HOLYGROUND / MULTICORD
RECORDS
Holyground and Multicord Records was a DIY label. There was
just the one single on the label: 'The Miners' Song' by John & City Lights
was the 'A' side, while City Lights had the 'B' side, 'Colourful Man', to
themselves. The single did however come in two versions. One of them
was mono, which suggests that it may be the earlier; it had a catalogue number
of SOS-1 and was pressed by Orlake. The other was stereo, and it was
marketed by Polydor - it has the same label design but a Polydor number,
2058-211. That version dated from March 1972, which suggests that the
Orlake may have been from a short while earlier. 'John' was John Paul
Joans, who had a hit in 1970 with 'The Man From Nazareth' (RAK-107).
John's manager Maureen Priest, who owned the rights to the record, had banned
the BBC from playing it. She claimed firstly that producers had been
rejecting it because of political implications, and secondly that on the two
occasions when it had been played it had been done so in 'a detrimental manner'
- Brian Matthew apparently cut the record short and blamed a power cut, while on
the 'New Spins' programme Anne Nightingale said that she "would like to tell
listeners what label it is on [as was usual on New Spins] but it doesn't appear
to have one." The Brian Matthew joke may well have been annoying,
but I can only sympathize with Anne Nightingale's problem. See also the
'Multicord' page. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The Info.
72
John And City
Lights
The Miners'
Song
HOLYGROUND /
MULTICORD
SOS
1