ALIDA STAR / COTTAGE
The record label of
the Alida Star studios, of Syston, Leicestershire. Opinions differ as to
what the label was actually called - the logo just has 'Cottage' on it,
while the 'ASC' prefix suggests 'Alida Star Cottage'. Most of the few
records that I have seen listed on the label were LPs, but there was at
least one 7" record: an EP by Country singer Don Woods, featuring 'Don't
Tear Down The Pedestal', 'Love Beyond Compare' and the two tracks shown on
the scan above. Its catalogue number, ASC 127514, give the month (12)
and the year (75) in which the recording was made; the remaining
numbers presumably show that it was the fourteenth record made that
year. Pressing was done by Orlake, probably in early 1976. There is
some doubt as to whether Alida Star / Cottage was a custom recording
concern or a bona fide label. The material on the Don Woods EP and on the
Heidelbergers' 'Nottingham Bier Keller' LP (ASC-107510) hints at the
former, but cult Folk band Spriguns Of Tolgus are said to have been signed to
the label for their now hugely-collectable 'Jack With A Feather' LP (ASC-7755),
and Folk singer Rosie Hardman is reported to have been unhappy with the cover
which the company provided for her album 'Jersey Burger' (ASC-7754),
which suggest that Alida Star may have actually issued records, not
just made them. The only other record on the label that Googling turns up
is another Folk LP, Mick Smith's 'Words And Music' (ASC-771; 1977).
Doubtless there are others out there - are there any more 7" ones? Don
Woods went on to make a definitely self-financed album through SRT, 'Country At
The Flixton Buck' (SRTX/79/CUS/493), and had a couple of singles out in the
1980s on the Merseyside-based 'Peninsula' label.
Copyright 2014 Robert Lyons.