DECCA
RECORDS
Decca was formed in 1929 by
stockbroker Edward Lewis. It acquired the rights to Brunswick records and
to those of several other companies, and by the mid '30s it had become of one
Britain's major players in the record business. It started an American
branch in 1934. The '40s saw the company introducing the
revolutionary FFSS recording system, which brought a lifelike clarity to its
recordings and helped it to consolidate its place as one of the best Classical
Music labels. Decca flourished in the '30s and '40s with the likes of
the Andrews Sisters and Jimmy Dorsey; Tommy Steele, Max Bygraves and Winifred
Atwell, among others, kept the pot boiling through the 50s; while the company's
major recording artists in the '60s included Billy Fury, the Bachelors, Tom
Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck and the Rolling Stones. The '70s, however,
were years of decline. Some big names left, others lost their appeal, and
eventually only the Moody Blues remained as a reminder of the times when Decca
could boast a stable of world-famous artists. In 1980 Sir Edward
Lewis died; shortly afterwards the remains of his Decca empire were sold to
Polygram. The label continues as part of the Universal Music
Group. There were a lot of labels under the Decca umbrella: Emerald
and Rex for Irish music, London for records licensed from American labels, MCA
for products of US Decca, Brunswick, Chapter One, etc. It had two
Progressive Music subsidiaries: the short-lived Nova and the far more
long-lasting and better-known Deram. Singles were numbered in an 'F'
series, starting at F-1501 in 1929; by the end of the '70s this had reached the
F-13800s. Decca Records: Former Address: The Decca Record
Company Limited, Decca House, 9 Albert Embankment, London, SE1. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The
Info.
A FULL DISCOGRAPHY OF DECCA F 13000 SERIES 1970-1982
CAN BE FOUND HERE
79
Thin Lizzy
Things Ain't Working Out Down At
The Farm
DECCA
THIN
1