Pepper Records was an independent production company. 'Music Week' of the 20th of August 1977 said that it had been formed by ex-Virgin marketing director Darrol Edwards and television jingle writer Jonathan Hodge, and that it intended to exploit advertising jingles as commercial releases. According to the article a worldwide licensing deal with United Artists had been signed, and Pepper hoped to release a Christmas single featuring a 'Black children's choir'. 'Billboard' of the 25th of February 1978 said that Jonathan Hodge was head of the company and that its directors were Michael Weston, Michael Dufficy and Howard Weston. Hodge seems to have worked on most of Pepper's product, including its two Chart singles: Peter Blake's 'Lipsmackin' Rock 'n' Rollin'' b/w 'Clever Dick' (UP-36295; 8/77), and the Top 3 hit 'If I Had Words' b/w 'This Time Of Year', by Scott Fitzgerald & Yvonne Keely (UP-36333; 11/77). The latter featured the St. Thomas Moore School Choir, so perhaps it was the 'Christmas single' to which the article had referred; though the choir wasn't a 'Black' one. The Peter Blake record was based on a Pepsi jingle; continuing the 'jingles' theme, Debbie Raymond's 'You and I' used the melody from a British Leyland TV advert, while 'Sirius III' by Duncan Mackay featured as background music on a Chrysler 'Gold Card' TV commercial.
The first three Pepper productions came out on the United Artists label with a small 'Pepper Records' logo (1) but with the the fourth the company was given its own label identity, gaining a green pepper and a much bigger logo (2). Catalogue numbers of its records continued to share the main United Artists series. Despite its initial chart successes Pepper appears not to have made it into the '80s. Before it expired it exchanged its green pepper for a red one and underwent a general change of design (3) - its final three singles had this updated label. Demos for the green Peppers were in the United Artists style of the time, being overprinted with a large transparent red 'A' (4). The red Pepper demos had a hollow central black 'A' and the appropriate wording (5) - that style had been used by United Artists previous to the 'transparent red A' one.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.