Columbia Graphophone Company
Encyclopedia
The Columbia Graphophone Company was one of the earliest gramophone
companies in the United Kingdom
. Under EMI
, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, it was renamed EMI Records
to avoid confusion with the American Columbia Records
.
, as it was then known, sold its UK subsidiary Columbia Graphophone. However, in 1925 Columbia Graphophone bought its former parent for $2.5 million. In 1926 Odeon Records
and Parlophone Records were acquired. On April 21, 1931, the Gramophone Company
and the Columbia Graphophone Company merged and formed a new company Electric and Musical Industries (EMI
). American anti-trust laws forced EMI to sell its American Columbia operations.
in 1990.
Under EMI, English Columbia's output was mainly licenced recordings from American Columbia
until 1951 when American Columbia switched British distribution to Philips Records
. English Columbia continued to distribute American Columbia sister labels Okeh
and Epic
until 1968 when American Columbia's then parent CBS
moved distribution of all its labels to the then new CBS Records created from the purchase of Oriole Records (UK)
in late 1964. The loss of American Columbia product had forced English Columbia to groom its own talent such as Russ Conway
, Acker Bilk, John Barry
, Cliff Richard
, The Shadows
, Helen Shapiro
, Frank Ifield
, Rolf Harris
, Freddie and the Dreamers
, The Dave Clark Five
, Shirley Bassey
, Frankie Vaughan
, Des O'Connor
, Ken Dodd
, The Animals
, Herman's Hermits
, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Seekers
, Pink Floyd
(who have been on both Columbia UK and US), and The Yardbirds
. Led by avuncular A&R man Norrie Paramor
, the label was arguably the most successful in Britain in the rock era prior to the Beat Boom.
In the mid 1960s, English Columbia added an audiophile
imprint called Studio 2 Stereo.
EMI has engaged in litigation with CBS regarding the importing of American records bearing the Columbia imprint into areas where EMI owned the Columbia name.
on January 1973
. It sold its remaining interest in the Columbia name in 1990 to Sony Music Entertainment
(formerly CBS Records), who already owned Columbia Records in the U.S. and Canada. The formal reassignment of British registered trade marks, including the "magic notes" logo, from EMI took place in 1993.
Today, Sony Music prefer using the "walking eye" logo (previously used by the old CBS Records and based on the Columbia Records logo introduced in the US and Canada in 1955) for the Columbia Records trade mark in the UK and elsewhere. However, the "magic notes" logo is occasionally used, usually to give a 'retro' feel (such as the 2008 MGMT
singles that use the "magic notes" on the vinyl labels but the "walking eye" on the covers).
The Columbia name was still on some EMI releases between 1972 and 1990 (such as Baltimora
's Tarzan Boy
in 1985 as well as Kiki Dee
albums) but it had ceased acting as a fully functioning label.
In Australia, EMI continued using the Columbia label throughout the 1970s, but added the EMI Records label in 1973.
outside the UK is dealt with in more detail in Columbia Records
and Nippon Columbia.
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
companies in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Under EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, as Columbia Records, it became a very successful label in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, it was renamed EMI Records
EMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
to avoid confusion with the American Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
.
Early history
In 1922, Columbia PhonographColumbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, as it was then known, sold its UK subsidiary Columbia Graphophone. However, in 1925 Columbia Graphophone bought its former parent for $2.5 million. In 1926 Odeon Records
Odeon Records
Odeon Records was a record label founded in 1903 by Max Straus and Heinrich Zuntz of the International Talking Machine Company in Berlin, Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label....
and Parlophone Records were acquired. On April 21, 1931, the Gramophone Company
Gramophone Company
The Gramophone Company, based in the United Kingdom, was one of the early recording companies, and was the parent organization for the famous "His Master's Voice" label...
and the Columbia Graphophone Company merged and formed a new company Electric and Musical Industries (EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
). American anti-trust laws forced EMI to sell its American Columbia operations.
As an EMI label
EMI continued to operate the Columbia record label in the UK until the early 1970s, and everywhere else except for the US, Canada, Mexico, Spain and Japan, until it sold its remaining interest in the Columbia trade mark to Sony Music EntertainmentSony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
in 1990.
Under EMI, English Columbia's output was mainly licenced recordings from American Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
until 1951 when American Columbia switched British distribution to Philips Records
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label that was founded by Dutch electronics company Philips. It was started by "Philips Phonographische Industrie" in 1950. Recordings were made with popular artists of various nationalities and also with classical artists from Germany, France and Holland. Philips also...
. English Columbia continued to distribute American Columbia sister labels Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
and Epic
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
until 1968 when American Columbia's then parent CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
moved distribution of all its labels to the then new CBS Records created from the purchase of Oriole Records (UK)
Oriole Records (UK)
Oriole Records was the first British record label founded in 1925 by the London-based Levy Company, which owned a gramophone record subsidiary called Levaphone Records.-History:...
in late 1964. The loss of American Columbia product had forced English Columbia to groom its own talent such as Russ Conway
Russ Conway
Russ Conway was a British popular music pianist. Conway had 20 piano instrumentals in the UK Singles Chart between 1957 and 1963, including two number one hits.-Career:...
, Acker Bilk, John Barry
John Barry (composer)
John Barry Prendergast, OBE was an English conductor and composer of film music. He is best known for composing the soundtracks for 12 of the James Bond films between 1962 and 1987...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, The Shadows
The Shadows
The Shadows are a British pop group with a total of 69 UK hit-charted singles: 35 as 'The Shadows' and 34 as 'Cliff Richard and the Shadows', from the 1950s to the 2000s. Cliff Richard in casual conversation with the British rock press frequently refers to the Shadows by their nickname: 'The Shads'...
, Helen Shapiro
Helen Shapiro
Helen Kate Shapiro is an English singer and actress. She is best known for her 1960s UK chart toppers, "You Don't Know" and "Walkin' Back to Happiness".-Early life:...
, Frank Ifield
Frank Ifield
Francis Edward Ifield is an early Australian-English easy listening and country music singer. He achieved considerable success in the early 1960s, especially in the UK Singles Chart, where he had four Number 1 hits between 1962 and 1963....
, Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris
Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
, Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers
Freddie and the Dreamers were an English band who had a number of hit records between May 1963 and November 1965. Their stage act was based around the comic antics of the 5-foot-3-inch-tall Freddie Garrity, who would bounce around the stage with arms and legs flying. The group remained active...
, The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five
The Dave Clark Five were an English pop rock group. Their single "Glad All Over" knocked The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" off the top of the UK singles charts in January 1964: it eventually peaked at No.6 in the United States in April 1964.They were the second group of the British Invasion,...
, Shirley Bassey
Shirley Bassey
Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE , is a Welsh singer. She found fame in the late 1950s and was "one of the most popular female vocalists in Britain during the last half of the 20th century"...
, Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan
Frankie Vaughan, CBE, DL was an English singer of traditional pop music, who issued more than 80 recordings in his lifetime. He was known as "Mr. Moonlight" after one of his early hits.-Life and career:...
, Des O'Connor
Des O'Connor
Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...
, Ken Dodd
Ken Dodd
Kenneth Arthur Dodd OBE is a British comedian and singer songwriter, famous for his frizzy hair or “fluff dom” and buck teeth or “denchers”, his favourite cleaner, the feather duster and his greeting "How tickled I am!", as well as his send-off “Lots and Lots of Happiness!”...
, The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...
, Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits
Herman's Hermits are an English beat band, formed in Manchester in 1963 as Herman & The Hermits. The group's record producer, Mickie Most , emphasized a simple, non-threatening, clean-cut image, although the band originally played R&B numbers...
, Gerry and the Pacemakers, The Seekers
The Seekers
The Seekers are an Australian folk-influenced pop music group which were originally formed in 1962. They were the first Australian popular music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the United States...
, Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
(who have been on both Columbia UK and US), and The Yardbirds
The Yardbirds
- Current :* Chris Dreja - rhythm guitar, backing vocals * Jim McCarty - drums, backing vocals * Ben King - lead guitar * David Smale - bass, backing vocals...
. Led by avuncular A&R man Norrie Paramor
Norrie Paramor
Norrie Paramor was a British record producer, composer, arranger, and orchestral conductor.Although the term "producer" was not in circulation at the time Paramor started producing records , he effectively began this role in 1952 when he became Recording Director for EMI's Columbia...
, the label was arguably the most successful in Britain in the rock era prior to the Beat Boom.
In the mid 1960s, English Columbia added an audiophile
Audiophile
An audiophile is a person who enjoys listening to recorded music, usually in a home. Some audiophiles are more interested in collecting and listening to music, while others are more interested in collecting and listening to audio components, whose "sound quality" they consider as important as the...
imprint called Studio 2 Stereo.
EMI has engaged in litigation with CBS regarding the importing of American records bearing the Columbia imprint into areas where EMI owned the Columbia name.
Phaseout of label by EMI and trade mark transfer
EMI decided to reserve the HMV label for classical repertoire and had transferred HMV's remaining pop acts to Columbia by 1967. EMI replaced the Columbia label with the eponymous EMI RecordsEMI Records
EMI Records is the flagship record label founded by the EMI company in 1972 and launched in January 1973 as the successor to its Columbia label. The EMI label was launched worldwide...
on January 1973
1973 in music
-January–April:*January 9 – Mick Jagger's request for a Japanese visa is rejected on account of a 1969 drug conviction, putting an abrupt end to The Rolling Stones' plans to perform in Japan during their forthcoming tour.*January 14...
. It sold its remaining interest in the Columbia name in 1990 to Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....
(formerly CBS Records), who already owned Columbia Records in the U.S. and Canada. The formal reassignment of British registered trade marks, including the "magic notes" logo, from EMI took place in 1993.
Today, Sony Music prefer using the "walking eye" logo (previously used by the old CBS Records and based on the Columbia Records logo introduced in the US and Canada in 1955) for the Columbia Records trade mark in the UK and elsewhere. However, the "magic notes" logo is occasionally used, usually to give a 'retro' feel (such as the 2008 MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
singles that use the "magic notes" on the vinyl labels but the "walking eye" on the covers).
The Columbia name was still on some EMI releases between 1972 and 1990 (such as Baltimora
Baltimora
Baltimora were an Italian New Wave dance outfit active in the mid to late 1980s. The group comprised Jimmy McShane , Maurizio Bassi , Giorgio Cocilovo , Claudio Bazzari , Pier Michelatti and Gabriele Melotti...
's Tarzan Boy
Tarzan Boy
"Tarzan Boy" is the title of a song recorded by Italy-based act Baltimora. It was the group's debut single, released in April 1985, from its first album Living in the Background, on which it features as first track...
in 1985 as well as Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee
Kiki Dee is an English singer with a career spanning more than 40 years....
albums) but it had ceased acting as a fully functioning label.
In Australia, EMI continued using the Columbia label throughout the 1970s, but added the EMI Records label in 1973.
Columbia outside the UK
The history of the Columbia record labelRecord label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
outside the UK is dealt with in more detail in Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
and Nippon Columbia.
See also
- List of Columbia Graphophone Company artists
- GraphophoneGraphophoneThe Graphophone was the name and trademark of an improved version of the phonograph invented at the Volta Laboratory established by Alexander Graham Bell in Washington, D.C....
, a Bell name & trademark acquired by several US record firms - List of record labels
External links
- Columbia(UK) SAX serial LPs; Introduction article about the label