MAM Records was a British

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

launched in 1970 by the management company Management Agency & Music Ltd. (MAM). It was founded by Gordon Mills and Tom Jones and distributed by

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. The first single released on MAM was "I Hear You Knocking" by

Dave Edmunds David William Edmunds (born 15 April 1944) is a Welsh retired singer, songwriter, guitarist and record producer. Although he is mainly associated with Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock and New wave music, new wave, having many hit record, h ...

in 1970. Later that year,

Gilbert O'Sullivan Raymond Edward "Gilbert" O'Sullivan (born 1 December 1946) is an Irish singer-songwriter who achieved his most significant success during the early 1970s, with hits including " Alone Again (Naturally)", " Clair" and "Get Down". His songs are of ...

started his run of hit singles on MAM with " Nothing Rhymed", and he also provided MAM with its first hit album in 1971 with ''

Himself A reflexive pronoun is a pronoun that refers to another noun or pronoun (its Antecedent (grammar), antecedent) within the same sentence. In the English language specifically, a reflexive pronoun will end in ''-self'' or ''-selves'', and ref ...

''. Other hit albums such as '' Back to Front'', '' I'm a Writer, Not a Fighter'', and '' A Stranger In My Own Back Yard'' followed.

Lynsey de Paul Lynsey de Paul (born Lyndsey Monckton Rubin; 11 June 1948 – 1 October 2014) was an English singer-songwriter and record producer. After initially writing hits for others, she had her own chart hits in the UK and Europe in the 1970s, starting ...

signed with the label in 1972 and her run of hit singles on MAM started with " Sugar Me". She also released her debut album, ''

Surprise (Lynsey de Paul album) ''Surprise'' is the first album released by Lynsey de Paul on the MAM record label in 1973. In Australia, the album name was changed to ''Sugar Me'', after de Paul's first hit single. All of the songs on the album were written or co-written by ...

'', on MAM in 1973, and a best of

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

, ''The World of Lynsey de Paul'' (also known as ''Lynsey Sings'') in 1974. Engelbert Humperdinck was also a major recording artist with MAM; Gordon Mills was Engelbert Humperdinck's manager. While not scoring any hits, the label also released singles by Frank Ifield as well as

Johnny Nash John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican art ...

, Leapy Lee and Tina Charles. Distribution of MAM records switched to EMI in the mid 1970s. The company was one of the most successful record companies in the United Kingdom throughout the early 1970s. It diversified into

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and

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but, by the end of the 1970s, it was losing ground to American companies such as

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

. MAM was sold in the 1980s to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British independent record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ell ...

. Following the sale of Chrysalis to

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

in 1991, many recordings previously owned by MAM were reissued by EMI. After the breakup of EMI in 2013, Chrysalis was sold to

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was formed in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its st ...

. Now MAM's catalogue belongs to BMG, and is distributed by

Warner Music Warner Music Group Corp., commonly abbreviated as WMG, is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and the third-largest in the gl ...

's ADA.

Staff

In 1978, Tab Martin and Dominic De Sousa were working for the label. Martin joined up as head of A&R and creative services. De Sousa was responsible for UK artists liaison. Geoffrey Everitt was the MD for the company at the time.''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'', August 26, 1978
Page 68 ENGLAND By PHILIP PALMER, CHART COMEBACK BID:
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References

Record labels established in 1970 Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom London Records {{UK-record-label-stub