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| London Recordings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Universal Music Group (pre-1980 catalogue, London USA, trademark rights for "London Records" and "London Recordings" names and logos, and distribution ofBecause Music) Because Music (label and most of post-1980 catalogues, also licenses trademarks from UMG) Warner Music Group (New Order,All Saints, Slash and London-Sire Records, and US post-1998 catalogue) |
| Founded | 1947 (1947) |
| Founder | Edward Lewis |
| Distributor(s) | Decca Records/UMe (pre-1980 catalogue, US 1980-1998 catalogue) Virgin Music Group (most of post-1980 catalogues) Rhino Entertainment (New Order, All Saints, London-Sire Records, Slash Records, US post-1998 catalogue) |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Official website | londonrecordings |
London Recordings (orLondon Records andLondon Music Stream) is a Britishrecord label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America forDecca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London name – as London American Recordings, often shortened toLondon American – was also used by British Decca in the UK market, for releases taken from American labels, which British Decca licensed.
The label is owned byBecause Music, which also owns most of the label's 1980s and 1990s UK catalogue.
London arose from the split in ownership between the British and American branches ofDecca Records. The American branch of London Records released British Decca records in the U.S., as British Decca could not use the "Decca" name there as well as vice-versa. The label was noted for classical albums made in then state-of-the-artstereophonic sound, and such artists asGeorg Solti,Joan Sutherland, andLuciano Pavarotti.
In a reverse situation, the London name was also used in the UK market by British Decca for releases taken from American labels that were licensed by British Decca, such asLiberty,Imperial,Chess,Dot,Atlantic,Specialty,Essex andSun, and the first two UK releases fromMotown. By the 1960s more licensing deals had been made withBig Top,Monument,Parrot,Philles, andHi, and subsidiary labels were London Atlantic, London Dot and London Monument (the last featuringRoy Orbison, who remained with London in the UK even after he signed forMGM Records in the U.S.). The lead person in arranging the distribution deals at that time wasMimi Trepel.[1]
An unusual feature was the letter code in the numbering system. From the late 1950s until 1973, the label bore the logo "London American Recordings", and onRadio Luxembourg it was known as "London American".
In America, the label was best known as the American imprint of the pre–1971 recordings ofthe Rolling Stones (now owned byABKCO). The label also originally issued some early LPs and singles by Texas-based bandZZ Top (whose catalog went toWarner Bros. Records when the band signed with that label).
In the 1960s and 1970s London Records got involved in then innovative quadraphonic sound techniques and launched vinyl LPs. Beginning with their "Phase 4" series of immersive, spatialized STEREO sound (which was NOT quadraphonic despite claims to the contrary) which, along with their "FFRR - Full Frequency Range Recording" series and appellation, gained them a well earned reputation on their sound quality.
Phase 4 recordings were originally made on then-novel 4-track tape, but the innovation was in the special scoring used to maximize the technology. Normally in recording techniques of the mid-60s, in order to get the kind of layered sound realized in Phase 4 recordings, required multiple overdubs over multiple reels of tape, bouncing down and bouncing across to different recorders. This increased the level of tape hiss on the final master, something which Phase 4 engineers could not tolerate. So they achieved in their scoring techniques what could be recorded in one pass what everybody else was achieving with multiple overdubs. Similar scoring techniques were used with sound pioneerEnoch Light and hisProject 3 Records label around the same period.
In the late 1970s, London signed deals withBomp! Records and with Big Sound in Connecticut, U.S. This changed the label in the eyes of many from a backwater into something a little more "edgy" compared to the pedestrian contemporary releases from parent company Decca. The label was staffed by Graham Baker, Keith Gooden, Mike Horsham and Liz Roff at that time. Decca's Geoff Milne was in overall control.
The president of London Records in the 1970s was D. H. Toller-Bond (1903-1994).[2]
After British Decca was acquired byPolyGram in 1980, London followed a more independent course with subsidiary labels such asSlash,Pete Tong'sEssential Records andFFRR (London's dance music label, named after part of London's logo design).
In the 1990s, London signed Madchester indie bandThe High and ended up being fined £50,000 by the BPI in 1991, for suspected chart hyping in the UK Singles chart in regards to this band,[3][4][5] with the suspicion that their chart position may have been bought by the record company and not due to fans purchasing their record, "More".[6]
MCA, the owner of American Decca, merged with PolyGram in 1999, which formedUniversal Music;[7] however, by this time, London Records had become a semi-independent label within thePolyGram group operated by Roger Ames. In the 1990s, Tracy Bennet became President and Colin Bell, Managing Director. When Ames moved to theWarner Music Group, he took the label with him, and so almost all of London's recent back catalogue was acquired by Warner, which also acquired the London name and trademark from Decca[8] (which still owns most of the pre-1980 back catalogue). The name is still used, mainly for UK-based artists, and for ex-Factory Records artists. Notable artists released by that incarnation of London, called London Records 90, includeNew Order (initially on their own CentreDate Co. Ltd label),[9]Happy Mondays,A, andShakespears Sister.
After PolyGram took over British Decca, classical-music albums recorded by British Decca continued to be released on the London label in the U.S., with a logo similar to the Decca classical label logo, until American Decca owner MCA merged with British Decca owner PolyGram in 1999 and formed Universal Music, after which they were all reissued on the original British Decca label in the US.
The London pop music catalogue owned by Universal Music is now managed byPolydor Records, with United States distribution handled byIsland Records after absorbing former distributorMercury Records in 2014. Decca Records had a recording studio inBlomfield Road, West London; there may have been another in London's West End. In 2010, Universal Music reclaimed ownership of the London Records trademark. Even Universal Music again owned this trademark, Warner Music Group licensed it to be used on its reissues of London's catalogue controlled by Warner Records 90 company. On 1 July 2011 Universal Music reclaimed the London Records name and relaunched it under the executive team ofNick Raphael (president) and laterJo Charrington (senior vice president of A&R) who together previously ran Epic Records forSony Music Entertainment since 2001. Both had started their careers at London Records in the Ames era in the 1990s.[10]
When Nick Raphael became president ofCapitol Records's UK division in 2013, London Records moved there,[11] and operated as a sublabel until Because Music acquired the trademark license in 2017.
In July 2017,Because Music announced that it would acquireWarner Records 90, a subsidiary of Warner Music UK that reissued most London Records artists from the post-1980 era, plus very few titles from the post-1998 era, when Warner Music owned the label. Because completed the deal in August 2017, which includes the rights to over fifty London artists (includingBananarama andHappy Mondays), but excludingSlash Records,London-Sire Records,All Saints,New Order, and the FFRR (Full Frequency Range Recordings) brand (which became part of WMG'sParlophone label).[12][13] Because Music is distributed by another UMG division Virgin Music Label & Artist Services, formerly Caroline Distribution.[citation needed]
Warner Records 90 was renamed London Music Stream, and later London Recordings.[14]
The label is now operating as London Records again (as part of Because Music Group). The label has reissued many songs by acts such as Bronski Beat, Bananarama, Orbital, Goldie and Happy Mondays.[citation needed]
London Records had dozens of subsidiary and distributed labels throughout its existence. Among the labels are:
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