Polygon Records was a British

independent record labels An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represente ...

History

The label was started in 1949 as the Polygon Record Company Ltd. by

Alan A. Freeman Alan Albert Freeman, known professionally as Alan A. Freeman (27 September 1920 – 15 March 1985)General Register Office; United Kingdom; Volume: ''15''; Page: ''284''. ''England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007'' atabase ...

and Leslie Clark, who was anxious to control distribution of his daughter

Petula Clark Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades. Clark's professional career began during the ...

's recordings. (Those associated with it fondly referred to the company as "Dead Parrot Records".) The two opened offices on

Grosvenor Place Grosvenor Place is a street in Belgravia, London, running from Hyde Park Corner down the west side of Buckingham Palace gardens, and joining lower Grosvenor Place where there are some cafes and restaurants. It joins Grosvenor Gardens to the ...

in the

Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a boundary betw ...

section of

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, and arranged Clark's first recording session with

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

and his orchestra and a vocal backing group called the Stargazers. Since Polygon's UK distribution was not yet in existence, the first 78rpm single - "You Go to My Head" backed with "Out of a Clear Blue Sky" - was released in Australia, followed by a cover of

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

's "Music! Music! Music!" backed with "Blossoms on the Bough", both on the Esquire label. In fact, the first Polygon release in the UK was not by Clark but by

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and trumpeter. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he forme ...

and his orchestra. Clark's first official Polygon release was "You Are My True Love"/"You're the Sweetest in the Land" in 1950. Her first big hit came in June 1954 with 'The Little Shoemaker' (Polygon P1117). In all, she recorded more than fifty songs for the label, including a few duets with its other major artist, Jimmy Young, then best known as a singer. Jimmy Young recorded his big hit 'Too Young' for the Polygon label (P1013) in 1951, but this was before the days of UK record charts which started in November 1952. Near the end of 1955, Polygon was sold to

Nixa Records Nixa Record Company Ltd. was founded in 1950 by F. H. B. Nixon. Nixa was the second company, after Decca, to release LP records in Britain (at the time, EMI was attempting to promote 45 rpm records over 33 LP records). The record label, which trad ...

, then part of

Pye Records Pye Records was a British record label. Its best known artists were Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1957–1971), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherho ...

, which led to the establishment of Pye Nixa Records. Nixa utilized a selection of Clark's Polygon tapes to release her first LP, ''Petula Clark Sings''. Clark's complete Polygon catalogue is available on CD - originally re-issued as ''The Polygon Years, Volume One (1950–1952)'' and ''The Polygon Years, Volume Two (1952–1955''). However, when Polygon was first merged with Nixa, one of the two Nissen huts used for storing the label's master tapes was demolished with the contents still inside. Thus, as a consequence, the only source for around half of Polygon's masters is original 78rpm discs. The first CD reissues of these recordings therefore suffered from poor sound, which was not improved until 2007 on the compilation ''It Had to Be You - The Complete Early Singles''.

Notable artists

* Jimmy Young *

Dorothy Squires Dorothy Squires (born Edna May Squires, 25 March 1915 – 14 April 1998) was a Welsh singer. Her early successes were achieved with " The Gypsy", " A Tree in the Meadow" and " I'm Walking Behind You" by her partner Billy Reid, and " Say It w ...

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1949 Record labels disestablished in 1955 British independent record labels Pop record labels

History

Notable artists

See also

References