Some Favourite Labels

Introduction

When I was first getting into music, there were certain labels that had a familial feel to them, and seemed not to be part of the mainstream, although they were owned by someone like EMI, Warner or Sony.

Many of these labels are still around, but have lost their identity with the rise of streaming and the move away from physical media.

The music is around, and you can pick up stuff second-hand, but bands have become a lot more independent in the digital age and are not as tied to record labels.

I particularly like the Harvest label design (Storm Thorgerson/Hypgnosis?), and whoever designed that Vertigo one made the perfect record label (it even looks 3D when still).

All these labels produced loss-leading samplers which I still enjoy listening to today, although streaming put an end to that.

Here are a couple of my sampler-based playlists:

El Pea

Island

Stiff

So here are a few favourites from the labels in my opening photograph:

Deep Purple - "Child In Time" from "In Rock" on the Harvest Label

This was my first Harvest album, and apparently, the song has been featured in "Stranger Things". I always wanted to play "Speed King" live, but never found a band that wanted to do it. This is an absolutely monstrous rock classic. It clocks at ten minutes, but never seems that to me.

Aphrodite's Child - "The Four Horsemen" from "666" and the "Suck It And See" sampler on Vertigo

I first heard this in a youth club on the "666" album, which someone told me had been banned because of its Satanic connections. I think that was not true. Some of the music on the album is stunning, and I was shocked to find the vocalist was the easy listening voice of Demis Roussos and the keyboards were played by Vangelis.

I put together the slideshow using the apocalyptic paintings of John Martin, the North East's greatest ever artist.

Jethro Tull - "Locomotive Breath" from "Aqualung" on Chrysalis

This song is an absolute monster, continually changing style and pace, until it finally hits you over the head. Absolutely monstrous and used for the introduction to an episode of "Fargo", which, if it's allowed in your area and you have the stomach for it, you can watch below. The song is perfect for the sequence:

Emerson, Lake and Palmer - "Knife Edge" from "Emerson, Lake and Palmer" on Island

Keith Emerson was probably one of the greatest keyboard showmen we will ever see. He had been with the Nice, and in the piece below, you can check out more of his amazing work in this piece, including the spinning piano sequence. Greg Lake came from King Crimson, and Carl Palmer from Atomic Rooster, so the band were the epitome of Progressive Rock.

This was from their debut album.

Mike Oldfield - "Tubular Bells" on Virgin

For this, I have found the 1973 live broadcast. This is just part one of the whole piece, but this solo effort was what made Virgin Records. I, and a lot of other people, bought it. It was also used in the film "The Exorcist", which annoyed a lot of people, that such a beautiful piece of music could be used to soundtrack a horror film. I suppose money talks to most people.

Van Der Graaf Generator - "Refugee" from "The Least We Can Do Is Wave To Each Other" and "68-71" on Charisma

This is an absolute beauty. VDGG are an amazing band, and I think on "Pawn Hearts", there were no guitars, certainly when I saw them at Preston Charter Theatre in the seventies, there were none, which is not what you expect for a rock band, even if they are progressive.

Conclusion

Thank you for reading, and listening, and I hope you found something that piqued your interest.