Parlophone

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Parlophone Records
Parent company EMI
Founded 1896
Founder Carl Lindström
Distributing label Parlophone Records (UK)
Genre jazz, pop, rock, novelty recordings, voice recordings
Country of origin UK
Official website Parlophone.co.uk

Parlophone is a record label, founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company. The ₤ trademark is a German L, for Lindström. It also resembles the British pound sign (£), which itself is derived from the letter L for Libra, meaning pound in Latin. Parlophone is best known for its association with The Beatles.

Contents

[edit] Early history

Lindstrom initially used the "Parlophon" brand on gramophones before it started making records. During the First World War, the Transoceanic Trading Company was set up in the Netherlands to look after its overseas assets. On August 8, 1923, the British branch of "Parlophone" (with the "e" added) was established, led by A&R manager Oscar Preuss. Parlophone established a master leasing arrangement with co-owned United States based Okeh Records, making Parlophone a leading jazz label in the UK. In 1927 the UK company Columbia Graphophone Company[1] acquired a controlling interest in the Carl Lindström Company and thereby in Parlophone. In 1931 Columbia merged with the Gramophone Company to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (EMI).

[edit] Okeh Records

In the U.S. in 1929 there was a short-lived Parlophone label made and distributed by OKeh [2]. OKeh also pressed other Parlophone recordings as the PNY-34000 series along with the Odeon ONY-36000 series were both discontinued in 1930. No one has been able to determine where these two labels were intended to be sold, since many surviving copies are in new condition. Speculation amongst record collectors is that that these records were found uncirculated in a warehouse. (Actually, starting early in 1929, selected OKeh records were issued on Parlophone, sometimes spelt "Parlophon", and Odeon using the regular OKeh catalog number, but with the PNY and ONY prefixes. These preceded the 34000 and 36000 series.)

[edit] As a subsidiary label

Under EMI the Parlophone company initially maintained its status as a jazz label. As time went on the label also released speciality recordings of voice and comedy recordings, such as the comedy recordings of The Goons. In 1950, Preuss hired 24-year-old George Martin as his assistant. In 1955, Preuss retired and Martin succeeded him. Leading Parlophone artistes at the time included Germany's Obernkirchen Children's Choir and Scottish musician Jimmy Shand.

[edit] Beat Boom and The Beatles

At the dawn of the rock era, Parlophone artists such as Humphrey Lyttelton, the Vipers Skiffle Group, the pianist Mrs Mills, Jim Dale, Keith Kelly, the Temperance Seven, Laurie London and Shane Fenton would sporadically reach the British Top 20 chart. Their only consistent chart action until the "Beat Boom" would be that of teen idol Adam Faith. Faith was assigned to the label by Norman Newell. Treading a path similar to other British labels of the era, Parlophone released all manner of domestic and foreign licensed product, including James Brown, but had little success in comparison to EMI siblings HMV and Columbia.

The label's fortunes began to rise in 1962, when George Martin signed a rising new Liverpool band The Beatles. Along with Brian Epstein, who managed Beatles stablemates Cilla Black, Billy J. Kramer and the Fourmost, they soon turned Parlophone into one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels.

[edit] Absorbed onto EMI

After Martin become an independent producer in 1965, the Parlophone Company was absorbed into EMI's Gramophone Company unit (renamed EMI Records in 1973) with the Parlophone label maintaining its identity. For a long time Parlophone claimed the best selling UK single "She Loves You", and the best selling UK album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The label also achieved placement of seven singles at #1 during 1964, when it also claimed top spot in the album charts for 40 of the 52 weeks during that year.

[edit] Parlophone today

Parlophone is still an important pop label. It is also EMI's oldest active label: its contemporary HMV, always more of a classical music label, has been renamed EMI Classics, and English Columbia has been replaced by the EMI pop label. Parlophone also operates the imprint Regal Recordings, a contemporary revival of the label founded in 1914.

[edit] Artists signed to Parlophone

"Parlophon" ad from 1927, Berlin

Parlophone trademark during The Beatles era

[edit] Parlophone record labels

Early 20th century Parlophone record label of the 80rpm era acoustic.
The image above is proposed for deletion. See files for deletion to help reach a consensus on what to do.

Please Please Me by The Beatles (side 1) - 1963. Parlophone gold and black label

With The Beatles (side 1) - Parlophone yellow and black label

The labels shown here include those used for 78s and LPs. The label design for 7" singles had the same standard template as several other EMI labels, with the large "45" insignia to the right. In recent years, design uniformity has relaxed from release to release.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Columbia Graphophone Company was owned by Columbia Phonograph at that time
  2. ^ The OKeh label used the prefix PNY

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parlophone"
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