American. Tangerine was owned by Ray Charles. It lasted from 1963 to 1973 in the USA, but it had a much shorter life in Britain; its few - three? - British singles dated from 1971 and are very rarely seen. Manufacture and distribution were by Philips over here, and the label design shows the Philips / Phonogram family likenesses; thus, for example, the 'cage' around the large spindle-hole, and the seven-digit catalogue number beginning with a 6 - in Tangerine's case, 6121-000. There was another Tangerine label in Britain in the late '60s, but it had no connection with this one. Its singles were numbered in the DP-0000s.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.