Rondercrest started out as a production company. It received the first of its few mentions in 'Music Week' in the issue of the 21st of August 1976, which described it as 'New' and said that one of its productions, 'Gotcha Now' b/w 'Currents Of Your Ways' by Fergus, had been placed with the Paladin label (PAL-7; 9/76). A couple more Fergus singles followed on Paladin, both of them produced by Keith Grainger and Fergus for Rondercrest, as the first had been. They were 'Hello' b/w 'The Wrong' (PAL-5015, 2/77) and 'Indian Daughter' b/w 'My Room' (PAL-2023; 6/77). 'Indian Daughter' turned out to be the final single on Paladin, and it may have been the demise of that company which prompted the launch of the Rondercrest label. 'MW' of the 15th of April 1978 broke the news of the development. It named Grainger as the man behind Rondercrest, and added that he ran Grainger's record shop in Dunstable. The aim was for the label to release ten to twelve singles and around five albums per year. First out of the blocks were to be an album and a single by Fergus; the album was due out in May. A second album, by Gavin York, was in the pipeline.
The Gavin York LP, 'Injured Innocence' (RONDLP-2) duly arrived, and was mentioned in 'MW' of the 4th of November 1978 as being available through Pinnacle, along with the Fergus album. In 1980 a third album came out, 'Riding The Recession' by John Rhylan Hobbs (RH-1). Despite Rondercrest's stated aim, however, only a handful of singles and that trio of LPs emerged during its three-year lifespan. Singles were numbered in a ROND-0 series. For some reason there was a two-year gap between ROND-3 and ROND-5; there's no trace of ROND-4, so it may have been shelved. One label design served throughout, and there was a company sleeve (2), the reverse of which had the company's motto, 'The Shoestring Label', on it. Manufacture seems to have been done by various firms including Pye and RCA. 'Music Master' credits Pinnacle with distribution of all five singles. Keith Grainger's faith in Fergus is understandable: Fergus put out some interesting Pop singles and his album, logically enough called 'Fergus' (RONDLP-1; 1978), has been known to sell for three-figure sums. The John Rhylan Hobbs LP is also sought-after.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.