The Famous Charisma Label: Uk Album and Single Discography

By Neil Priddey

The collectors' guide to The Famous Charisma Label, otherwise known as 'pink scroll'. This invaluable book contains every UK release from 1969 to 1972 on the pink scroll label, detailing all the first edition information record collectors need including matrices, sleeve printers and label style, as well as fascinating insights into the stories behind the making of the albums and the artists who recorded them. In full glorious colour throughout, this book is the most comprehensive and accurate guide available on the Charisma pink scroll label - no other book comes close!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9781326009731

Book preview

The Famous Charisma Label: Uk Album and Single Discography

THE FAMOUS CHARISMA LABEL

UK Album and Single Discography

Neil Priddey

A RareRecordCollector.net Publication

Copyright © Neil Priddey 2014

The author has asserted their rights to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published in the UK 2014

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from the publisher.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

This book is based on original research by the author of the author’s personal Charisma record collection and all photography of the record labels, sleeves and inserts have been photographed by the author. Additional images are copyright to the respective owners where known or identifiable.

Additional factual research has been sourced from the following websites:

www.45cat.com

www.audienceareback.co.uk

www.lindisfarne.co.uk

www.officialcharts.com

www.vandergraafgenerator.co.uk

www.worldofgenesis.com

Thanks also goes to Mark Jones and his book The Famous Charisma Discography for release dates and some historical background on the formation of the record label.

Designed, photographed and typeset by Neil Priddey

www.rarerecordcollector.net

introduction

A brief history

The Charisma label was founded by Tony Stratton Smith in late 1969. He was, at the time, the manager for various bands including The Nice, The Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator. He had been frustrated in his dealings with the incumbent record companies handling his bands, namely Immediate Records, United Artists and Mercury respectively. He was also struggling to secure a new record deal for VdGG so decided to create his own company, negotiating manufacturing and distribution through the recently formed B&C Records label (owned and run by Trojan Records’ founder Lee Gopthal).

Known as ‘Strat’ to his colleagues and friends, Tony Stratton Smith began his career as a sports journalist, initially covering horse racing in the early 1950s for the Birmingham Gazette. He then moved onto the Daily Sketch and the Daily Express reporting on his first love, football.

As a journalist and avid Manchester United supporter, he was booked onto a flight at Munich in 1958. However, by making the decision to report on a different football match, Stratton Smith missed the flight and so avoided becoming a potential casualty of the Munich Air Disaster.

By 1966, Stratton Smith was handed the opportunity by Brian Epstein to get involved in the music industry and began managing bands from the Liverpool area, beginning with Paddy, Klaus & Gibson; The Koobas; Beryl Marsden; Al Stewart; The Bonzo Dog Band; The Nice and Van der Graaf Generator. He formed his own management company called Stratton Smith Music Limited.

In 1969, Stratton Smith and Lee Gopthal happened to be drinking in a pub and discussing Strat’s dissatisfaction in dealing with the aforementioned record companies. A deal was thrashed out between them that if Strat started his own label, Gopthal’s B&C Records would handle manufacturing, sales and marketing. The Famous Charisma Label was born, with the logo allegedly inspired by lettering and scrolls on the pub’s mirror.

On 15th October 1969, Strat wrote to Gopthal with confirmation of their agreement to found Charisma Records, marketed and distributed by B&C Records Ltd.

With a few initial albums already produced and released by B&C Records, the new Charisma label ‘piggy-backed’ onto the existing B&C catalogue numbering system. This would cause some degree of confusion amongst record collectors for many years as they searched for ‘lost’ recordings only to eventually discover them on other labels.

Strat started operating the new label from his own flat, 7 Townsend House, Dean Street, London with chaotic comings and goings of staff and label artistes alike. Less than a year later, the business moved into ‘official’ offices at 87 Brewer Street, London  - still in the heart of Soho and allegedly above a pornographic book shop.

At the end of 1972, Charisma moved offices again, this time to 70 Old Compton Street, London. The company had by now expanded and diversified into music publishing, book publishing, artiste management and booking agency as well as setting up an international division (although it would take until 1979 before officially opening a USA operation).

B&C Records ceased trading at the end of 1972 due to severe cash flow issues, although this did not prevent B&C Marketing and Distribution from continuing to promote and be credited on Charisma labels and sleeves for several more years. B&C Records’ artistes had been transferred onto another short lived label: the Pegasus label, which itself than changed into Peg Records - was this a way of possibly diverting the cash flow problems experienced by B&C and yet still allowing its artistes to record and release their music? Highly likely.

There had been talk of merging B&C Records and Charisma but probably Stratton Smith had either guessed or been informed of the crisis at B&C and wisely backed away.

In 1973, Charisma’s publishing company Mooncrest became a label in its own right, instantly reissuing most of the B&C Records back catalogue.

Other problems besides cash flow began to emerge in the mid 1970s. Charisma Records’ international product was manufactured and distributed by Phonogram, yet B&C’s marketing company continued to handle the UK market. This resulted in duplication of effort and