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| Fly Records | |
|---|---|
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| Founded | 1970 |
| Founder | David Platz |
| Genre | Rock Pop |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Official website | http://www.flyrecords.co.uk |
Fly Records is a British independent record label, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London.
Platz had been producing records independently, in conjunction with record producers funded by Essex, and leasing them to major record labels. These creative collaborations quickly made their mark with hits such as "A Whiter Shade of Pale" (Procol Harum), "Flowers in the Rain", "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" and "Blackberry Way" (The Move) alongside influential recordings from the likes of Beverley Kutner, Tucker Zimmerman and Michael Chapman.
The producer roster involved with Platz included Denny Cordell, Gus Dudgeon, Rodger Bain, Don Paul, Johnny Worth and Tony Visconti, whom Platz had brought over to the United Kingdom at Cordell’s initiation.
After a string of hits in the late 1960s licensed via labels Deram and, later, Regal Zonophone, Platz launched his own label Fly Records in 1970. Malcolm Jones had left university to work for EMI, becoming a label manager and creating his own imprint at EMI, Harvest Records, but moved to work for Platz as manager of Fly.
Fly's first release was "Ride a White Swan" by T. Rex, produced by Visconti. The following year the album Electric Warrior was both Fly's and Bolan's first #1 album.
In keeping with Platz’s publishing style, the label chose not to concentrate on a particular sector of the market but preferred to offer an eclectic mix of artists and releases, some aimed directly at the chart and some intended simply to enhance the profiles of new artists or artists who were linked to the Platz's publishing enterprise. Vivian Stanshall, Third World War, John Kongos, Georgia Brown, John Keating, and John Williams were all featured on the label's early releases.
In 1972, Fly consolidated their chart success with older material. Four three-track Magni-Fly singles were released which reintroduced songs from the company's back catalogue, such as "A Whiter Shade of Pale", into the UK Singles Chart. An album campaign entitled 'Toofas', (double albums priced as a single), found favour, and albums such as Procol Harum's debut set suddenly made the UK Albums Chart years after their initial release.
Once T. Rex's album Bolan Boogie reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, departures at Fly HQ forced a change of plan. Jones left the label, Cordell moved to the United States forming Shelter Records, and Bolan moved to EMI, where he was given his own imprint, taking Visconti with him. The new Fly team chose to relaunch the label as Cube Records, with a new logo caging the 'Fly' in a cubic jail. A raft of new artists were signed, and Fly Records was shelved as a label in its own right.
By the time the Fly label was revived in 1988 as an independent outlet for various publishing related projects, Platz had incorporated the Fly label into his company Onward Music Ltd., whilst Platz’s publishing company Bucks Music Ltd. remained his core business. The revived label's first signing in 1988 was Babayaga a band fronted by Kirsty MacColl's brother Hamish and recording engineer Matt Wallis.
Following David Platz's death on 20 May 1994, his son Simon Platz continued managing Onward's ongoing archive exploration under the wing of his own publishing company, Bucks Music Group. A host of original tapes thought lost, as well as unreleased and forgotten recordings from unfinished or unreleased projects from the production company, continues to fuel releases through Fly Records and various licensees.
Procol Harum were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for their baroque and classical influence, Procol Harum's music is described as psychedelic rock and proto-prog with hints of the blues, R&B, and soul.
Marc Bolan was an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and poet. He was a pioneer of the glam rock movement in the early 1970s with his band T. Rex. Bolan was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020 as a member of T. Rex.
Chrysalis Records is a British 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 Ellis-Wright Agency.
Regal Zonophone Records was a British record label formed in 1932, through a merger of the Regal and Zonophone labels. This followed the merger of those labels' respective parent companies – the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company – to form EMI. At the merger, those records from the Regal Records catalogue were prefixed 'MR' and those from the Zonophone Records catalogue were prefixed 'T'. Record releases after the merger continued using only the 'MR' prefix.
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were distributed in the U.S. through UK Decca's American branch known as London Records. Deram was active until 1979, then continued as a reissue label.
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached number 5 on the US Billboard Hot 100. One of the anthems of the 1967 Summer of Love, it is one of the most commercially successful singles in history, having sold more than 10 million copies worldwide. In the years since, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" has become an enduring classic, with more than 1,000 known cover versions by other artists.
Cube Records was launched on 26 May 1972 by independent music publisher David Platz, and was based at his UK offices for Essex Music.
Procol Harum is the debut studio album by English rock band Procol Harum. It was released in September 1967 by record label Deram in the US, following their breakthrough and immensely popular single "A Whiter Shade of Pale". The track doesn't appear on the UK version of the album, but was included on the US issue. The UK version of the album was released in December 1967 by record label Regal Zonophone.
The Slider is the seventh studio album by English rock band T. Rex, and the third since abbreviating their name from Tyrannosaurus Rex. It was released on 21 July 1972 by record labels EMI and Reprise. Two number-one singles, "Telegram Sam" and "Metal Guru", were released to promote the album. Issued at the height of the band's popularity, The Slider received acclaim from critics, and reached number 4 in the UK charts and number 17 in the US.
Shine On Brightly is the second studio album by English rock band Procol Harum, released in 1968 by record labels Regal Zonophone and A&M.
Cherry Red Records is a British independent record label founded in Malvern, Worcestershire by Iain McNay in 1978. The label has released recordings by Dead Kennedys, Everything but the Girl, The Monochrome Set, and Felt, among others, as well as the compilation album Pillows & Prayers. In addition to releasing new music, Cherry Red also acts as an umbrella for individual imprints and catalogue specialists.
John's Children were a 1960s rock band from Leatherhead, England that briefly featured future T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan. John's Children were known for their outrageous live performances and were booted off a tour with the Who in Germany in 1967 when they upstaged the headliners. Their 1967 single "Desdemona", a Bolan composition, was banned by the BBC because of the controversial lyric, "Lift up your skirt and fly." Their US record label delayed the release of their debut album, Orgasm, for four years from its recording date due to objections from Daughters of the American Revolution.
"Get It On" is a song by the English rock band T. Rex, featured on their 1971 album Electric Warrior. Written by frontman Marc Bolan, "Get It On" was the second chart-topper for T. Rex on the UK Singles Chart. In the United States, it was retitled "Bang a Gong (Get It On)" to avoid confusion with a song of the same name by the group Chase.
"Jeepster" is a song by English glam rock act T. Rex. It was released on 5 November 1971 by record label Fly as a single from the group's sixth studio album Electric Warrior. The B-side, "Life's a Gas", is taken from the same album. Several artists have recorded cover versions of it. Both of the single's tracks were written by Marc Bolan and produced by Tony Visconti.
Bucks Music Group was founded in 1967, and is one of the UK's leading and longest running international, independent music publishers. The company has a rich musical heritage, having been responsible for launching and developing the careers of music legends including Black Sabbath, David Bowie, The Move, Procol Harum, and T. Rex. Their catalogue includes works written by David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath, Procol Harum, DJ Fresh, Run The Jewels, James Blunt, Professor Green, Rudimental, Beyonce, CAN, David Arnold, Michael Price, Troy Miller, Sacha Skarbek, Ash Howes, Seton Daunt, Erland Cooper, Ivory Layne, Gold Spectacles, Lenny Fontana, Rob Wheeler, Kathy Brown, Maya Delilah, Max Jaeger, LIFE, Brooke Bentham, ZAND, and many more.
Dennis Cordell-Lavarack, known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Procol Harum, Joe Cocker and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. He later became a racehorse trainer.
Anthony Michael Secunda was an English manager of rock groups in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Moody Blues, Procol Harum, the Move, and T. Rex, Motörhead, Steeleye Span, Marianne Faithfull and the Pretenders.
Bolan Boogie is a compilation album by the English glam rock band T. Rex. After Marc Bolan had left Fly Records to form his own label distributed through EMI/T. Rex Wax Co, his former label released this compilation in 1972 with recent single A- and B-sides recorded in 1970 and 1971, many of which had not appeared on previous albums. Also included are album tracks from Tyrannosaurus Rex's Unicorn (1969), A Beard of Stars (1969) and T. Rex's T. Rex (1970).
Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow is an album by English rock band T. Rex, the ninth since Tyrannosaurus Rex's debut LP. It was released in March 1974 on the T.Rex record label, distributed by EMI. It was the first and only album to be released under the moniker "Marc Bolan & T. Rex".
David Platz was a German-born British music publisher and music business executive who established and led Essex Music, one of the major independent music publishing companies of the 1960s and 1970s. He also set up the Fly and Cube record labels.
