UNION-CASTLE
RECORDS
Union-Castle Records was a DIY label. And was a shipping
company. It operated a cruise ship called the Reina Del Mar in the 1960s
and the first half of the '70s, and was responsible for an EP of music by Eddie
Bennett, who was presumably the resident musician on board that ship at the
time. It seems reasonable to suppose that the EP, which featured 'Blue
Danube' and five other tracks, was sold to passengers as a souvenir.
There's no date on the label, but the catalogue number, SPE-15, enables us to
file it in the '70s. The number was one of a series used by the Micon
(Recording And Publishing) Co. Ltd, of Culver Street, Colchester. SP-12
was an LP featuring a recording of a 1971 FA Cup game between Colchester United
and Leeds United; SPE-15 must have been made after that record but before the
Reina Del Mar was withdrawn from service, which happened in 1975. Micon
put out several records under its own name, sometimes in co-operation with the
New Zealand label Viking, but the few that I have managed to trace have been
albums, which explains why it hasn't got a page on this site. It did
however put out a 7" EP on another of its associated labels, Drum Major.
Distributed By Union-Castle Records. Thanks to Robert Lyons For The
Info.
74
Eddie Bennett
Eddie Bennett On The Reina Del
Mar
UNION-CASTLE
SPE
15