars of the '80s
Sweet Soul of the '70s
The 60s
The 70s Collection (discontinued)
The 80s Collection (discontinued)
The 90s Collection (discontinued)
The Emotion Collection (discontinued)
The Timeless Music Collection (discontinued)
The Power Of Love (1996) (discontinued)
The Sock Hop Collection
The Teen Years
The Rock Collection (discontinued)
The Rock 'n' Roll Era (discontinued)
To The Moon, a 6-record set: a documentary with accompanying book about the early space program, the space
race, the missions to the moon and the first moon landing, published soon after Apollo 11 completed its mission to
the moon. (discontinued)
Ultimate Seventies (discontinued)
Ultimate Love Songs
Ultimate Rock Ballads
Uptown Saturday Night (discontinued)
We Love the Nightlife
The Woodstock Collection
Your Hit Parade (discontinued)

Video
Time Life's video business has been growing quickly since 2000. Starting with documentaries including Growing Up
Wild and the re-release of World at War, the company has more recently branched into nostalgic television shows.
Time Life is able to leverage their music industry knowledge and contacts to release television shows previously held
back because of expensive music rights clearances. Their collections are known for having extensive bonus features,
liner notes and packaging. Television show releases from Time Life include

CMA Awards Live (performance compilations)

Get Smart (complete series)
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (complete series)
The Six Million Dollar Man (complete series)
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The Real Ghostbusters (complete series)

Power Rangers: From Mighty Morphin' to Lost Galaxy (first seven seasons)
The Ultimate Carol Burnett Show Collection (50 Episodes, plus the special Carol + 2 and the 1972 version of
Once Upon a Mattress)
China Beach (complete series)
Mama's Family (complete series)
The Dean Martin Variety Show (select sketches and episodes, by agreement with NBCUniversal and the estate of
Greg Garrison)
The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast (complete series)
The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (Season 3)
The Best of Soul Train (Highlights from the '70s)
The Wonder Years (complete series)
The Hee Haw Collection (select episodes and sketches)
The Best of The Muppet Show (complete series) produced by Jim Henson Home Entertainment

See also
List of record labels

References
1. "RDA Sells Its Direct To Consumer Business - Folio:" (http://www.foliomag.com/2012/rda-sells-its-direct-consumer
-business#.UiuOwz-Ye5U). 2 July 2012.
2. From a list of "Other Publications" on the copyright page of "The Commandos," the final volume of the Time-Life
Books Series "World War II"
3. "World War II Time-Life —Series—LibraryThing" (https://www.librarything.com/series/World+War+II+Time-Life).
www.librarything.com.
4. "Time-Life Music Story" (http://www.bsnpubs.com/warner/time-life/time-lifestory.html). www.bsnpubs.com.

External links
Official site (http://www.timelife.com)

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