AMMO
Ammo started out in June 1970 as an independent
production / management concern; its name was derived from the trio of songwriters Chris
Arnold, Dave Martin and Jeff Morrow, who owned the company. According
to 'Record Retailer' of the 6th of June 1970 finance for the new venture
was supplied by Sunbury Music, which was also
going to provide administration. In February 1972 the trio took a
further step by linking with Dick James to set up Ammo-James Music ('Music
Week', 19th February 1972).
Ammo's productions were licensed to various labels until March 1973, when it
became a label in its own right. To judge from a brief inspection of
its catalogue it seems to have dealt mainly in straightforward middle-of-the-road Pop, though
the Squib single 'Thin Air' is moderately rockish. Unusually - uniquely? - the
label always featured either a portrait of the artist (1, 3) or some artwork
relevant to them (2), which is
a nice touch. Ammo was licensed to EMI, who handled manufacture and distribution; demos
had the standard EMI markings or stickers. The company's first release, Joe
Brown's 'Hey Mama' (AMO-101; 1973), was a
minor hit, but despite a promising start that was
about as good as things got. The label expired after little more
than a year, and the Ammo production company began licensing its productions to other companies again. Thanks
presumably to the relationship with Dick James many of them appeared
on DJM, but the records by Guys 'n'
Dolls - who turned out to be Ammo's
biggest sellers - came out on Magnet. Ammo signed a worldwide agreement with Bus Stop
in November 1975 ('MW' 15th November) which led to a good number of its
products appearing on that label. See also the Samantha label, which appears to have been
a precursor to Ammo.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.