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 |
