This particular Rainbow label belonged to the Rainbow Sound Studios, of Nottingham. Rainbow Sound seems to have been a Custom Recording operation, a place which recorded and had pressed limited quantities of records for artists - such as Cabaret and Club performers - who wanted something to sell to the people who came to their performances. As a label, Rainbow appears to have been active from c.1978-c.83; in 1980 it extended its name temporarily to Rainbow Sound. In the '70s the company used one basic design in different colours; the fawn ones were commonest early on, with the reds replacing them towards the end of the decade. In addition to the examples shown there were also some black-on-white and black-on-mid-blue ones. The change of name was accompanied by a change of design, though the numbering remained the same. Towards the end, with RSL-146, the name and design reverted back to how they had been in the '70s.
Unsurprisingly, Rainbow records, of which there seem to have been least fifty-four, are not that common. RSL-131, 'Bingo', by The Escorts, is a collectable Punk single; while a couple of late singles came out on the NM label, and an earlier one on Avatar (q.v.). Albums and singles generally shared the same RSL-100 numerical series, but there was also an RSL-0000 one. For the sake of interest (!) I've included in the discography below any albums that I've managed to track down, in addition to the singles and EPs, but it's still horribly gappy. The Paul Emmanuel EP was pressed by Orlake, the Larry Larkin by Lyntone.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.