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Parlophone

Parlophone

Overview
Parlophone is a record label
Record 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,...

 that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company
Carl Lindstrom Company
Carl Lindström A.G. was a global record company founded in 1893 and based in Berlin, Germany. Founded by Carl Lindström , a Swedish inventor living in Berlin, it originally produced phonographs or gramophones with the brand names "Parlograph" and "Parlophon" and eventually began producing records...

 as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Graphophone Company
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...

 which later became 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...

. George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

 joined in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955. Martin produced and released a mix of product including comedy recordings of The Goons, the pianist Mrs Mills
Mrs Mills
Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

, and teen idol Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...

. In 1962 Martin signed rising new Liverpool band The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. With Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...

, the Fourmost, and contemporary Mancunian band The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

 also signed to the label, Parlophone in the sixties became one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels.
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Encyclopedia
Parlophone is a record label
Record 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,...

 that was founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company
Carl Lindstrom Company
Carl Lindström A.G. was a global record company founded in 1893 and based in Berlin, Germany. Founded by Carl Lindström , a Swedish inventor living in Berlin, it originally produced phonographs or gramophones with the brand names "Parlograph" and "Parlophon" and eventually began producing records...

 as Parlophon. The British branch was formed in 1923 as "Parlophone" which developed a reputation in the 1920s as a leading jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 label. It was acquired in 1927 by the Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Graphophone Company
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...

 which later became 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...

. George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

 joined in 1950 as assistant label manager, taking over as manager in 1955. Martin produced and released a mix of product including comedy recordings of The Goons, the pianist Mrs Mills
Mrs Mills
Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

, and teen idol Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...

. In 1962 Martin signed rising new Liverpool band The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. With Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...

, the Fourmost, and contemporary Mancunian band The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

 also signed to the label, Parlophone in the sixties became one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels.

For a long time Parlophone claimed the best selling UK single "She Loves You
She Loves You
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...

", and the best selling UK album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The label also achieved placement of seven singles at #1 during 1964, when it also claimed top spot in the album charts for 40 of the 52 weeks during that year.

History


Founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company
Carl Lindstrom Company
Carl Lindström A.G. was a global record company founded in 1893 and based in Berlin, Germany. Founded by Carl Lindström , a Swedish inventor living in Berlin, it originally produced phonographs or gramophones with the brand names "Parlograph" and "Parlophon" and eventually began producing records...

 as "Parlophon", Lindstrom initially used the brand name for gramophone
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...

s before making records. The trademark is a German L, for Lindström. (Coincidentally it also resembles the British pound sign
Pound sign
The pound sign is the symbol for the pound sterling—the currency of the United Kingdom . The same symbol is used for similarly named currencies in some other countries and territories, such as the Irish pound, Gibraltar pound, Australian pound and the Italian lira...

, £, which itself is derived from the letter L for Libra
Ancient Roman units of measurement
The ancient Roman units of measurement were built on the Hellenic system with Egyptian, Hebrew, and Mesopotamian influences. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented.-Length:Notes...

, meaning pound in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

.) During the First World War, the Transoceanic Trading Company was set up in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

 to look after its overseas assets. On August 8, 1923, the British branch of "Parlophone" (with the "e" added) was established, led by A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

 manager Oscar Preuss. Parlophone established a master leasing arrangement with co-owned United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 based Okeh Records
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:...

, making Parlophone a leading jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 label in the UK.

In 1927 the Columbia Graphophone Company
Columbia Graphophone Company
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...

 acquired a controlling interest in the Carl Lindström Company
Carl Lindstrom Company
Carl Lindström A.G. was a global record company founded in 1893 and based in Berlin, Germany. Founded by Carl Lindström , a Swedish inventor living in Berlin, it originally produced phonographs or gramophones with the brand names "Parlograph" and "Parlophon" and eventually began producing records...

 and thereby in Parlophone. In 1931 Columbia merged with 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...

 to form Electric & Musical Industries Ltd (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...

). 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...

 the Parlophone company initially maintained its status as a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 label. In about 1929 or 1930, the "Rhythm Style Series" started: jazz records culled from the OKeh label. Besides the OKeh recordings, Parlophone also issued recordings from US 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...

, Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...

 as well as a few sessions produced at US Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

. As time went on the label also released speciality recordings of spoken-word and comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 recordings, such as the comedy recordings of The Goons and Flanders and Swann
Flanders and Swann
The British duo Flanders and Swann were the actor and singer Michael Flanders and the composer, pianist and linguist Donald Swann , who collaborated in writing and performing comic songs....

.

In 1950, Preuss hired 24-year-old George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...

 as his assistant. When Preuss retired in 1955 Martin succeeded him as label manager.

Leading Parlophone artists in the 1950s included Germany's Obernkirchen Children's Choir and Scottish musician Jimmy Shand
Jimmy Shand
Sir James Shand MBE was a Scottish musician who played traditional Scottish dance music on the accordion.-Early life:...

. At the dawn of the rock era, Parlophone artists such as Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Lyttelton
Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...

, the Vipers Skiffle Group, the pianist Mrs Mills
Mrs Mills
Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

, Jim Dale
Jim Dale
Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...

, Keith Kelly, Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers
Richard Henry Sellers, CBE , known as Peter Sellers, was a British comedian and actor. Perhaps best known as Chief Inspector Clouseau in The Pink Panther film series, he is also notable for playing three different characters in Dr...

, Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins
Bernard Cribbins, OBE is an English character actor, voice-over artist and musical comedian with a career spanning over half a century who came to prominence in films in the 1960s, has been in work consistently since his professional debut in the mid 1950s, and as of 2010 is still an active...

, the Temperance Seven, Laurie London
Laurie London
Laurie London is an English singer, who achieved fame as a boy singer of the 1950s, recording in both English and German....

 and Shane Fenton would sporadically reach the British Top 20 chart. Their only consistently successful act until the "Beat Boom" was that of teen idol Adam Faith
Adam Faith
Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...

: Faith was assigned to the label in 1959 by Norman Newell
Norman Newell
Norman Newell, OBE was born in Plaistow, Essex , and was a successful British record producer in the 1950s and 1960s, as well as co-writer of many notable songs...

, an EMI A&R man "without portfolio". Treading a path similar to other British labels of the era, Parlophone released all manner of domestic and foreign licensed product, including James Brown
James Brown
James Joseph Brown was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and recording artist. He is the originator of Funk and is recognized as a major figure in the 20th century popular music for both his vocals and dancing. He has been referred to as "The Godfather of Soul," "Mr...

, but had little success in comparison to EMI siblings HMV and Columbia
Columbia Graphophone Company
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...

.

The label's fortunes began to rise in 1962, when Martin signed rising new Liverpool band The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

. Along with fellow NEMS stablemates Cilla Black
Cilla Black
Cilla Black OBE is an English singer, actress, entertainer and media personality, who has been consistently popular as a light entertainment figure since 1963. She is most famous for her singles Anyone Who Had A Heart, You're My World, and Alfie...

, Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer
Billy J. Kramer is a British Invasion/Merseybeat singer. In the 1960s he was managed by Brian Epstein, who also managed The Beatles, and he recorded several original Lennon and McCartney compositions.-Early life and career:He grew up as the youngest of seven siblings and attended the St George of...

 and the Fourmost, and contemporary Mancunian band The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...

, The Beatles turned Parlophone into one of the world's most famous and prestigious record labels.

After Martin left to form the Associated Independent Recording (AIR)
Associated Independent Recording
Associated Independent Recording , an independent recording company, was founded in London in 1965 by Beatles producer George Martin and his partner John Burgess after their departure from EMI....

 Studios in 1965, the Parlophone Company was absorbed into EMI's 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...

 unit (renamed EMI Records in 1973) with the Parlophone label maintaining its identity. For a long time Parlophone claimed the best selling UK single "She Loves You
She Loves You
"She Loves You" is a song written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney based on an idea by McCartney, originally recorded by The Beatles for release as a single in 1963. The single set and surpassed several records in the United Kingdom charts, and set a record in the United States by being one of the...

", and the best selling UK album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The label also achieved placement of seven singles at #1 during 1964, when it also claimed top spot in the album charts for 40 of the 52 weeks during that year.

On April 23, 2008 Miles Leonard
Miles Leonard
Miles Leonard is a British music industry executive and is currently president of Parlophone and Virgin A&R labels at EMI Music UK. He has previously worked for Roadrunner Records and been credited as signing and breaking artists including Gorillaz, Coldplay, Tinie Tempah, The Verve and for...

 was confirmed as label president.

Rhythm-Style Series


Beginning in about 1929 or 1930, Parlophone started a series of American jazz records on their "Rhythm Style Series". Edgar Jackson was the director of this series, which was issued within the existing R- series (the first issue was R-448). Culled from the American OKeh label, artists like Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....

, Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...

, Frank Trumbauer, Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

, Miff Mole
Miff Mole
Irving Milfred Mole, better known as Miff Mole was a jazz trombonist and band leader. He is generally considered as one of the greatest jazz trombonists and credited with creating "the first distinctive and influential solo jazz trombone style." His major recordings included "Slippin' Around",...

, and other major artists who recorded for OKeh. These records were usually "split-coupled" (the top and bottom side of each record was usually by different artists and did not correspond with the original American coupling). The "Second New Rhythm-Style" series replaced the first series in about 1931, and there was a separate series for each year from 1934 through 1941, as well as some miscellany series. These 78's were popular and remained in print for years.

Even though these records were never licensed for sale in the U.S., they were heavily imported through jazz shops like Commodore and Liberty in the late 1930s and were sold through the 1940s and into the early 1950s. They are treasured by collectors because they are pressed from the original stampers and usually sound much better than the worn and usually rare U.S. OKeh original records.

The Parlophone PNY series



In the U.S. in 1929 there was a short-lived Parlophone label made and distributed by OKeh. OKeh started the PNY-34000 series (along with the Odeon ONY-36000 series) lasting until late 1930 or early 1931. No one has been able to determine for whom these two labels were intended for, since many surviving copies are in new condition. Speculation amongst record collectors is that that these records were found uncirculated in a warehouse, and that they were possibly intended to be sold off-shore in U.S. possessions (Guam, Hawaii, etc.).

The Beatles



Parlophone released The Beatles albums up to Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Subsequent releases - The Beatles
The Beatles (album)
The Beatles is the ninth official album by the English rock group The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is also commonly known as "The White Album" as it has no graphics or text other than the band's name embossed on its plain white sleeve.The album was written and recorded during a...

 (The White Album), Yellow Submarine
Yellow Submarine (album)
Yellow Submarine is the tenth studio album by The Beatles in the United Kingdom, released on Apple Records. It was issued as the soundtrack to the film of the same name, which premiered in the United Kingdom seven months prior to the album's release....

, Abbey Road and Let It Be were issued on their own Apple
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...

 label, distributed by EMI and bearing Parlophone catalogue numbers.

Beatles albums released by Parlophone
  1. Please Please Me
    Please Please Me
    Please Please Me is the debut album by the English rock band The Beatles. Parlophone rush-released the album on 22 March 1963 in the United Kingdom to capitalise on the success of singles "Please Please Me" and "Love Me Do" .Of the album's fourteen songs, eight were written by Lennon–McCartney...

     (1963)
  2. With The Beatles
    With the Beatles
    With The Beatles is the second studio album by the English rock group The Beatles. It was released on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, and was recorded four months after the band's debut Please Please Me...

     (1963)
  3. A Hard Day's Night
    A Hard Day's Night (album)
    A Hard Day's Night is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964 as the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing...

     (1964)
  4. Beatles for Sale
    Beatles for Sale
    Beatles for Sale is the fourth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released in late 1964 and produced by George Martin for Parlophone. The album marked a minor turning point in the evolution of Lennon and McCartney as lyricists, John Lennon particularly now showing interest in...

     (1964)
  5. Help!
    Help! (album)
    Help! is the title of the fifth British and ninth American album by The Beatles, and the soundtrack from their film of the same name. Produced by George Martin for EMI's Parlophone Records, it contains fourteen songs in its original British form, of which seven appeared in the film...

     (1965)
  6. Rubber Soul
    Rubber Soul
    Rubber Soul is the sixth studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released in December 1965. Produced by George Martin, Rubber Soul had been recorded in just over four weeks to make the Christmas market...

     (1965)
  7. Revolver
    Revolver (album)
    Revolver is the seventh studio album by the English rock group The Beatles, released on 5 August 1966 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. Many of the tracks on Revolver are marked by an electric guitar-rock sound, in contrast with their previous LP, the folk rock inspired Rubber...

     (1966)
  8. A Collection of Beatles Oldies
    A Collection of Beatles Oldies
    A Collection of Beatles Oldies is a compilation album featuring a selection of songs by The Beatles recorded between 1963 and 1966...

     (1966)
  9. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
    Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin...

     (1967)

Current artists


Parlophone is still an important pop label with artists such as Coldplay
Coldplay
Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

, Gorillaz
Gorillaz
Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

, and Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

 among others. It is also EMI's oldest active label: its contemporary HMV, was always more of a classical music label and ceased issuing popular music recordings in 1967 (it is now known as EMI Classics
EMI Classics
EMI Classics is a record label of EMI, formed in 1990 in order to reduce the need to create country-specific packaging and catalogs for internationally distributed classical music releases....

); English Columbia
Columbia Graphophone Company
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...

 has been replaced by the EMI
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...

 pop label. Parlophone also operates the imprint Regal Recordings
Regal Recordings
Regal Recordings is a British record label functioning as an imprint of Parlophone.-Background:Regal Records was a British record label founded in 1914 as a subsidiary of the UK branch of Columbia Records known as Columbia Graphophone Company...

, a contemporary revival of the historic Columbia Graphophone budget/reissue label founded in 1914.

An interesting note is that Parlophone's 45 rpm releases continue, as of late 2011, to be numbered using the same "R-xxxx" catalog number series that it has used continuously since 1956 (starting around R-4200 and currently up to the R-6800 range).

Artists signed to Parlophone


  • Adam Faith
    Adam Faith
    Terence "Terry" Nelhams-Wright, known as Adam Faith was a Teen idol English singer, actor and later financial journalist. He was one of the most charted acts of the 1960s. He became the first UK artist to lodge his initial seven hits in the Top 5...

  • Alice in Chains
    Alice in Chains
    Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...

  • All Saints
    All Saints (band)
    All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton...

  • Atlanta Smith
  • Athlete
    Athlete (band)
    Athlete are a British rock band formed in Deptford, London, comprising Joel Pott , Carey Willetts , Stephen Roberts and Tim Wanstall...

  • Babyshambles
    Babyshambles
    Babyshambles are an English indie rock band established in London. The band was formed by Pete Doherty during a hiatus from his former band The Libertines, but Babyshambles has since become his main project . Babyshambles has released two albums, three EPs and a number of singles...

  • Bat for Lashes
    Bat for Lashes
    Natasha Khan , also known by her stage name Bat for Lashes, is an English musician. She sings and plays the piano, bass, guitar, harpsichord and the autoharp....

  • The Beatles
    The Beatles
    The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

  • Beverley Knight
    Beverley Knight
    Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...

  • Bliss
    Bliss (band)
    Bliss are a pop group from Coventry, England.-Biography:Bliss was founded in 1986 by vocalist Rachel Morrison and bassist Paul Ralphes, who were the primary songwriters. Apart from the two founder members, the group also consisted of Paul Sirett , Chris Baker and Roger Askew...

  • Blur
    Blur (band)
    Blur is an English alternative rock band. Formed in London in 1989 as Seymour, the group consists of singer Damon Albarn, guitarist Graham Coxon, bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree. Blur's debut album Leisure incorporated the sounds of Madchester and shoegazing...

  • Bobby Lewis
    Bobby Lewis
    Bobby Lewis is an African American rock and roll and R&B singer.-Biography:Lewis learned to play the piano by age six. Adopted at age twelve, he moved to a home in Detroit, Michigan...

  • Bobby Tench
    Bobby Tench
    Robert Tench , also known as Bob Tench, Bobby Tench and Bobby Gass is a British vocalist and guitarist. Originally a bass player he began singing with Gass influenced by artists such as Sam Cooke and Ray Charles...

  • Chiddy Bang
    Chiddy Bang
    Chiddy Bang is an American alternative hip hop band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The group consists of Chidera "Chiddy" Anamege and Noah "Xaphoon Jones" Beresin. The duo was introduced through former band member Zachary Sewall in late 2008 during their freshman year at Drexel University, in...

  • The Chemical Brothers
    The Chemical Brothers
    The Chemical Brothers are a British electronic music duo comprising Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons. Originating in Manchester in 1991, along with The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim, The Crystal Method, and fellow acts, they were pioneers at bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture.- Background...

  • Coldplay
    Coldplay
    Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

  • Deep Purple
    Deep Purple
    Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...

  • Dick James
    Dick James
    Dick James , born Reginald Leon Isaac Vapnick, was a music publisher and the founder of the DJM record label and recording studios, as well as The Beatles' publisher Northern Songs.-Early life:...

  • Divine Comedy
    The Divine Comedy (band)
    The Divine Comedy are a chamber pop band from Ireland, fronted by Neil Hannon. Formed in 1989, Hannon has been the only constant member of the group, playing, in some instances, all of the non-orchestral instrumentation bar drums. To date, ten studio albums have been released under the Divine...

  • Dorothy Squires
    Dorothy Squires
    Dorothy Squires was a Welsh vocalist. Among her recordings were versions of "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening", "I'm in the Mood for Love", "Anytime", "If You Love Me " and "And So to Sleep Again".-Biography:...

  • Duran Duran
    Duran Duran
    Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...

  • Dusty Springfield
    Dusty Springfield
    Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...

  • Eliza Doolittle
  • The Fourmost
    The Fourmost
    The Fourmost were an English Merseybeat band that recorded in the 1960s. Their biggest UK hit single was "A Little Loving" in 1964.-Biography:...

  • G Frsh
  • Gass
    Gass (band)
    Gass was a rock band formed in May 1965 by Robert Tench, Godfrey and Errol McLean. They were managed by The Active Management Group. The band fused inspired melodies with soul, Latin influences, blues and progressive rock often employing complex rhythms....

  • The Good Natured
    The Good Natured
    The Good Natured are an English electropop band, consisting of Sarah McIntosh on vocals and keyboards, her brother Hamish McIntosh on bass and George Hinton on drums....

  • The Good, the Bad and the Queen
    The Good, the Bad and the Queen
    The Good, the Bad & the Queen is the album by an ostensibly unnamed British alternative rock supergroup also commonly referred to as The Good, The Bad & The Queen, and made up of Damon Albarn, Paul Simonon, Simon Tong and Tony Allen. The album was released in January 2007...

  • Gorillaz
    Gorillaz
    Gorillaz is an English musical project created in 1998 by Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett. This project consists of Gorillaz music itself and an extensive fictional universe depicting a "virtual band" of cartoon characters...

  • Gyllene Tider
    Gyllene Tider
    Gyllene Tider is a Swedish pop group. The name Gyllene Tider translates as "Golden ages" or "Golden times". Few Scandinavians would not recognize the band's most famous song "Sommartider", often played on the radio during late spring and early summer...

  • Hollies
  • Humphrey Lyttelton
    Humphrey Lyttelton
    Humphrey Richard Adeane Lyttelton , also known as Humph, was an English jazz musician and broadcaster, and chairman of the BBC radio comedy programme I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue...

  • Interpol
    Interpol (band)
    Interpol is an American indie rock and post-punk revival band from New York City. Formed in 1997, the band's original line-up consisted of Paul Banks , Daniel Kessler , Carlos Dengler and Greg Drudy . Drudy left the band in 2000 and was replaced by Sam Fogarino...

  • Jamelia
    Jamelia
    Jamelia Niela Davis , best known mononymously as Jamelia, is an English singer-songwriter, model, entertainer, television presenter and actress. She is most famous for her use of a cappella and prolific work in the R&B genre...

  • Jim Dale
    Jim Dale
    Jim Dale, MBE is an English actor, voice artist, singer and songwriter. He is best known in the United Kingdom for his many appearances in the Carry On series of films and in the US for narrating the Harry Potter audiobook series, for which he received two Grammy Awards, and the ABC series Pushing...

  • John Barry Seven
  • John Lennon
    John Lennon
    John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

  • Kay Kyser
    Kay Kyser
    James Kern Kyser was a popular bandleader and radio personality of the 1930s and 1940s.-Early years:He was born in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the son of pharmacists Paul Bynum Kyser and Emily Royster Kyser. Editor Vermont C. Royster was his cousin...

  • Keith Kelly
  • King Brothers
    King Brothers
    King Brothers [キング・ブラザーズ] is a rock band from Nishinomiya City in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan. Formed in 1997, the band made its major label debut on Toshiba EMI in 2001...

  • Kylie Minogue
    Kylie Minogue
    Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

  • Late of the Pier
    Late of the Pier
    Late of the Pier are a four-piece dance-punk band from Castle Donington, England, currently signed to Phantasy. Their debut album Fantasy Black Channel was released on 11 August 2008 by Parlophone produced by Erol Alkan.- History :...

  • Laurie London
    Laurie London
    Laurie London is an English singer, who achieved fame as a boy singer of the 1950s, recording in both English and German....

  • Lily Allen
    Lily Allen
    Lily Rose Beatrice Cooper , better known as Lily Allen, is an English recording artist and fashion designer. She is the daughter of actor and musician Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. In her teenage years, her musical tastes evolved from glam rock to alternative...

  • Love Sculpture
    Love Sculpture
    Love Sculpture were a Welsh blues-rock band of the late 1960s, led by Dave Edmunds , plus bassist John Williams - stage name John David and drummer Rob 'Congo' Jones .-Career:Love...

  • Mansun
    Mansun
    Mansun were an English alternative rock band formed in Chester in 1995. The band comprised vocalist/rhythm guitarist Paul Draper, bassist Stove King, lead guitarist/backing vocalist Dominic Chad, and drummer Andie Rathbone. The band broke up in May 2003....

  • Medina
    Medina (singer)
    Medina Danielle Oona Valbak , known by the mononym Medina is a Danish pop, dance and R&B singer and songwriter....

  • Moonwalk (musician)
    Moonwalk (musician)
    Moonwalk is a music producer from California, USA. He has made a huge impact on the music industry with his skilled art. He is part of Parlophone, Mocha, and Spenciefy music labels. He was also one of the first dubstep producers and unique mixers when the style was booming in early 2011...

  • Morning Alumni
  • Morning Parade
    Morning Parade
    Morning Parade are a five piece band from Harlow, Essex. It comprises Steve Sparrow, lead vocals and guitar, Phill Titus, bass, Chad Thomas, guitar, Ben Giddings, piano/synths and Andrew Hayes, drums. They make rock tracks with a distinct 90s dance anthem influence.-Formation:The band have been...

  • MPHO
  • Mrs Mills
    Mrs Mills
    Gladys Mills, née Gladys Jordan , better known as Mrs Mills, was a British popular pianist who was active in the 1960s and who released many records...

  • Otis Waygood
    Otis Waygood
    Otis Waygood was a blues band in the 1960s in Salisbury, Rhodesia . The original members were Benny Miller, Rob Zipper, Alan Zipper, Leigh Sagar, Angus McLean and Billy Toon.-History:...

  • The Paramounts
    The Paramounts
    The Paramounts were an English beat group, based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex. They had one hit single with their cover version of "Poison Ivy", which reached #35 on the UK Singles Chart in 1964, but are primarily known as the fore-runner to Procol Harum....

  • Paul McCartney
    Paul McCartney
    Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...

  • Pet Shop Boys
    Pet Shop Boys
    Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

  • Duffy Power
    Duffy Power
    Duffy Power is an English blues and rock and roll singer, who achieved some success in the 1960s and has performed and recorded intermittently since then.-Career:...

  • Queen
    Queen (band)
    Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...

  • Queen + Paul Rodgers
    Queen + Paul Rodgers
    Queen + Paul Rodgers was a supergroup collaboration between Brian May and Roger Taylor of Queen and Paul Rodgers...

  • Radiohead
    Radiohead
    Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...

  • Rainbow Ffolly
    Rainbow Ffolly
    Rainbow Ffolly were an English psychedelic pop band who released only one LP, Sallies Fforth, in 1968. Their only single, "Drive My Car", failed to garner much success on the charts, and they disbanded shortly thereafter...

  • Rappin P
  • Scarlet Party
    Scarlet Party
    Scarlet Party was formed in Essex, England, in the early 1980s. The founder members were, singer/songwriters Graham Dye, and brother Steven Dye, with drummer Sean Heaphy....

  • Shane Fenton
  • Sky Ferreira
    Sky Ferreira
    Sky Ferreira , is an American model, singer, songwriter, and actress. On March 22, 2011, Ferreira released her first digital extended play, As If!.-Early life:...

  • Supergrass
    Supergrass
    Supergrass was an English alternative rock band from Oxford. The band consisted of brothers Gaz and Rob Coombes , Mick Quinn and Danny Goffey ....

  • Temperance Seven
  • Teresa Teng
    Teresa Teng
    Teresa Teng , was an immensely popular and influential Chinese pop singer from Taiwan. Teresa Teng's voice and songs are instantly recognized throughout East Asia and in areas with large Asian populations...

  • Tina Turner
    Tina Turner
    Tina Turner is an American singer and actress whose career has spanned more than 50 years. She has won numerous awards and her achievements in the rock music genre have led many to call her the "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll".Turner started out her music career with husband Ike Turner as a member of the...

  • Tinie Tempah
    Tinie Tempah
    Patrick Chukwuemeka Okogwu , better known by his stage name Tinie Tempah, is a British rapper. He made his first mixtape in 2007 with 28 songs, freestyles and remixes, the album features Mz Bratt, Chipmunk and G-Unit...

  • The Verve
    The Verve
    The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1989 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboardist Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space...

  • TheViCkers
  • Vince Taylor
    Vince Taylor
    Vince Taylor was a British rock and roll singer. As the frontman for The Playboys, Taylor was successful primarily in France and the Continent during the late 1950s and early 1960s, afterwards falling into obscurity amidst personal problems and drug abuse.-Early life:Born Brian Maurice Holden,...

  • Vipers Skiffle Group
  • Waltari
    Waltari
    Waltari is a band from Finland, known for its diversity and combination of music styles, frequently combining alternative metal, progressive metal, death metal, hard rock, heavy metal, hip hop, industrial, pop, punk, rap, symphonic metal, techno and thrash metal.Most of the band's music is written...

  • Zeus Deuce
    Zeus Deuce
    - Zeus Deuce : Born Julian Bowman also known as Iron Lung or ILLAAn American Hip-Hop artist and producer under Parlophone Records . Gaining notoriety as a rising star from the underground to mainstream, Zeus is known for his old school yet modified style of delivery and production. He is currently...



Parlophone record labels



The labels shown here include those used for 78s and LPs. The label design for 7" singles had the same standard template as several other EMI labels, with the large "45" insignia to the right. In recent years, design uniformity has relaxed from release to release.

External links

  • Official Website
  • Parlophone MySpace page
  • Parlophone on YouTube
    YouTube
    YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....

  • Official Yahoo! Group for Parlophone Records
  • Parlophone on Facebook
    Facebook
    Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...

  • Parlophone on Twitter
    Twitter
    Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...