COLUMBIA RECORDS (AUSTRALIA)

Category: British-owned label Date: 1920s? - 1972 Head office: Sydney, NSW Ownership: - subsidiary of Columbia Graphophone (UK) until 1931 - subsidiary of EMI (Australia) Limited, 1931 - present Australian licencee for: Cameo (US), Parkway (USA), MGM (US), Regal Zonophone (UK), Laurie (UK), Mercury (UK)

History

Columbia, the world's oldest surviving record label, is recognised by its famous "Magic Notes" logo. The trademark has a complex history, marked by a long and convoluted series of takeovers, mergers and divestitures which saw the ownership of major US and UK labels change many times. By the end of WWII most of the major labels had become subsidiaries of the so-called "Big Three" recording companies -- CBS, RCA and EMI. 

From 1931 to 1972 there were in fact two Columbia labels. In England and Commonwealth countries (including Australia, New Zealand and India) Columbia was a subsidary label of the British EMI group, but in the Americas and Japan the name was owned and operated by CBS Records, the recording division of the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) media group. Even more confusingly, Columbia Records had been one of the original partners in CBS but cashed out soon after, leaving only the name.

Columbia originated with the Columbia Phonograph Company, a licencee of the North American Phonograph Company, which was set up in the 1880s to control and licence the phonograph patents registered by inventors Charles Sumner Tainter, Chichester A. Bell and Thomas A. Edison.

In 1891 Columbia Phonograph was the first company to offer a catalogue of its phonographs and cylinders. By 1895 it was manufacturing hundreds of cylinders daily, and by the turn of the century it had a catalogue of more than 5000 titles. However by 1901, Emile Berliner's "Gram-O-Phone" disc had established itself as the primary consumer medium, and Columbia began pressing its own discs that year. In the spring of 1903, the company began recording stars of the Metropolitan Opera in New York. In 1904 Columbia introduced the first discs to play at 78 rpm, although this did not become the industry standard until 1925. Columbia was also among the first to produce the new double-sided disc, with recordings stamped on both sides.

In 1912 Columbia ened its cylinder production and in 1913 it became the Columbia Graphophone Company. In 1916, Columbia began recording symphony orchestras, notably the Chicago and New York orchestras. In 1917 the Original Dixieland Jass Band of New Orleans went to Columbia Studios in New York, where they recorded "The Darktown Strutters Ball", the first jazz record to achieve mainstream popularity in the USA. By 1919, Americans were buying more than twenty-five million 78 rpm records every year, and the industry was reporting annual sales of $150 million.

Columbia originated as the Columbia Phonograph Co., which was established in 1889 and which operated in the Washington DC-Baltimore area, selling record players under licence from the American Graphophone Company and the North American Phonograph Company. In 1893 the president of Columbia acquired Control of the American Graphophone Company acquired the controlling interest in American Graphophone and in 1895 the two companies were effectively consolidated, with the American Graphophone handling development and manufacturing and Columbia handling distribution and sales.

In 1920 The Gramophone Company (UK) was taken over by the US Victor Talking Machine Company. In 1922 Columbia Phonograph (USA) sold its UK subsidiary Columbia Graphophone, but then in 1925 Columbia Graphophone UK bought its ailing former parent for US$2.5 million. In 1926 Columbia acquired Odeon Records and Parlophone Records and in 1927 the American company officially registered the Masterworks label for its classical recordings.

In 1926, Columbia took over famous OKeh label (owned by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation), whose catalogue included many top jazz and blues artists. In 1927, the Columbia Graphophone UK acquired a controlling interest in the German Carl Lindstrǒm Company, which owned the Parlophone label. In 1929 RCA took over Victor, thereby also gaining a controlling interest in The Gramophone Co. The takeover also gave RCA the American rights to the "Nipper" trademark, which it used for its new RCA Victor label.

The next major change came in 1931, when The Gramophone Company and its subsidiary label Parlophone merged with the Columbia Graphophone Company. The new Anglo-American group was incorporated as Electric & Music Industries Ltd. At this point RCA had a majority shareholding in the new company, giving RCA boss David Sarnoff a seat on the EMI board. However, EMI was forced to sell Columbia US due to anti-trust concerns raised by its American competitors. By this time the record industry had been hit hard by the Depression, and in 1934 a much-diminished Columbia was acquired by for just $70,500 by by ARC-BRC (American Record Company-Brunswick Record Company), which also took over the OKeh label.

RCA sold its stake in EMI in 1935 although, confusingly, RCA retained the American rights to the "Nipper" logo (which was used by EMI's HMV label in other countries) because of its ownership of Victor. In 1938 ARC-Brunswick was taken over by CBS, which then operated the Columbia trademark as its flagship label in the the Americas and and Japan. However EMI retained the rights to the Columbia name in most other territories (including the UK, Australia and New Zealand) and it continued operating the label until 1972, when it was replaced by the EMI Records imprint. In 1990, following a series of major takeovers that saw CBS Records acquired by Sony, EMI sold its remaining rights to the Columbia name and it is now operated exclusively throughout the world by CBS Sony.

The Columbia label in Australasia

Columbia and its sister labels HMV and Parlophone were among the most successful popular music labels in Australasia, yet there is suprisingly little information about their history. It is known that Columbia Graphophone (UK) established an Australian subsidiary in the early 1920s, and discographical information published on the New Zealand 78 Records website confirms that the company was manufacturing records in Sydney as early as 1926.

Several early references to the company are contained in items held by the National Library of New Zealand. These include a Columbia Records catalogue for 1923-24, which includes listings "up to and including Supplement No. 79", indicating that the company had already been trading for some time when the catalogue was published. The NLNZ also holds promotional pamphlets dating from ca. 1930, which advertise Columbia recordings of Maori traditional music and song. These leaflets, and sound recordings held by the library indicate that Columbia was recording Maori traditional music and New Zealand popular music by the late 1920s. A leaflet advertising Maori music on the Parlophone label indicates that these particular titles were recorded after 1926, when Parlophone was taken over by Columbia Graphophone.

The history of the business relationship between Columbia Graphophone (Australia) and The Gramophone Co. / EMI (Australia) is still unclear. In 1931 Columbia Graphophone (UK), Parlophone and The Gramophone Company (UK) were merged by their new owner RCA, to create Electrical and Musical Industries (EMI), and it is probable that the Australian divisions of The Gramophone Co. and Columbia Graphophone both became wholly-owned subsidiaries of EMI at this point. However the Australian division of The Gramophone Co. contiued to trade as "The Gramophone Co. (Australia) Ltd" until 1949, when it became "EMI (Australia) Ltd". The New Zealand operation continued to trade as "His Masters Voice (NZ) Ltd" into the 1950s and possibly later. 

Labels of Australian Columbia 78rpm records from the 1950s carry the credit "Manufactured for Columbia Graphophone (Australia) Pty Ltd", indicating that Columbia was still trading under that name in the late 1950s, but when Johnny Ashcroft's single Little Boy Lost" was released in 1960, the label bore the credit "Made in Australia by EMI (Australia) Ltd". It appears that Columbia Graphophone (Australia) and the Columbia label were formally incororpated into EMI (Australia) around 1958; this was at about the same time that EMI closed down the Regal Zonophone label, discontinued production of 78rpm shellac records and switched to the new vinyl microgroove format.

EMI dominated the Australasian music industry in the post-war period, and it exerted a tremendous influence over the direction and development of music in Australia. In the 1950s and early 1960s, following the closure of Regal Zonophone, Columbia took over a number of Australian artists who had recorded for RZ, notably the "hilbilly" (country) singers Slim Dusty, Reg Lindsay, Smoky Dawson, Buster Noble, Rick & Thel Carey and Chad Morgan. In the 1960s Columbia Australia also gave local release to singles by UK-based Australian performers including Rolf Harris, Frank Ifield and The Seekers.

The late Ron Wills (who died in 2002) was one of EMI's staff producers during this period and he is thought to have been the A&R manager of Columbia from the late 1950s until he moved to RCA in early 1965. Ron 'discovered' and signed the young Frank Ifield to the label, and among his other production credits for Columbia are recordings by Slim Dusty -- including his breakthrought hit "A Pub With No Beer" -- and a string of successful folk albums by singer-musician-actor Lionel Long. Other notable artists released on Columbia in this period included rising young guitar duo The De Kroo Brothers, harmonica virtuoso Horrie Dargie (who later founded the Go!! Records label), Buddy Williams, pioneering Sydney rockers Alan Dale & The Casuals, jazz legend Graeme Bell and singer-songwriter Johnny Ashcroft.

In the 1960s Columbia became one of Australia's most successful pop labels, releasing classic recordings by many top Australian acts including The Twilights, The Masters Apprentices, The Groove and Russell Morris, as well as giving a local release to UK-produced recordings by Australian performers Rolf Harris, Frank Ifield and The Seekers. Columbia's biggest local pop success in the late 1960s was Russell Morris, whose first two solo singles "The Real Thing" and its 'sequel' "Part III Into Paper Walls" were back-to-back #1 hits in 1969.

In 1968 EMI Australia ended the separate cataloguing systems used on its house labels, and on the labels it distributed, including Capitol, Decca, Deram, London, Stateside and Tamla-Motown. They combined all house and licenced labels under a single unified numbering system, which began at 8301. The '8000' series was chosen because Parlophone's cataloguing, the highest range in use at the time, was by then numbered in the low 8000s.

The Columbia label was retired in Australia in 1972 and replaced by the new EMI Records imprint.

Discography

This discography lists Australian EMI-Columbia releases from ca. 1955 to 1972. Overseas-produced recordings sourced from Columbia UK and other affiliates are highlighted.

Singles

3000 series, ca. 1955-1958 (under construction)

4000 series, 1958-1967

EMI unified series, 1968-72 (Australian recordings)

DO-8302	1968	Joy McKean	"Dancing Shoes" "One More Letter"
DO-8303	1968	Tex Morton	"Welcome To The Club" "I've Got You (Right Out Of My Mind)"
DO-8304	1968	Slim Dusty	"Fair Enough" "Ghosts Of The Golden Mile"
DO-8314	1968	Graham Chapman	"Gee I'm Gonna Miss You" "Here I Am"
DO-8348	1968	Buddy England	"Forgive And Forget" "Loving You Has Made My Life Worthwhile"
DO-8420	July 1968	The Groove	"What Is Soul" "Goin' Back"
DO-8421	1968	Johnny Farnham	"I Don't Want To Love You" "Jamie"
DO-8443	1968	The Cliffmores	"Michael Alexander" "You're Gonna Lose That Habit"
DO-8447	1968	Graham Chapman	"Now It's My Turn" "Pardon Me Miss"
DO-8484	1968	NZ Avengers	"Love - Hate - Revenge" "Only Last Year"
DO-8488	1968	Buddy England	"Name Of My Sorrow" "Coral Anne"
DO-8500	1968	Johnny Farnham	"Rose Coloured Glasses" "Scratching My Head"
DO-8532	Oct. 1968	The Groove	"You Are The One I Love" "Merry Go Round"
DO-8604	1968	Johnny Farnham	"I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus" "The Little Boy That Santa Claus Forgot"
DO-8658	Mar. 1969	The Groove	"Relax Me" "Dance To The Music"
DO-8674	1968	Buddy England	"What A Wonderful World" "In Need Of A Friend"
DO-8699	1969	NZ Avengers	"Daniel The Postman" "Days Of Pearly Spencer"
DO-8710	1969	Russell Morris	"The Real Thing" "It's Only A Matter Of Time"
DO-8711	1969	Terry Britten	"2000 Weeks" "Bargain Day"
DO-8787	1969	Graham Chapman	"Goodbye Goodbye" Another Day Goes By
DO-8811	June 1969	The Groove	"The Wind" "Play The Song"
DO-8827	1969	Johnny Farnham	One Mr. Whippy
DO-8832	date	NZ Avengers	"Love Is A One Way Ticket" "I Wouldn't Do That"
DO-8891	1969	Doug Parkinson In Focus	"Without You" "Hair"
DO-8907	1969	Autumn	"Mr. Henry's Lollipop Shop" "Today"
DO-8965	1970	Johnny Farnham	"Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head" "Two"

DO-9062	1970	Yvonne Barrett	"Lu" "Picture Me Gone"
DO-9081	1970	Greg Quill	"Fleetwood Plain" "Song To David"
DO-9234	1970	Johnny Farnham	"Comic Conversations" "Pretty Things"
DO-9328	1970	Johnny Farnham	"Christmas Happy" "The Ringing Reindeer"
DO-9448	1971	Johnny Devlin	"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" "Stag-O-Lee"
DO-9486	1971	Johnny Farnham	"Acapulco Sun" "As Long As Life Goes On"
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EPs

Albums

References / Links

Globaldog Productions
Australian Columbia discography
http://www.globaldogproductions.info/c/columbia-records-oz.html
EMI unfiied singles catalogue 1968-?
http://www.globaldogproductions.info/e/emi-unified-series-oz.

Gilbert & Sullivan Discography
"Competition between Columbia and HMV in the 1930s"
http://www.cris.com/~oakapple/gasdisc/narrelec-coluhmv.htm

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