American, based in New York. Infinity was funded by MCA and was run by former Epic Records general manager Ron Alexenburg. It received its first mention in the UK trade papers when 'Music Week' of the 30th of September 1978 reported that it was to make its debut in the USA the following week. According to the article the label's UK launch was being delayed till the new year, on the grounds that companies were too far into the autumn selling period for it to be done 'properly'. 'MW' of the 13th of January provided a reminder that Infinity was on its way, describing it as 'The USA's newest record label' under president Ron Alexenburg and reiterating that it was backed by MCA. A week later 'MW' of the 20th of January was able to provide some more details: although MCA was currently with EMI the Infinity label was to be placed with CBS, as MCA intended to move to CBS in June and it seemed 'unwise' to launch Infinity through EMI with only five months of the contract left. The article added that Alexenburg had been with CBS in America for twelve years and was top of the arm that handled Epic, Portrait and several other labels when he was approached by MCA chairman Lew Wasserman and president Sidney Sheinberg. They asked him what his ambition was, and he said that he would one day like to start a record company from scratch; to which they replied "How about now?". Infinity was said to have made a promising start in the first two-and-a-half months of its existence in the States. The same issue of 'MW' carried an advert for the company's first album and single.
Infinity also made a reasonable beginning in the UK. Between January and November 1979 it put out around eighteen singles and managed to hit the Charts twice: Spyro Gyra's jazzy instrumental 'Morning Dance' b/w 'Jubilee' and 'Heliopolis' (INF-111) reached the No.17 position, and Rupert Holmes's 'Escape' b/w 'Drop It' (INF-120) just failed to crack the Top 20. However, by the time the latter entered the Charts, in early 1980, Infinity had ceased trading. 'MW' of the 24th of November 1979 broke the news of the closure; it quoted Alexenburg as saying that he was not happy with his corporate bosses and that they were looking too closely at Infinity's bottom line. In the States Billboard of the same date reported that MCA had aborted Infinity and was cherry-picking from its artists - those whom it chose would appear on the main MCA label from then on. 'MW of the 1st of December confirmed that selected Infinity artists would be making the move. Finally, 'BB' of the 8th of December stated that Alexenburg was taking MCA to court on the grounds that their agreement prohibited the merger taking place. The legal action seems to have failed, as no more was seen of Infinity. The following year he started a new label, Handshake, in partnership with Peter and Trudy Meisel of Hansa Records ('MW', 12th June 1980).
Infinity's singles were numbered in the INF-100s. Only one label design was used (1), but the vividness of the pastel stripes down the centre varied. Copies of 'Escape' can be found with monochrome labels and a simplified logo (2), presumably because of a shortage of the regular ones. Demo copies were marked with a modest 'A' and the appropriate text (3). Later singles tended to have picture sleeves, but for the others there was a company sleeve (4). Manufacture and distribution were by CBS, with MCA handling everything else.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.