The not very long-lived Pop label of Atlantic Records (q.v.). According to 'Music Week' of the 23rd of February 1974 the forthcoming Antic label was the brainchild of Atlantic A&R man Dave Dee, of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mich and Tich fame, who was to add the job of label manager to his other duties. The article stated that Atlantic believed that it was seen as American by the record-buying public, and that it had felt the need for a UK Pop label for some time. With its parent, Antic was, of course, part of the WEA group. It issued around twenty-three singles during the period 1974-75, after which the impetus seems to have failed; it then appears to have spent twelve months or so basically as a vehicle for records by the Les Humphries Singers. There were no releases in 1977, but in January 1978 a novelty item by Me, Myself And Me Again provided a last gasp for the label. Numbering was in a K-11500 series, the 'K' prefix reflecting the Kinney / WEA origins. Antic's products ranged from the Rock 'n' Roll Revival of Carl Simmons ('Angel'; K-11515) to the Glam sound of the Crash Brothers ('Hoodoo'; K-11502), by way of a reissue of the Serge Gainsberg & Jane Birkin hit 'Je T'Aime ... Moi Non Plus' (K-11511). The label design remained basically unchanged throughout, though a hollow 'A' appeared on the appropriate sides from late September 1974 (2) in line with other WEA labels. The monochrome label (3) seems to have appeared on only the final single.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.