Polygon Records was a British

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

which ran from 1950 to 1955.

History

The label was started in 1949 as the Polygon Record Company Ltd. by Alan A. Freeman and Leslie Clark, who was anxious to control distribution of his daughter

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

's recordings. (Those associated with it fondly referred to the company as "Dead Parrot Records".) The two opened offices on Grosvenor Place in the

Sloane Square Sloane Square is a small hard-landscaped square on the boundaries of the central London districts of Belgravia and Chelsea, London, Chelsea, located southwest of Charing Cross, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The area forms a ...

section of London, and arranged Clark's first recording session with

Ron Goodwin Ronald Alfred Goodwin (17 February 19258 January 2003) was an English composer and conductor known for his film music. He scored over 70 films in a career lasting over fifty years. His most famous works included ''Where Eagles Dare'', ''Battle ...

and his orchestra and a vocal backing group called the Stargazers. Since Polygon's UK distribution was not yet in existence, the first 78rpm single – " You Go to My Head", backed with "Out of a Clear Blue Sky" – was released in Australia, followed by a cover of

Teresa Brewer Teresa Brewer (born Theresa Veronica Breuer; May 7, 1931 – October 17, 2007) was an American singer whose style incorporated pop, country, jazz, R&B, musicals, and novelty songs. She was one of the most prolific and popular female singers of th ...

's "

Music! Music! Music! "Music! Music! Music! (Put Another Nickel In)" is a popular song written by Stephen Weiss and Bernie Baum and published in 1950. Background The first recording of the song was by Etienne Paree with Eddie "Piano" Miller, released by Rainbow ...

" backed with "Blossoms on the Bough", both on the

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

label. In fact, the first Polygon release in the UK was not by Clark, but by

Louis Prima Louis Leo Prima (; December 7, 1910 – August 24, 1978) was an American trumpeter, singer, entertainer, and bandleader. While rooted in New Orleans jazz, swing music, and jump blues, Prima touched on various genres throughout his career: he ...

and his orchestra. Clark's first official Polygon release was "You Are My True Love" / "You're the Sweetest in the Land" in 1950. Her first big hit came in June 1954 with "

The Little Shoemaker The Little Shoemaker" is a popular song based on the French song, "Le petit cordonnier", by Rudi Revil. The original French lyric was written by Francis Lemarque (page in French). The English language lyrics were written by Geoffrey Claremont ...

" (Polygon P1117). In all, she recorded more than fifty songs for the label, including a few duets with its other major artist, Jimmy Young, then best known as a singer. Young recorded his big hit "Too Young" for the Polygon label (P1013) in 1951, prior to the launch of the UK singles chart, which started in November 1952. Other artists who had chart hits on Polygon were Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson,

Dorothy Squires Dorothy Squires (born Edna May Squires, 25 March 1915 – 14 April 1998) was a Welsh singer. Her early successes were achieved with " The Gypsy", " A Tree in the Meadow" and " I'm Walking Behind You" by her partner Billy Reid, and " Say It w ...

Johnny Brandon Johnny Brandon (16 July 1925 – 26 July 2017) was an English singer and songwriter, popular during the 1950s, who recorded for a number of labels. His perennial backing group was known as The Phantoms. His early hits included "Tomorrow" and "Don ...

and Anthony Steel (the latter with The Radio Revellers). Near the end of 1955, Polygon was sold to Nixa Records, then part of

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

, which led to the establishment of Pye Nixa Records. Nixa utilized a selection of Clark's Polygon tapes to release her first LP, ''Petula Clark Sings''. Clark's complete Polygon catalogue is available on CD – originally re-issued as ''The Polygon Years, Volume One (1950–1952)'' and ''The Polygon Years, Volume Two (1952–1955''). However, when Polygon was first merged with Nixa, one of the two Nissen huts used for storing the label's master tapes was demolished with the contents still inside. Thus, as a consequence, the only source for around half of Polygon's masters is original 78rpm discs. The first CD reissues of these recordings therefore suffered from poor sound, which was not improved until 2007 on the compilation ''It Had to Be You – The Complete Early Singles''.

Notable artists

* Jimmy Young *

* Ray Martin * Frank Chacksfield * Robin Richmond *

Dennis Lotis Dennis Lotis (8 March 1925 – 8 February 2023) was a South African-born British singer, actor, and entertainer, whose popularity was greatest in the 1950s. He was described as having "a sophisticated style that was particularly attractive to t ...

Monty Norman Monty Norman ( Noserovitch; 4 April 1928 – 11 July 2022) was a British film score composer and singer. A contributor to West End theatre, West End musicals in the 1950s and 1960s, he is best known for composing the "James Bond Theme", first ...

* Eric Winstone * Oscar Rabin * Primo Scala * Lou Preager * Joe "Mr Piano" Henderson * Max Wall *

Eva Bartok Éva Márta Szőke Ivanovics (18 June 19271 August 1998), known professionally as Eva Bartok, was a Hungarian-British actress. She began acting in films in 1950, and her last credited appearance was in 1966. She acted in more than 40 American, ...

* Geoff Love * Anthony Steel * Inia Te Wiata * Laurie Johnson * Billy Reid * Kenny Baker *

Kathie Kay Kathie Kay (born Kathleen Thornhill; 20 November 1918 – 9 March 2005) was a singer from Lincolnshire, known for her radio and television appearances in the '' Billy Cotton Band Show'' during the 1950s and 1960s. Her best known recordings are "We ...

* Diane Cilento

References

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1949 Record labels disestablished in 1955 British independent record labels Pop record labels

History

Notable artists

See also

References