Manticore belonged to Prog Rockers Emerson, Lake and Palmer. It received its first mention in 'Music Week' in the 'Gossip' column of the issue of the 20th of January 1973, which said that the band would be launching their own label through Island Records. 'MW' of the 10th of February confirmed that marketing and distribution were to be by Island, and added that the launch was to be in March. A promo-only various artists three-track single appeared in that month, but it wasn't until the issue of the 19th of May that 'MW' was able to report on the release of Manticore's first records: a single by Italian Prog Rock band P.F.M., 'Celebration' b/w 'Old Rain' was out that week, with a catalogue number of HEVY-2, and albums by P.F.M. and Pete Sinfield were due the following week. Distribution was to be by Island. Incidentally, HEVY-1, 'Chevrolet' b/w 'You Know' by Stray Dog, was not released in Britain, but did come out in France. The agreement with Island proved short-lived: 'MW' of the 9th of June broke the news that the partnership had been dissolved after just four months. The article said that the idea behind the operation had been for Manticore to supply product and for Island to market and distribute it; when the company had been formed Island's David Betteridge had been named as its head, with Manticore's Pete Zumsteg as general manager. Pending a long-term deal, Manticore's three current releases would be available through RCA. By October of that year the company had linked up with WEA in what 'MW' of the 19th of January said was a pressing and distribution deal; the article went on to say that Emerson, Lake and Palmer had formed the label "because they could afford to invest money back into the business.". Manticore's singles were given a K-13500 series to themselves with the move to WEA; the P.F.M. single was reissued with a new number, K-13501. They were also given a company sleeve (6).
Over the course of the next three years Manticore proved that it was more than a 'vanity' label by issuing records by Banco, Keith Christmas, Stray Dog, Hanson and P.F.M., in addition to current and re-released material by ELP individually and collectively. The company seems to have concentrated its main efforts on albums, but on the singles front it came up with a Christmas classic in Greg Lake's 'I Believe In Father Christmas' b/w 'Humbug' (K-13511; 11/75), and then registered a minor hit with Keith Emerson's 'Honky Tonk Train Blues' b/w 'Barrel House Shake Down' (K-13513; 4/76). Sadly 1977 saw the effective end of the label as a productive concern. 'MW' of the 26th of March revealed that its future was in doubt following ELP's signing a long-term contract with Atlantic; the contracts of other Manticore acts were being "renegotiated". Finally 'Billboard' of the 7th of May 1977 said that the label had recently been discontinued as an active force but that its more popular records were to remain on catalogue. In the event Manticore went on to serve mainly as a vehicle for reissues of ELP's albums and those of the other artists whom it recorded in the '70s; it is still going today (2019).
The label design remained basically the same throughout Manticore's lifetime, but there was a change of typeface between the Island (1) and WEA (2) issues of 'Celebration'; for subsequent WEA singles the position of the credits changed (3). From 1975 singles in the WEA group tended to have a medium-sized 'A' on the 'A' side; Manticore's were no exception (4). Until August 1974, during the WEA period, demo copies were marked appropriately (5). After that point WEA ceased to give demo copies special markings, by and large.
Copyright 2009 Robert Lyons.