Essentially the late '60s Soul Music imprint of CBS, the British arm of the American Columbia label. Direction started life in 1967, apparently with a somewhat broader remit: its early singles included several with psychedelic leanings by groups with rather outlandish names, such as Pregnant Insomnia, Cat's Pyjamas and Elmer Gantry's Velvet Opera In terms of collectability, the biggest of them is currently 'Garden Of My Mind' b/w 'Time To Start Loving You' by The Mickey Finn (58-3086; 12/67), which goes for three-figure sums. Initially Direction boasted both British and American productions, but it swung towards the latter in the spring of 1968 when CBS began to use it as the outlet for material from American Columbia's R'n'B / Soul label Okeh ('Billboard', 11th May 1968). There were seven hits on Direction during 1968-69, three each from Sly & The Family Stone and The Bandwagon (with and without Johnny Johnson) and one from The Tymes. The Bandwagon registered highest, with 'Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache' b/w 'Dancin' Master' (58-3670; 8/68), which got to the No.4 spot. Sly's band took 'Dance To The Music' b/w 'Let Me Hear It From You' (58-3568; 6/68) to No.7, while The Tymes reached No.14 with 'People' b/w 'For Love Of Ivy' (58-3903; 12/68). The other placings were in the 30s. Direction was shelved in the autumn of 1970, and its artists were moved across to the main CBS label.
One label design served throughout but the 'Arrow' logo was reduced in size in May 1969 (2). Promo copies were marked with a medium-sized central 'A' and the appropriate text; they also had the country of origin on them (3). Singles had a '58' prefix; the numerical part which followed it was shared by several CBS-group labels. There was a company sleeve (4), which gained a reference to CBS at the bottom after a while (5). Manufacture and distribution were of course by CBS. Direction was revived briefly in 1980 for three singles by The Step and an EP by Noel McCalla, this time with EPC or DIR prefixes. The discography below only covers the 1970s.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.