B&C Records (which stood for Beat & Commercial) 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, ...

run by

Trojan Records Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. Th ...

' owner,

Lee Gopthal Lehman Serikeesna Gopthal (1 March 1938 – 29 August 1997), known as Lee Gopthal, was a Jamaican-British record label owner and promoter, the co-founder of Trojan Records. Life and career He was born in Constant Spring, Jamaica, into a family ...

. It existed primarily between May 1969 and September 1972. In 1971, the progressive and folk artists that were still signed to the label were moved over to B&C's new Pegasus Records imprint (which later became Peg), though singles continued to be issued on the B&C label until 1972. Pegasus Records released 14 albums before closing down in 1972, after which most of the artists moved over to

Mooncrest Records Mooncrest Records is a British record label that was founded in 1970, originally as a management company run by Tony Stratton-Smith of Charisma Records, and it started to release singles in 1973. The first single released on the label (and giv ...

label. Mooncrest had started out as

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van d ...

's publishing company, but had become a record label in its own right in 1973. It reissued some of the original Pegasus releases. The company continued after this point in its original format as a record manufacturing, distribution and marketing company, continuing to distribute records by Charisma and Mooncrest. Between 1971 and 1974, B&C and Charisma shared their CB-100 series for singles. In 1974 B&C got into financial trouble and was finally sold, along with Trojan and Mooncrest, to Marcel Rodd, head of Allied/Saga Records. Trojan and Mooncrest continued to issue records marketed by B&C, though Charisma moved its operations over to

Phonogram Inc. Phonogram Incorporated was started in 1970 as a successor to Philips Phonographic Industries, a unit of the Grammophon-Philips Group (GPG), a joint venture of Philips N.V. of the Netherlands and Siemens AG of Germany. It was a holding company f ...

in May 1975. The B&C label was resurrected as a label between 1977 and 1981, releasing just a few new singles and reissuing several classic tracks as singles or EPs. B&C was originally intended to reissue gospel/soul artists such as James Carr, but did branch out to other genres eventually. B&C released

Atomic Rooster Atomic Rooster are a British rock band originally formed by members of The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, organist Vincent Crane and drummer Carl Palmer. Their history is defined by two periods: the early-mid-1970s and the early 1980s. The band ...

's first two albums, ''

Atomic Roooster , also spelled ''Atomic Ro-o-oster'' on some later CD reissues, is the first album by British rock band Atomic Rooster, with keyboardist Vincent Crane, bassist and vocalist Nick Graham and drummer Carl Palmer. A few weeks after its release, ...

'' (1970) and '' Death Walks Behind You'',

Steeleye Span Steeleye Span are a British folk rock band formed in 1969 in England by Fairport Convention bass player Ashley Hutchings and established London folk club duo Tim Hart and Maddy Prior. The band were part of the 1970s British folk revival, ...

's ''

Please to See the King ''Please to See the King'' is the second album by Steeleye Span, released in 1971. A major personnel change following their previous effort, '' Hark! The Village Wait'', brought about a substantial change in their overall sound, including a l ...

'' (1971),

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

's ''

Loud 'n' Proud ''Loud 'n' Proud'' is the fourth studio album by the Scottish hard rock band Nazareth, and their second album released in 1973. The album was produced by Deep Purple's bassist Roger Glover. Background This album reached 10th place in the UK ...

'' (1974), Andy Roberts' ''Home Grown'' (1971) and ''Everyone'' (1971), and one self-titled LP by the Newcastle-based band Ginhouse. The label was also prominent in the early "revival" period of 1950s rock and roll. The Wild Angels, one of the first of these groups had two albums released on B&C in 1970, ''Live at the Revolution'' and ''Red Hot N Rockin''. They both had "gatefold" sleeves. The company also released an album called ''Battle of the Bands'', which featured an early recording by

Shakin' Stevens Michael Barratt (born 4 March 1948), known professionally as Shakin' Stevens, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was the UK's biggest-selling singles artist of the 1980s. His recording and performing career began in the late 1960s, although ...

, and also

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

, and acts such as

The Impalas The Impalas were an American doo-wop group in the late 1950s, best known for their hit single, hit, "Sorry (I Ran All the Way Home)". The group formed in 1958 in Brooklyn, New York, and was composed of lead singer Joe "Speedo" Frazier (Septembe ...

and The Houseshakers. There was also an album by The Rock N Roll Allstars entitled ''Red China Rocks''.

References

External links

The B&C Discography: 1968 to 1975
– all UK non-reggae releases on the B&C family of labels

B&C Discography on 45cat
{{DEFAULTSORT:BandC Records Record labels established in 1969 British record labels Rock record labels Pop record labels