Manticore Records is a

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 ...

launched by the Manticore production company in 1973. These companies were owned by the members of the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

group

Emerson, Lake & Palmer Emerson, Lake & Palmer (informally known as ELP) were an English progressive rock supergroup formed in London in 1970. The band consisted of Keith Emerson (keyboards), Greg Lake (vocals, bass, guitar, producer) and Carl Palmer (drums, percus ...

(commonly known as ELP.) and their manager, Stewart Young. The

manticore The manticore or mantichore (Latin: ''mantichōra''; reconstructed Old Persian: ; Modern fa, مردخوار ) is a Persian legendary creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx that proliferated in western European medieval art as well. It has the ...

was first featured in the artwork for the second ELP album ''

Tarkus ''Tarkus'' is the second studio album by English progressive rock band Emerson, Lake & Palmer, released in June 1971 on Island Records and on Cotillion Records (Atlantic) in August in the U.S. Following their 1970 European tour, the group ret ...

'', as one of the eponymous creature's adversaries (the only one able to inflict damage on the Tarkus creature, according to the sleeve illustrations). Manticore was initially the name given to ELP's music publishers, credits first appearing in the credits on ''Trilogy'', released on Island in 1972. Initially, the label was manufactured and distributed by Island Records, distributed by Island/EMI, but ELP were unhappy with Island's overseas licensing of their previous records via

Cotillion The cotillion (also cotillon or French country dance) is a social dance, popular in 18th-century Europe and North America. Originally for four couples in square formation, it was a courtly version of an English country dance, the forerunner ...

, and looked to RCA for interim distribution before choosing WEA for a manufacturing and distribution deal. The label was then distributed by Atlantic Records (part of WEA) in the UK. (In the US, Atlantic Records distributed the label from 1973 until 1975. Motown Records took over US distribution until the label shut down in 1977.) Although inactive in the UK for new releases (ELP had signed to Atlantic in 1977), the label remained active for back catalogue sales. Although Manticore was inactive for many years most of its recordings have been re-issued by other labels. The label was relaunched in 2017 under authorization from the Greg Lake estate, stating one of his last wishes was to bring the label back. ''Live in Piacenza'' is the first release on the new incarnation of Manticore, released on 7 December 2017. The second was the last album Greg Lake produced before his death, ''Moonchild'' by Annie Barbazza and Max Repetti. The third one was

John Greaves John Greaves (1602 – 8 October 1652) was an English mathematician, astronomer and antiquarian. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford, he was elected a Fellow of Merton College in 1624. He studied Persian and Arabic, acquired a number of old ...

', ''Life Size''. One artist considered by the label, but subsequently not signed, was

Steve Swindells Steve Swindells (born 21 November 1952) is an English singer-songwriter, keyboardist, party organizer, club promoter and journalist. Life and career Early life Swindells grew up in the Bath and Bristol area, dropping out of art college to play ...

, whose first LP,
Messages
', was released instead by RCA. Swindells later joined

Pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...

, and the

Hawklords Hawklords were an English music group active between 1978 and 1979. Members were from Hawkwind, who were inactive during that period, (Robert Calvert – vocals, Dave Brock – guitar and Simon King – drums) and a local Devon group named A ...

Artists

Banco del Mutuo Soccorso Banco del Mutuo Soccorso (English: ''Bank of Mutual Relief'') is an Italian rock band. A popular progressive rock band in the 1970s, they continued making music in the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, they were still active, playing live in 2001 and ...

, Italian prog-rock band, also known as Banco *

Keith Christmas Keith Peter Christmas (born 13 October 1946, Wivenhoe, near Colchester, Essex, England) is an English singer and songwriter. He attended Bath University to read architecture but, because the Architecture School was, at that time, based in Ki ...

* Keith Emerson, solo *

, British prog-rock supergroup, also known as ELP *

, British bass guitarist, a member of

Henry Cow Henry Cow were an English experimental rock group, founded at the University of Cambridge in 1968 by multi-instrumentalists Fred Frith and Tim Hodgkinson. Henry Cow's personnel fluctuated over their decade together, but drummer Chris Cutler, b ...

Hanson Hanson or Hansson may refer to: People * Hanson (surname) * Hansson (surname) * Hanson (wrestler), ringname of an American professional wrestler Musical groups * Hanson (band), an American pop rock band * Hanson (UK band), an English rock ...

, British rock band (not the US pop trio) * Greg Lake, solo * Little Richard *

Premiata Forneria Marconi Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM) (translation: ''Award-winning Marconi Bakery'') is an Italian progressive rock band founded in 1970 which continues to the present day. They were the first Italian group to have success internationally. The group ...

, also known as PFM *

Pete Sinfield Peter John Sinfield (born 27 December 1943) is an English poet and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and former lyricist of King Crimson, whose debut album ''In the Court of the Crimson King'' is considered one of the first and mos ...

* Stray Dog

References

External links

Manticore official website

British record labels Vanity record labels Progressive rock record labels {{UK-record-label-stub

Artists

See also

References

External links