MGM
RECORDS

The MGM label came into being in 1946.  At first it was used for issuing soundtracks from Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer movies, but over the years its scope broadened (as witness the purchase in 1961 of Norman Grantz's 'Verve' Jazz label); eventually Country music became its main concern.  The '50s brought success in that field, with Hank Williams, and in the area of Rock 'n' Roll, with Connie Francis and Conway Twitty.  Following heavy financial losses in the late '60s the company changed musical direction; the emphasis in the '70s was on 'Family Entertainment' and Pop, the Osmonds being the most successful fruits of this new policy. MGM was subsumed into PolyGram in 1972; it was discontinued in 1982 after a merger between MGM Inc. and the United Artists corporation.   Manufacture and distribution in the late '50s and '60s were by EMI; during that period singles were numbered in the MGM-900s, which in the fullness of time became the MGM-1000s.   In 1970 Polydor / Phonodisc took over, and catalogue numbers changed to a 2006-000 series.  Three basic label designs were used in Britain, during the 7" era: a yellow one up to 1968; a blue-and-gold swirly one from 1969 into the early '70s, covering the transition from EMI to Polydor, the gold swirl being smaller in the Polydor years; and finally a dull injection-moulded one from 1972 onwards, when all the Polydor family labels went that way.  Early injection-moulded singles had three- pronged centres, later ones had solid ones or came factory-dinked.  The paper label and the broad, four-pronged dinking perforation of the seventh single shown suggests that it may have been custom-pressed by another company.  As was the way with all the labels in the Polydor and Phonogram family, singles were often 'dinked' at the factory so that they came ready for use in juke boxes.  A short-lived 'Action Replay' series appeared across several Polydor group labels in 1971 featuring a slight adaptation of the standard labels.  EPs in the '50s and '60s had the standard yellow label with an appropriate inscription added.  The late '60s demos are in fact a fluorescent pink colour with a silver 'A'. In the 1970s, MGM singles appear to have come in either plain white or all-purpose Phonogram Group sleeves.  The discography below has many gaps, most of which are due to the fact that the numbers were used for overseas releases.Thanks to Robert Lyons for the info.


    
A FULL DISCOGRAPHY OF MGM 2006 000 SERIES 1970-1978 CAN BE FOUND HERE
78 Connie Francis Who's Sorry Now?  MGM 1110 004
78 Connie Francis Stupid Cupid / Carolina Moon  MGM 1110 005
82 Julie Andrews With Henry Mancini, His Orchestra And Chorus Le Jazz Hot MGM POSP 438
  
76 The Beatles  Excerpt From Paul McCartney Interview  POLYDOR PPSP 1
76 Not Traced POLYDOR PPSP 2
76 Bee Gees  You Should Be Dancing (Mono Radio Version) (3-28 POLYDOR PPSP 3
76 Lee Marvin (And The Bar Flies)  O'Reilly's Daughter (from the film "Shout At The Devil")  POLYDOR PPSP 4
76 Not Traced POLYDOR PPSP 5
76 The Fatback Band  Night Fever / Night Fever  Spring PPSP 6
76 The Ritchie Family  The Best Disco In Town / The Best Disco In Town POLYDOR PPSP 7
76 Neil Sedaka  You Gotta Make Your Own Sunshine POLYDOR PPSP 8
76 Not Traced   POLYDOR PPSP 9
77 Bryan Ferry  Tokyo Joe [3.15 Edit] / She's Leaving Home POLYDOR PPSP 10
77 Mike Post  The Rockford Files / The Rockford Files MGM PPSP 11
78 Various Artists  Night Fever / More Than A Woman RSO PPSP 12
78 Jambo  The Theme From "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" POLYDOR PPSP 13

 


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