Debatable, this one. When I started this site one of the rules I applied were that records which weren't available for sale to the general public shouldn't qualify, and the only 7" records made by the World Record Club - later just 'World Records' - in the '70s were for promotional purposes only. However, as the label was a well-known one and its history is a mildly interesting one I've decided to let it slip onto the site. The World Record Club was set up in 1956 as a low-priced-record mail-order business by Norman Lonsdale and John Day ('Billboard' magazine, 26th May 1956); other directors were Fiona Bentley and actor Richard Attenborough, with Cyril Ornadel acting as musical director. Initially the company operated out of premises in the Edgware Road, London W2; by the end of the 1950s it was in Red Lion Street, Richmond, and by 1961 it had moved to Little Green, Richmond. It recorded much of its own material at first, though some was licensed. Club members had to agree to buy at least one record a year - which was a small requirement compared with those of similar clubs - and they were sent six-monthly programmes from which they could make their selections in advance. Much of what was on offer consisted of Classical music, but there were also Pop, Jazz, Children's, Religious and Folk records. As well as LPs the company offered a selection of EPs (1), which came in generic covers (4, 5); the practise of issuing EPs seems to have been discontinued late in the decade. The club was successful enough to justify the opening of an Australian arm, which flourished. EMI must have been impressed, for it bought a substantially controlling interest - 75% - in the club in 1960. The investment was kept quiet, however, and when news of it finally appeared, in 'Billboard' of the 10th of January 1965, the article claimed that EMI seemed 'embarrassed' about it - the big record companies had never been fond of record clubs.
From 1960, thanks to EMI's involvement, records from that company's back catalogue became available to the World Record Club and appeared on its label, but in 1965 the advent of the budget outlet Music For Pleasure led 'Billboard' of the 4th of September to forecast that much of the EMI material which had appeared on World Record Club would be issued on the new label. 'Billboard' of the 23rd of October 1971 referred to the company as a 'subsidiary' of EMI, which suggests that EMI were very much in charge by that point. The club continued to function as a mail-order business until late 1973, but in its issue of the 17th of November of that year 'Music Week' broke the news that it had changed its name to World Records and was no longer to be a club-type operation. From that point it continued as an outlet for material from EMI's archives, including a lot of material by Dance Bands of the 1920s, '30s and '40s.
It was tracks from a couple of those Dance Band LPs which made up the by-now World Records' two 7" EPs from the 1970s. The use of Dance Band songs on Dennis Potter's 1978 TV drama series 'Pennies From Heaven' led to the release of two World Records LPs which were tied-in with the series, and an EP featuring four of the tracks from the albums was pressed as a promo-only sampler. Its labels had the company's logo on them, rather than its name (2), and its catalogue number, PSR-422, was taken from a series used by EMI for records which were not intended for sale but which were either used as promotional items or were packaged in with proper issues. In addition to the tracks shown on the scan the EP offered 'The Peanut Vendor' by Ambrose & His Orchestra, and 'Me And The Old Folks At Home' by Lew Stone & His Band. Another promo-only EP appeared the following year, his time without the logo but with a mention of 'World Records Retrospect' in small print (3); this contained four tracks from the 'Happy Days Are Here Again' album and was numbered PSR-446. Rather late for our purposes, 1981 saw the release of a proper World Records single, coupling 'Let's Face The Music And Dance' by Sam Browne & The Rhythm Sisters with Frances Langford's version of Stormy Weather (CXT-501; 3/81), which also saw the light of day in promo form as PSR-454. World Records continued on into the 1980s but seems to have hit the buffers around the middle of that decade. A useful and informative article by John Day can be found on the stereonet site. Thanks to Nicholas Hough for the second scan; the third scan has had a missing centre replaced.
Copyright 2020 Robert Lyons.