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Charisma Records
Parent company	Universal Music Group
Founded	1969; 56 years ago (1969)
Founder	Tony Stratton Smith
Defunct	1986; 39 years ago (1986)
Distributor(s)	EMI Records (United Kingdom) Capitol Music Group (United States)
Genre	Progressive rock,comedy
Country of origin	England

Charisma Records (also known asThe Famous Charisma Label) was a Britishrecord label founded in 1969 by former journalistTony Stratton Smith.^[1] He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such asThe Nice, theBonzo Dog Band andVan der Graaf Generator.Gail Colson was label manager and joint managing director.^[1]

The label's most successful acts wereGenesis,Peter Gabriel,Julian Lennon, andMonty Python.^[1] The first release was the eponymous debut LP byRare Bird, in December 1969, who gave Charisma its first hit single, "Sympathy", in early 1970.^[2] (Sympathy was a reworking of Giazotto's 'reconstruction' of Albinoni's Adagio.)

Charisma's first UK label was a distinctive magenta scroll design (though it is generally referred to in record collecting circles as "pink scroll") – magenta was the colour that Stratton Smith chose to represent the label, and this was reflected in his later horseracing colours, red for Manchester United, green for Brazil, and magenta for Charisma.^[3] Its second logo (used beginning in 1972) of SirJohn Tenniel's drawing of theMad Hatter (sometimes combined with amontage of other images fromAlice's Adventures in Wonderland) made the label instantly recognizable. Much of the early distinctive artwork used by the label was created byPaul Whitehead. Whitehead's original illustrations for three Genesis albums were stolen from the Charisma archives when it was sold toVirgin Records in 1983. Whitehead claimed that Charisma staff got wind of the imminent sale and proceeded to loot its office.^[4]

The label also released material byThe Nice,Robert John Godfrey,Lindisfarne andAlan Hull,Hawkwind,The Alan Parsons Project,Clifford T. Ward,String Driven Thing,Jack The Lad,Audience,Vivian Stanshall,Brand X, SirJohn Betjeman,Malcolm McLaren andAfraid of Mice.^[1] 1970s solo albums ofPeter Hammill,Tony Banks andSteve Hackett were also on Charisma.

Gail Colson left Charisma in the late 1970s to form her own management company, Gailforce.

In 1983, Charisma Records was acquired byVirgin Records and continued to operate until 1986, when Virgin absorbed the label.^[1] Virgin's purchase byEMI, then known asThorn EMI, occurred in 1992. A new version of Charisma, with no connection to the original label other than the name, operated between 1990 and 1992, with a street-oriented and independently distributed subsidiary called Cardiac Records. Some Charisma Records recordings were re-issued on the EMI label. In the UK, the label was revived by EMI'sAngel Records in 2007.

With most of EMI's purchase byUniversal Music Group, Charisma returned toVirgin Records.

Charisma was initially manufactured and distributed in the United Kingdom via a licensing deal with Lee Gopthal'sB&C Records, sharing the B&C catalogue series for both singles and albums, prior to B&C ceasing to release records on the B&C label, when it concentrated on marketing instead. In early 1972, B&C brokered a deal with Precision Tapes to manufacture and distribute Charisma's albums in tape format. From early 1970, Charisma's European distribution was handled byPhonogram Inc.

In the United States and Canada, Charisma recordings were initially licensed to other labels. These includedABC Records, along with subsidiaries,Impulse,Probe andDunhill. Artists included Van der Graaf Generator and Genesis.Elektra Records in the US released records by Charisma artists Atomic Rooster, Audience, Lindisfarne and Jack the Lad.

In 1971, Charisma entered into a distribution agreement withBuddah Records and began to release albums on the Charisma label in the US. These includedPawn Hearts byVan der Graaf Generator andNursery Cryme,Foxtrot andGenesis Live by Genesis.Atlantic Records also later released Charisma recordings in the United States from 1973 to 1974 including many Genesis titles.

In 1973, Atlantic stopped distributing Charisma in America; as a result, in the US Charisma's bands signed to various labels such asMercury Records (Van der Graaf Generator) andArista Records (Monty Python). Genesis records were released in the US under Atlantic's subsidiary labelAtco Records from 1974 to 1976. In 1976, Charisma signed a new distribution deal in the UK withPolydor that lasted until 1980. In Canada, many Charisma releases were distributed by GRT andPolyGram Canada.^[5]

Between 1980 and 1982, Charisma operated a subsidiary called Pre Records, who were devoted tonew wave andreggae acts. Pre's roster includedScars,Prince Far I,Delta 5,Gregory Isaacs,The Monochrome Set andCongo Ashanti Roy, amongst others. Pre also licensed albums byThe Residents andTuxedomoon from the American labelRalph Records. In Europe, Pre's releases were issued on the Charisma label.^[6][7]

Most Charisma artists were relatively unknown early on, so original pressings have become quite rare and sought after by collectors. The "pink scroll" label was first used in the UK from 1969 until mid-1972.^[8] This was replaced by the Mad Hatter label, designed by Paul Whitehead. In the US, the pink scroll labels were used in late 1973 and early 1974 on releases distributed by Buddah.^[8] Releases distributed by Atlantic Records used a variation of the Mad Hatter design.

1: OnVirgin Records in Australia,Atlantic Records in the US
2: OnIsland Records in the US
3: OnGeffen Records in the US

1: OnAtlantic Records in Canada, New Zealand and the US
2: OnGeffen Records in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the US

• Lists of record labels

• The Famous Charisma Discography – Book with foreword by Michael Palin
• Collectors Website – Contains discography
• Tony Stratton Smith and The Marquee Club
• Colin Richardson was International Manager for Charisma between 1972 and 1976
• Current Charisma label from Angel Music Group UK
• Charisma Labelography
• Charisma discography atDiscogs

• Charisma Records
• British record labels
• EMI
• Universal Music Group
• Progressive rock record labels
• 1969 establishments in England
• 1986 disestablishments in England
• 1990 establishments in England
• 1992 disestablishments in England
• Record labels established in 1969
• Record labels disestablished in 1986
• Record labels established in 1990
• Record labels disestablished in 1992
• Re-established companies
• Rock record labels
• Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2022
• Use British English from September 2013
• Articles lacking reliable references from January 2011
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• Short description is different from Wikidata