UNION-CASTLE
Apparently a one-off label. Union-Castle was a
shipping company. It operated a cruise ship called the Reina Del Mar in
the 1960s and the first half of the '70s, and was responsible for an
EP of music by Eddie Bennett, who was presumably the resident musician on board
that ship at the time. It seems reasonable to suppose that the EP,
which featured 'Blue Danube' and five other tracks, was sold to passengers
as a souvenir. There's no date on the label, but the catalogue number,
SPE-15, enables us to file it in the '70s. The number was one of a series
used by the Micon (Recording And Publishing) Co. Ltd, of Culver
Street, Colchester. SP-12 was an LP featuring a recording of a 1971 FA Cup
game between Colchester United and Leeds United; SPE-15 must have been made
after that record but before the Reina Del Mar was withdrawn from service, which
happened in 1975. Micon put out several records under its own name,
sometimes in co-operation with the New Zealand label Viking, but the few that I
have managed to trace have been albums, which explains why it hasn't got a page
on this site. It did however put out a 7" EP on another of its
associated labels, Drum Major (q.v.). Thanks to Redpunk of the 45cat site
for the use of his scan here.
Copyright 2013 Robert Lyons.