Birth was one of Miki Dallon's labels, an offshoot of music publishing concern Birth Music, which he set up in the spring of 1972 with Gerald Black and Jan Olofsson, who was Young Blood's International Manager at the time; thus it was a sister-label to Young Blood and Young Blood International (q.v. both). The concept of Birth pre-dated the publishing company: 'Record Retailer' of the 23rd of October 1971 said that Dallon was forming a new label, tentatively called Birth, which would be run within Dallon Entertainments by Olofsson. According to the article the label would concentrate on continental and international material - Olofsson's speciality - and its first album was intended to be by Apollo 100. The launch was delayed, however, and the focus shifted: 'Music Week' of the 8th of July 1972 said that Birth was to concentrate on albums only, the first two being by Julian J. Savarin and by Christine Harwood. According to Billboard of the 8th of July 1972 Birth was to make its debut in August of that year, but again there seems to have been a delay. It was not until the issue of the 27th of January 1973 that 'MW' was able to give a starting date for the new label - the 22nd of February.
In the event Birth lasted for around a year and issued a few singles in addition to its five albums. There were just four of them, and they were numbered in a RAB-1000 series. RAB-1004, 'Who Is The Hero', by Kevin Lambe, had previously been issued on the Concord label (CON-023) in 1972, so Miki Dallon must have had faith in it. The Birth version had a different 'B' side, 'Who Stole The Ice', and it may be that the 'A' side was a re-recording - Lambe also released an album on Birth. Albums by Christine Harwood and by Julian Jay Savarin on the label are particularly collectable; the former includes contributions from the likes of Peter Banks, Dave Lambert and Ian McDonald. It would be fair to think of Birth as Young Blood's 'progressive' outlet. Manufacture and distribution were by CBS, as they were for Young Blood International itself at that time, and one label design served throught the company's short existence.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.