Unsurprisingly, EMI America was one of EMI's outlets for American material. A subsidiary of Capitol, it was launched in December 1977 and lasted until the late '80s. Catalogue numbers began in an AMI-500 series, but the prefix lost its 'I' after two issues; a more drastic change came in 1979, when the series altered to EA-100. By this time Capitol Industries / EMI had taken over UA Records; Billboard (24th of March 1979) reports that the managements of EMI America and UA were being consolidated, and the link seems to have been reflected in the label design - several records from the EA-100 period (EA-102 to EA-111) had a United Artists logo on them (2) and demos with a large hollowed-out central 'A', in the United Artists style. Previous demos had been in the usual EMI style, with a black 'A' and 'DEMO RECORD NOT FOR SALE' on them (3); the Michael Johnson single shown above (1) is an issue, and the 'A' on it, which can be found on many of the AMI / AM prefixed records, merely indicates the 'A' side. At the end of the decade EMI America and UA Records were merged to form EMI-UA, but records continued to appear on both labels. The somewhat sober label design of the '70s was replaced by a more upbeat one in the early '80s. EMI America's first single of the new numerical series, 'Sad Eyes' by Robert John (EA-101; 1979) was a modest hit; the label was to enjoy several more Chart successes, notably with the J. Geils Band. The discography below only covers 1978-79.
(Paul Pelletier; Record Information Services)
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.