Label Photo
A pre-WWI label. I have no details.
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan!
A sister label to Mimosa, though very much rarer, Beacon was a 5½ disc produced by Crystallate in the early 1920s. The catalogue numbers (in the only one I have seen) are in a C-100 series, but the extent of the series, and exact period the label was available (and for whom it was produced) is not currently known. Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Beatall records made a brief appearance in 1910 with a very optimistic name that didn't really live up to expectations. As with many records of this period, they were pressed in Germany, possibly from Operaphone masters. Please e-mail me with details required of ANY of these records.
Beka (or more correctly Beka-Grand) records were established in Germany at the start of the 20th century. They started exporting to Britain in 1905 and in 1913 British pressings first appeared. As with many labels, Beka disappeared during the first world war, but re-appeared in 1920 for about 5 years as a German-only product, though some were exported to Britain.
A very attractive pre-WWI label, the company was established in Germany in 1909, but in 1911 J.G. Murdoch started importing the records into England. The masters came mainly from Dacapo, plus some of Murdoch's own recordings.
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
Bell was the name given to Edison (UK)'s first disc records in 1908. They were originally 10½" in size but later settled down to the more usual 10". They cost 2/6 (12.5p) and the catalogue number started at 1, reaching about 500 by 1912 when the label was discontinued and replaced by Winner.
In the 1920s, Edison
UK revived the Bell name for their 5½" (later 6") children's
label. Catalogue numbers started at 250 in 1921 and the label survived
until 1927 by which time the numbers had reached into the 700s. Dance
band items specially recorded for the format may be found and, in
theory, edited American masters could exist too.
Please
e-mail me with details of
ANY of the 10½" records.
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan.
Beltona records were produced for the Murdoch Trading company of 59-61 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1.
The first Beltona records appeared just after the first world war and were made by Crystalate. This style was short-lived (probably only a few months) and copies are rare. The catalogue numbers were in a 100 series and current thinking is that they were made for export to Australia, but only 3 examples are known of at the moment. See first label scan - if you have any examples, please e-mail me)
It was 1922 before the label was revived and the pressings were taken on by Vocalion and they used their usual masters from their own recordings and from American Gennett and Vocalion. The familiar design (see third picture) was used, though initially the colours were red and buff (see second picture) rather than turquoise and light turquoise. There was also a 6" disc called Beltona Bairns produced by Vocalion at this time; the photo reproduced here shows one in its original packet.
In 1927, the label design changed to the black and white design shown here and soon after this, Edison Bell started providing the masters as Vocalion ceased any 10" recordings. By the following year, Beltona seemed to stop issuing dance music, though in the early 1930s, a few sessions of local dance bands were recorded (see scan). The label concentrated on Scottish and Irish music for the rest of its life and carried on into the 1970s, though obviously was by then in the 7" vinyl 45rpm format.
The catalogue numbers started at 101 (for popular records) and reached about 1250 before the design change and Edison took over from about 1300. The label generally shows the correct matrix number, even though the original matrix has been expunged from the disc on many of the American matrices. The Bairns records used a 3-digit series of numbering.
NOTE: There were many other issues and series and a full listing of all Beltona issues was produced in 2007 by Bill Dean Myatt and is available from the CLPGS.
Besttone records were available in 1915 and could be bought from the Regent Wave Company of 120 Old Street, London.
On this label may be seen the name "Rifanco Eagle". It is not known what Rifanco means or refers to, but the needles and gramophones available from Regent use the name too.
The Besttone name was also used by the company as paste-over stickers on other record labels, presumably old stock sold by Regent. (See the latter 2 pictures which were Diploma and Pelican records respectively).
Please
e-mail me with details
of ANY of these records.
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This was a paste-over label available in Australia during 1918-21. Th eoriginal records are believed to all be Edison Bell Winners. The catalogue numbers matched the Winners to start with and then the first digit was dropped off the original Winner number.
Thanks to Derek Kell for the label scan.
A Scottish record company, based in Glasgow, Bob records feature the reverse side of a shilling piece (known as a "bob") in the label design. The masters of those seen came from Invicta.
These records date from the mid-1920s are were manufactured by Crystalate in England using their own Imperial masters, for export to Australia for sale in the Bon March department stores.
Boosey and Hawkes were a leading music publishers at 295 Regent Street, London.
From 1937 until about 1967, B&H produced many records (pressed by EMI) of 'music publisher' recordings in many different series.
This was a Scala product, made in Britain for export to the continent.
Britannic records date from about 1920 and there appear to be two distinct styles, as shown. The one shows no maker's name or country of origin, whereas the other proudly proclaims "British Made Throughout".
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
These records date from the late 1920s and were produced for use as a soundtrack which would synchronise with a film.
Vocalion introduced their popular 8" Broadcast record in 1927 and they sold in their thousands over the next 6 years, increasing in size to 9" in 1931. There were "spin-offs" in the shape of the 6" Broadcast Junior and the various 10" Broadcast 12 series, Broadcast 4-tune and Broadcast International. The name was finally dropped in 1934, by which time Crystalate owned the company.
More details and pictures
Brunswick records were introduced into Britain in 1923; the name was used by the Chappell Piano Company who were music publishers and sellers of the Cliftophone gramophone. The masters were all from American Brunswick initially, and confusingly used a similar catalogue series which sometimes coincided with the American issues, and sometimes didn't. The label was bought by Decca in the 1930s and they continued to use the name until the 1960s.
More details and pictures
A very rare British label available from during WWI until sometime during the early 1920s. The joke amongst collectors is that the label is a different design on each one found. While this is an exaggeration, there do seem to be quite a few different designs. The early ones (see first label) had a (by then) old-fashioned etched label. The later records were pressed by Crystalate and had a standard paper label. The scan for the very latest style is taken from Steven Walker's new discographical book "English Ragtime". (This book may be obtained from the CLPGS bookshop.)
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
One of the many obscure labels from the first world war period, Burlington drew on various sources for their masters, including Nicole records and J. Blum & Co.
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records.
There are two different forms of Butterfly record. One was an oversized 10" disc using pre-WWI Grammavox masters. The label was dark red with a gold butterfly and used a B-1 catalogue series, running possibly as far as B-300. The other version of Butterfly was a total or partial paste-over label used on old stocks of "Popular", "Imperial" or "Mimosa" records, presumably as a way of disposing of them cheaply (see scans).
Please e-mail me with details of ANY of these records. Also a label scan.
