Dandelion Records was a British

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

started on 18 July 1969 by the British DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

History

The label was started as a way to get the music Peel liked onto record. Peel was responsible for "artistic direction" and the commercial side was handled by Clive Selwood of

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

and his wife Shirley. Peel wrote: Dandelion and the sister publishing company Biscuit were named after Peel's hamsters at the suggestion of his then flatmate

Marc Bolan Marc Bolan ( ; born Mark Feld; 30 September 1947 – 16 September 1977) was an English guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted int ...

. Around twenty eight albums were released by the label. One album was by

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rockabilly and rock and roll. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, " Be-Bop-a-Lula ...

, with a cast of musicians including members of

The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

and Steppenwolf. Others were by younger or non-commercial artists, including

Beau Beau may refer to: * Beau (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name, nickname or surname * Beau (guitarist) (born 1946), songwriter and 12-string guitar specialist * Beau (grape), another name for the Italian wine grape ...

Bridget St John Bridget St John (born Bridget Anne Hobbs; 4 October 1946 in Surrey, England) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for the three albums she recorded between 1969 and 1972 for John Peel's Dandelion record label. Peel produced ...

Medicine Head Medicine Head were a British blues rock band – initially a duo – active in the 1970s. Their biggest single success was in 1973 with " One and One Is One", which reached number 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The group recorded six original albums ...

Clifford T. Ward Clifford Thomas Ward (10 February 1944 – 18 December 2001) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for his career as a solo artist. Ward's 1973 album '' Home Thoughts'' remains his best known recording and he had hit singles with "G ...

David Bedford David Vickerman Bedford (4 August 1937 – 1 October 2011) was an English composer and musician. He wrote and played both popular and classical music. He was the brother of the conductor Steuart Bedford, the grandson of the composer, painter ...

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone. Biography Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...

, Stack Waddy,

Tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

Kevin Coyne Kevin Coyne (27 January 1944 – 2 December 2004) was an English musician, singer, composer, film-maker, and a writer of lyrics, stories and poems. The "anti-star" was born in Derby, Derbyshire, England, and died in his adopted home of Nurember ...

/Siren, and Denmark's Burnin' Red Ivanhoe. The only record ever to make the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

was " (And The) Pictures in the Sky" by

, which reached #22 in 1971. Beau's "1917 Revolution" made #1 in the Lebanon in 1969. Dandelion Records were distributed by, successively,

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

. The label ran until late

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, me ...

when it started to try to place its artists with other labels as its distribution via Polydor had ceased. It had issued about a dozen singles and two dozen albums. Several releases attracted a cult audience but never quite crossed into the mainstream, although one of the last singles, Clifford T. Ward's 'Coathanger', from his debut album 'Singer Songwriter', attracted a certain amount of airplay on Radio 1. Both Tractor and Medicine Head appeared fairly high in various album charts- Medicine Head would go on to appear on Top of the Pops and Tractor would get heavily involved in the hippy festival circuit which they still make rare appearances on to this day. As Peel himself told ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' in 1994, 'when you can't afford full-page ads in the music press, artists become very resentful...there's no faster way of losing friends.' One of the most curious albums issued by the label was a sampler, '' There is Some Fun Going Forward''. Most Dandelion recordings have been reissued on vinyl and/or CD. A batch of half a dozen came out on CD on Repertoire Records in the early 1990s, followed by the whole catalogue as two-on-one CDs by See For Miles Records in the mid-1990s. Individual albums have been licensed around the world, with major catalogue releases since 2005 on

Cherry Red Records Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything But the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well ...

in the UK and Airmail Archive Recordings in Japan. Cherry Red acquired the entire catalogue of original Dandelion Records recordings (excluding Tractor / The Way We Live) in September 2009. The UK trade mark Dandelion Records and its Dandelion flower logo are the intellectual property of Ozit Morpheus Records who have released new recordings under the Dandelion Records brand. The Dandelion Records by Tractor and The Way We Live were reissued in the 2000s by Ozit Morpheus Records, as was a six-hour DVD about John Peel and some of the artists on Dandelion Records. This was released as a tribute to John in November 2008. It includes a contribution from his wife Sheila Ravenscroft.

Discography

Albums

*63750:

– ''Ask Me No Questions'' *S63751:

– ''Beau'' *63752:

Principal Edwards Magic Theatre Principal Edwards Magic Theatre was an English performance art collective in the United Kingdom made up of about 14 musicians, poets, dancers, and sound and lighting technicians. It existed between 1968 and 1971, after which core members forme ...

– ''Soundtrack'' *63753: Occasional Word Ensemble – ''The Year of the Great Leap Sideways'' *63754:

– ''I'm Back and I'm Proud'' *63755: Siren – ''Siren'' *63756: Mike Hart – ''Mike Hart Bleeds'' *63757:

– ''New Bottles Old Medicine'' *DAN8001/K49001: Siren – ''Strange Locomotion'' *DAN8002/K49002:

– ''The Asomoto Running Band'' *DAN8003/K49003: Stack Waddy – '' Stack Waddy'' *DAN8004/K49004: The Way We Live – ''A Candle for Judith'' *DAN8005/K49005: Medicine Head – ''Heavy on the Drum'' *DAN8006/K49006:

– ''Creation (With The Way We Live)'' *DAN8007/K49007: Bridget St John – ''Songs for the Gentle Man'' *DSD8008/K69001:

– ''Ear of Beholder'' *2310145: Burnin' Red Ivanhoe – ''WWW'' *2310146: Supersister – ''To the Highest Bidder'' *2310165:

– ''

Nurses Song with Elephants ''Nurses Song with Elephants'' is the debut solo album of David Bedford. It was released in 1972 by Dandelion Records. It features Mike Oldfield, Kevin Ayers and composer Gilbert Biberian. Track listing All tracks composed by David Bedford. #"It' ...

'' *2310166: Medicine Head – ''Dark Side of the Moon'' *2310193: Bridget St John – ''Thank You For'' *2310211: Mike Hart – ''Basher Chalky Pongo and Me'' (as Mike Hart & the Comrades) *2310216:

– ''Singer Songwriter'' *2310217:

– ''Tractor'' *2310228:

– '' Case History'' (1972) *2310231: Stack Waddy – ''

Bugger Off! ''Bugger Off!'' is the second album by Stack Waddy, released in 1972 on Dandelion Records. The album liner notes by Dandelion Records's owner and executive producer, John Peel, indicate each song was recorded in a single live take with the b ...

'' *2485021: Various artists – '' There is Some Fun Going Forward'' (

sampler album A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record lab ...

)

Singles

*4403:

– "1917 Revolution" / "Sleeping Town" *4404: Bridget St John – "To B Without A Hitch" / "Autumn Lullaby" *4405: Principal Edwards Magic Theatre – "Ballad of the Big Girl Now" / "Lament for Earth" *4493: Clague - "Mandy Lee" / "Bottle Up and Go" (With Kevin Coyne) *4494: Coyne-Clague – "The Stride" / "I Wonder Where" *S 4596: Gene Vincent – "Be-Bop-A-Lula '69" / " Ruby Baby" *4661: Medicine Head – "His Guiding Hand" / "This Love of Old" *4781: Mike Hart – "Yawney Morning Song" / "Almost Liverpool 8" *4786:

Bill Oddie William Edgar Oddie (born 7 July 1941) is an English writer, comedian, songwriter, musician, artist, birder, conservationist, television presenter and actor. He was a member of comedy trio The Goodies. A birder since his childhood in Quinto ...

– "

On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at" (Standard English: ''On Ilkley Moor without a hat'') is a folk song from Yorkshire, England. It is sung in the Yorkshire dialect, and is considered the unofficial anthem of Yorkshire. According to Andrew Gant, the words ...

" / "Harry Krishna" *S 4974: Gene Vincent – " White Lightning" / "

Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) "Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)" is a popular folk style ballad. The music was written by Evelyn Danzig and the lyrics by Jack Segal. The song has become a standard with many recorded versions and has appeared on several Christmas albums. Back ...

" *S 5075: Medicine Head – "Coast to Coast" / "All for Tomorrow" *S 5119: Stack Waddy – "Roadrunner" / "Kentucky" *DAN7002/K19004: Siren – "Strange Locomotion" / "I'm All Aching" *DAN7003/K19002: Medicine Head – " (And The) Pictures in the Sky" / "Natural Sight" *DAN7004/K19003: Yamasukis – "Yamasuki" / "Aieaoa" *2001276: Medicine Head – "Kum On" / "On the Land" *2001282: Tractor – "Stoney Glory" / "Marie" / "As You Say" *2001325: Medicine Head – "Only To Do What Is True" / "Sittin' in the Sun" *2001327: Clifford T. Ward – "Carrie" / "Sidetrack" *2001331: Stack Waddy – "You Really Got Me" / "Willie the Pimp" *2001357: Kevin Coyne – "Cheat Me" / "Flowering Cherry" *2001382: Clifford T Ward – "Coathanger" / "Rayne" *2001383: Medicine Head – "How Does It Feel" / "Morning Light" *2058214: Coxhill Bedford Duo – "Mood" / " Sonny Boy" / " Oh Mein Papa" (

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

by Will Dandy & the Dandylettes)

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

The original John Peel's Dandelion Label site

a detailed site on Dandelion Records
{{Authority control British record labels Record labels established in 1969 Record labels disestablished in 1972 Alternative rock record labels John Peel