| Apex
was the full-price "flagship" label of the Compo Company of
Montreal. It was not the initial label of the firm, which appears to
have been the shorter-lived Sun label. The history of Apex: Apex was introduced by Compo around the beginning of 1920. Compo had originated in 1919, run by Herbert Berliner (a son of Emile, who had moved himself and his company to Montreal in 1900 to escape legal battles). Compo's first activity was pressing records under contract for the Pollock Company of Elmira, Ontario (later moved to Kitchener) who had the Canadian rights to Okeh material, and for the Starr Piano Company of Canada who had the Canadian rights to Gennett. In the fall of 1919, Compo began issuing their own label, Sun; in a few months this was augmented (and would eventually be replaced) by Apex At this early point, Compo issues (including Apex) were all numbered the same; there was an Okeh-based 4000 series (which basically duplicated Okeh, though different pairings were sometimes used), a Gennett-based 9000 series (eventually used only on Gennett(C) and Starr-Gennett) and Compo's own 500+ series, along with a few minor series duplicating Gennett and Okeh product numbers. It is believed that the initial 500's were recorded (illicitly) in Berliner's Montreal facility. Around 1921, Pollock discontinued the Phonola label; Compo continued the relationship with Okeh for another year or so, issuing the product on an Apex 4000 series (there were a few other Apex 4xxx issues which duplicated Gennett numbers; all appear to use British sides, and the reason for the numbering is unknown to me). Around the same time, Compo made a connection with the Plaza Music Company; an Apex (et al, at this point) 8000 series was started, which drew from NYRL and Plaza's own 5000 matrix series. This would become the primary series for Apex. Shortly thereafter, the Starr-connected operation (by now labeled Starr-Gennett) began using its own numbering; Apex issues using Gennett sides were numbered *down* from 499, eventually reaching around 380 in 1925, when the Gennett connection was broken. At this point, Apex had three series; the 8000's, the 499-down Gennett-based, and the 500-up Compo and miscellaneous (including Pathe). Various client labels usually used either Apex or Starr catalog numbers. In 1924, Compo added the Domino label (apparently done at first for Metropolitan Stores of Canada, but later for general sale); these were numbered in 21000-21499 (related to Apex 8000's) and 21501+ (related to Apex 500+ but not parallel) series, and the numbers appear in the run-out of Apex issues of the sides. As other Compo labels were added, this same practice of including their issue numbers on the disc was continued (to the thorough confusion of many discographers!). In 1925, Compo broke all connections with Gennett and no more of their material was used; oddly enough, the Starr name and logo remained in use on a Plaza-based 10000 series as well as a 12/15/16000 series of Francophone records intended for the Quebec market (these also appeared under the Apex name...at first, and later for sale in New England where Compo had no rights to the Starr name or logo!). In 1928-29, the Apex 500's hit 799 and ran out of numbers; the Compo(etc.)-based series was supplanted by a 26xxx one. In 1929, the same thing happened with the 8000's; they reached 8999 and were replaced by a 41xxx series. However, at the beginning of 1932, Compo arranged the use of the Brunswick name through ARC (Plaza's successor); there was no need for two full-priced labels, and Apex was dropped (the 26xxx series became a Brunswick series). In 1936, Compo made arrangements to press and sell Decca in Canada, and Brunswick was dropped and the 26xxx series again changed labels (to Decca). In 1943, during the AFM ban, Compo wanted to issue some Canadian-made sides; they revived the Apex label and its 26xxx series to do so, and the label stayed revived in following years. After WWII, Compo, like many record companies in Canada, began obtaining Canadian rights to the flood of US independent issues. Some were pressed on Canadian versions of their US labels, but in 1952 Compo started a new Apex series, 76xxx, used only for this type of material. This series would reach into the 76400's by the time Compo dropped 78's in 1959. Herbert Berliner sold Compo to Decca(US) in 1950, and the latter firm was later acquired by MCA. MCA seems to have dropped Apex in the late 1970's, with the last known use being on Francophone LP's around 1980. The above information was kindly supplied by Steven C. Barr. Steven's book, "The Almost Complete 78 RPM Record Dating Guide" (II) (Mostly pre-1943) - (Yesterday Once Again Pub., 1992) is available from specialist sources, such as Kurt Nauck. |
