An oddity. It wasn't unknown in the early decades of the twentieth century for companies to buy up stocks of old records, stick a new label on them and sell them on, but the only example of anything similar that I've found from the 7" 45 r.p.m. era was carried out by an old-established firm of clothing manufacturers from Market Harborough. In their case the stuck-on label wasn't intended to give the record a new identity, nor were the stickered records intended for sale - they were part of a promotional package aimed at alerting customers to the fact that Hans Andersen's children's clothing was now available direct from the manufacturer rather than through a company called Kenvis, as had previously been the case. The record in question was a version of Hans Christian Andersen's tale 'The Ugly Duckling' as rendered by Mike Reid (Pye, 7N-45434; 2/75), which had been a Top 10 hit in the spring of 1975. It would appear that, at some point afterwards, someone from the clothing company had the idea of buying a quantity of the singles from Pye, sticking an informative label on the appropriate sides and using them as a novelty promotional item - all presumably with Pye's agreement. Sadly, googling hasn't come up with a date for the switch from Kenvis, but some time in the mid to late '70s seems likely and it's an interesting case ("Really?" - Editor), so I've allowed Hans Andersen a page on the site. The Pye label was discontinued in the summer of 1980; Hans Andersen itself ran into hard times and closed in the mid '80s.
Copyright 2022 Robert Lyons.