LBA
Something of a mystery,
this one. LBA issued at least four singles in 1978-79, but unlike
most small independents of that era it didn't deal in Punk
Rock. Instead it seems to have been a straightforward Disco Pop sort
of label, to judge by sound of Mandy Ann Hughes's, 'One Stop Baby'
(LBA-101; 1978) and John Davis's, 'Speedway Rider' (LBA-104;
1979). 'One Stop Baby ' has a big production for a small label; the
producers went to the expense of hiring an orchestra.
With Mandy Ann making records and Ann and Brian producing them, LBA seems to
have been a Hughes Family affair, initially at least: 102 and
103 were other Mandy Ann singles. The 'B' and 'A' in the company's name could
easily stand for 'Brian' and 'Ann', which leaves one wondering where the
'L' came from. 'Label of Brian and Ann' perhaps? Or was
there another Hughes, with the initial 'L'? A couple of the 1980s singles have the production
company as 'Limelight Productions', which would fit with the 'light rays' on
the label.... Whatever the origins of its name LBA records are generally not often met
with, though the first appears to have shifted a decnt
number of copies. Marketing was through President at the start, with Lugton
and / or other members of the BIRD group handling distribution;
by the time of the fourth single LBA was doing both of those jobs itself (2). Another
batch of LBA singles appeared in 1984-85, by which time the label design
had changed.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.