Silvertone Records (Selfridges)

Silvertone Records was a short-lived British department store record label, which was one of the house labels of Selfridges in the 1930s. ^[1]

History

After 1935 ^[2] Silvertone Records issued 8-inch discs made by British Homophone Co. Ltd. for sale in Selfridges department stores using masters from their Plaza label.^{[ citation needed ]} While the discs were only 8 inches in diameter, as the grooves were close, it had a long playing time equivalent to standard records. ^[3] The quality of Plaza recordings was considered good. ^[2] British Homophone discontinued production of its own records in April 1935, ^[4] and was sold jointly to EMI and Decca Records in May 1935, ^[5] but continued to press discs for other companies. ^[6] Silvertone releases were selected from the Plaza catalogue by Britain's first disc jockey Christopher Stone. ^{[7] [8]} To keep production costs lower, public domain works were recorded, ^[2] and artists contracted to other labels were given pseudonyms on Silvertone releases.

Discography

The records had a catalogue number series starting at S-1, but the series was fairly short-lived. Only three releases have been discovered. ^[9]

• S-1 "Farewell to Arms", from the 1932 film A Farewell to Arms (Music and lyrics by Allie Wrubel and Abner Silver) (Matrix L-989) by Ben Fields and his Dance Band ( nom de disque for Syd Lipton's Band) ^[10] b/w "A Thousand and One Nights" (Matrix L-997) by Charles Baxter's String Band ^[9] This is a reissue of Plaza P-101. ^[11] (nom de disque for Mantovani).^{[ citation needed ]}
• S-2 "Da-Dar, Da-Dar (waltz)" (written by Robert Hargreaves, Stanley J. Damerell, and Tolchard Evans) ^{[12] [13]} (Matrix L-985) by Silver Dance Band (nom de disque for Syd Lipton's Grosvenor House Band) b/w "On My Mind" (Matrix L-1009) by Eddie Walters' Dance Band (nom de disque for Nat Star's Dance Orchestra). ^{[9] [14]} This is a reissue of Plaza P-102. ^[11]
• S-3 "Till the Clock Strikes Three" (Matrix L-1019) by Eddie Walter's Dance Band (nom de disque for Oscar Rabin's Romany Band) b/w "Stormy Weather" (Matrix L-1031) by Silver Dance Band (nom de disque for Nat Star's Dance Orchestra). ^[9] This is a reissue of Plaza P-104. ^[11]

See also

• List of record labels
• Silvertone Records (disambiguation)

References

1. Frank W. Hoffmann, "Department Store Labels", Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Vol. 1, 2nd ed. (CRC Press, 2004):287.
2. "Plaza", "LabelindexN-P". Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
3. "Plaza (Label)", Hoffman, 844.
4. Frank W. Hoffmann, "British Homophone Co., Ltd.", in Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Vol. 1. 2nd ed. (CRC Press, 2004):131; "Plaza", "LabelindexN-P". Archived from the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
5. "Decca Record Co., Ltd.", Hoffman 278.
6. Frank W. Hoffmann, "British Homophone Co., Ltd.", in Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Vol. 1. 2nd ed. (CRC Press, 2004):131
7. "LabelindexQ-S". Archived from the original on 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
8. "Archived copy". mgthomas.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 September 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
9. "Label Index: Q-S", "LabelindexQ-S". Archived from the original on 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
10. "British Big Bands Database - 'L' Band Listings". nfo.net. Archived from the original on 23 September 2003. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
11. "Plaza". Mgthomas.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2008-08-20. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
12. "Tolchard Evans (1901–78)". Fredgodfreysongs.ca. Retrieved 2020-05-02.
13. "Mrs. Mills And Geoff Love - Glad With Love (Vinyl, LP, Album) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2011-03-16.
14. "jabw_vintage/78rpm nat star". Jabw.demon.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-05-02.

Further reading

• Taylor, Don. The English 78 Picture Book: Vintage Sound Recordings From the 1890s to the 1970s. Artemis, 1999.