Label Photo
Generally considered to be the "main" label of the Plaza Music Company of New York, Banner was launched in January 1922, using mainly Emerson and Paramount masters until opening their own recording studio in late 1922. The catalogue numbers were variously in 1000, 6000, 7000, 0500 and 32000 ranges. The label was axed in 1935.
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.
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.
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.
There have been several labels called "Bell". In England, Edison Bell's first disc records were called Bell (see picture). The label lasted from 1908 to 1912, but the name was revived in the 1920s for a 6" record from the same company.
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Bell records were a product of the Standard Music Roll Company of Orange, N.J. From 1923 until the end of 1927, the label was associated with Emerson, from where it drew all its masters. From then until the label's demise in July 1928, it drew on Gennett for its recordings.
Bellbird was an Australian record available abound 1930. It was a flexible, "unbreakable" record which came the closest (in my opinion) to the more modern vinyl records. As the material (believed to be vulcanite) was thicker than other flexibles, it retained its shape better and felt more like a proper record than Goodson, Filmophone etc. The only ones I've seen use American Grey Gull masters, and are numbered in a 3-digit catalogue probably starting at 101.
Beltona records were produced for the Murdoch trading company of London. Apart from the brief appearance of a Crystallate product immediately after World War I, the majority of Beltonas were produced by Vocalion and use the usual masters also found on Aco, Guardsman etc. Edison Bell took over production in the later 1920s and the label soon became a Scottish-only label, featuring mainly traditional Scottish music and comedians.
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Available during 1915 from the Regent wave company, Besttone records were short-lived and very rare. The name was also used on past-over stickers on various other labels, presumably old stock sold by Regent.
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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.
Biltmore records' address was PO Box 224, Wall Street Station, New York City. Between November 1949 and August 1951 they issued about 120 records, mainly dubbed from 1920s Victor records. The catalogue numbers ran from 1001 to 1120. When Victor discovered this piracy, they forced them out of business, and then discovered that the pressings were done by Victor's own custom pressings dept!
This was Victor's response to the depression - a quality record at 35 cents, less than half the price of a Victor at 75 cents. The label was very successful, not surprising when you consider that the recordings and production were of the same high standard as the more expensive Victors. In addition, the label offered many top-rank artists. The label was discontinued in 1950
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".
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.
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Broadway was one of the lower-price records available in the 1920s. It drew mainly on Paramount and Banner masters, and occasionally Crown and Emerson. The label was discontinued in 1931.
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 master 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.
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Brunswick were originally a piano manufacturer. Their lateral-cut discs, introduced in 1920, were very popular and the company could boast a very broad spectrum of music from popular to operatic. The depression brought financial difficulties and the company was bought by ARC and became their "expensive" label. The label was phased out in 1940.
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A very rare British label available from during WWI until sometime during the early 1920s. 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. I've never seen any of the latter. This scan is taken from Steven Walker's new discographical book "English Ragtime". (E-mail me for more information about this book and how to obtain a copy).
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.
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 partial paste over label used on old stocks of "Popular" records, presumably as a way of disposing of them cheaply.