ASTOR RECORDS
Astor's original label,
used in the '50s and '60s
|
Astor's pictorial
label
design, introduced in the early 1970s
|
|
Category: Australian-owned
independent label
Location: Melbourne, Vic.
Date: 1950s-1980s
Owner/s: Radio Corporation P/L (Vic.)
/ Electronic Industries / Phillips (1970s)
House labels: Astor
Distributor for: Autumn (UK, 1960s), Blue Cat (UK,
1960s), Buddah (USA, 1960s-70s), Charger (USA, 1960s), Colpix (USA,
1960s), Crusader (USA 1960s), Dawn, (UK, 1960s), Elektra (USA, 1960s), Go!! (Aust. 1960s), HBR (USA, 1960s), Image (Aust. 1970s), Kama Sutra (USA 1960s), Mercury
(USA, 1960s), MCA (USA
1960s-70s), MGM/Verve (USA, until 1967), MTA(USA, 1960s), Much (Canada,
1960s), Parkway (USA, 1960s), Picadilly (UK, 1960s), Pure Soul
Music (USA, 1960s), Pye (UK, 1960s-70s) Scope!! (Aust., 1960s), Sweet Plum (Canada, 1960s), Vanguard (USA, 1960s), Young Blood (UK, 1960s).
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History
Melbourne-based Astor Records was a leading recording and
distribution company that operated from the early 1960s until sometime
in the 1980s. It was a wholly-owned subsidiary of the manufacturing
group Radio Corporation, which was itself later
bought out by Electronic Industries, which in turn was absorbed into
the multinational Philips conglomerate in the early
1970s. Radio
Corporation produced consumer electronic goods under the
Astor brand from the mid-1920s until the mid-1970s. It was one of a
large group of Australian companies (including Radiola, AWA and
Kriesler) that
produced a electronic and consumer goods, including radios, record players and
televisions.
Operating from premises at 126-130 Grant St, South Melbourne,
Astor was one of the first electrical goods companies established in
Victoria and became one of the state's most prominent manufacturers.
Although Astor products were sold all over Australia, the Sydney-based
Kriesler and AWA brands dominated the market outside Victoria. That
began to change in the 1950s and Astor became known Australia-wide when
the company was chosen to supply radios for GMH's Melbourne-made Holden
cars. Their 'Diamond Dot' and 'Airchief' car radios are well-known to
classic Holden aficionados.
The Radio Corporation was founded in 1923 as Clark &
Hagblom, a company making fixed condensers and radios for Louis Cohen
Wireless, whom they purchased later the same year. The company
merged with two other small concerns in 1926 under the umbrella name
The
Radio Corporation, and it quickly became a major player in
the Australasian domestic radio industry through its Astor
brand. Astor had close links with US companies such as
Hazeltine
and
Jansen. It was a technologically innovative company that actively
promoted its expertise and was prolific in terms of the models it
produced. Unlike the more conservative AWA, Astor made a huge range of
colourful radios with unique designs and innovations, such as magified
dial lenses and state specific dials, and they pioneered the small
portable radio set in Australia. Surviving Astor valve radios are now
highly collectible.
Astor made the natural progression into the design and
manufacture of (black and white) receivers after television
broadcasting was
introduced in Australia in 1956. Astor also produced a wide range of
domestic whitegoods in the 1960's. Among Astor's string of
technical and commercial successes,
there was a famous dispute over copyright with the Disney organisation.
Astor had appropriated the 'Micky Mouse' name, which appeared on many
of their early products, but after a challenge from Disney, Astor
simply dropped the 'Mouse' part rather than pay for the rights. Their
'Mickey' radios sold strongly for many years.
Radio Corporation was eventually taken over and became a
division of Electronic Industries, run by Sir Arthur Warner. EI
acquired several other well-known companies and brand names, including
General Accessories, (which bought Malvern Star in 1958) and Eclipse
Radio, which owned the Peter Pan and Monarch brands. Other names
associated with Astor were its 'Anodeon' picture tubes, 'Anocap'
polyester capacitors and the 'Ferrocart' vibrator units used in its
accumulator-powered radios.
In the early 1970's, Electronic Industries was taken over by
the Netherlands-based multinational Philips, then headquartered at
Rhodes in Sydney. With the takeover, the Astor brand name disappeared
from the market, although the record label, which had been incorporated
as Astor Records Pty Ltd sometime in the 1960s, continued in business
into the early 1980s. Ironically, one of Astor's very last single
releases, Joe Dolce's "Shaddupa You Face" turned out to be one of the
biggest-selling singles in the history of the Australian record
industry.
Astor and its Australian competitors were eventually wiped out
by the gradual reduction of import tariffs, which made them unable to
compete with imported products. This trend began in the early 1970s,
when duties on imported electronic goods were lowered as part of the
across-the-board 25% tariff cut by the Whitlam Labor government and
from the mid-1970s the Australian market was flooded with cheap,
high-quality electronic goods from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong and South
Korea. Faced with increasing overseas competition, many companies
folded, and others were taken over by overseas interests -- Pye and
Kriesler were also both absorbed by Philips in the late Seventies.
Tariff reductions combined with the economic impact of the introduction
of FM radio and colour television after 1975 to drive most local
electrical maufacturers out of business by the 1980s.
Astor Records
Because
they already produced radios and TVs, it was logical
for
Radio Corporation to move into content production, so they established
their own recording division and distribution network, which was
launched in 1960. The HQ
was
in Melbourne, the pressing plant was located at Clayton, and
the
company had branch offices and/or distribution warehouses in
other
capital cities
including Sydney and Brisbane.
Astor's inaugural releases were the single
"Speak Low" and the LP Pilita Tells The Story Of Love
by Pilita with Arthur Young & His Orchestra.
Pilita (Corrales) was a Filipina singer who came to fame when she was shipwrecked on
her way to
Australia with a circus act in 1958 and rescued by the Australian Navy.
She became popular on Melbourne TV and was the first female
artist
to score a hit on the newly-established Top 40 chart, with the song
"Come
Closer to Me". She became a star of nightclubs and cabaret in
S.E. Asia, with over 135
albums to her credit and many
appearances in Asia and the US. In recent years she has been
helping her husband with their
restaurant in the Philippines, the Kookabar ‘n’
Grill. She still enjoys a reputation as a "singing icon and living
legend" in the Phillipines, promotes new talent, and in late 2003
completed a series of shows in Manila with her daughter, Jackie Lou
Blanco.
Other early local signings included singer Betty
McQuade, harmonica player Horrie Dargie (who later established
the Go!! label), Bobby Cookson, The Hi-Fi's and The Marksmen. There was an
apparent hiatus in the company's local recording activities during 1965, which
may
have been due to Astor's takeover by the Electonics Industries
group. There were evidently no locally-recorded singles issued in the
label's A-7000 series during this period, although licenced
overseas releases on the A-1000 series were evidently not affected.
Local recording resumed in 1966 with the single "Pearl Diver" / "The
Rip" by surf band The 4 Strangers (which later became Tamam Shud).
One of
Astor's most successful pop acts of the mid-1960s was The Masters Apprentices, who
were signed in late 1965 on the recommendation of
singer Bobby Bright. Astor
released the Masters' first six singles, including the classics
"Undecided", "Wars or Hands Of Time", "Living In A Child's Dream" and
"Elevator Driver", and their self-titled debut LP. All the
Masters' single except "Undecided" (which was recorded in Adelaide)
were cut at Armstrong's Studios in Melbourne, and were
nominally produced by the late
Dick Heming,
Astor's A&R manager / house producer. However, lead
singer Jim Keays states in his memoirs that the credit for these
productions really belongs to engineer Roger
Savage, with some input (notably on "Living In A Child's
Dream") from Ian "Molly" Meldrum.
Former W&G
house producer Ron
Tudor worked as a Promotions Manager at Astor for two years
from 1966-68.
A number of acts
who had previously recorded for W&G released singles on the In
label during Ron's tenure with Astor, and it seems likely that Ron
brought these performers to Astor. Ron subsequently fomed his own
independent production company, June Productions, and then established
the Fable Records label, which was launched in April 1970. A
number of former Astor artists including The Paul McKay Sound, Matt
Flinders and The Strangers, recorded for Fable in the early 1970s.
Other local acts included
Peter Doyle, The 4 Strangers, The
Brigade, The City Stompers, The Colours, vocalist Matt Flinders (who
scored a national Top 5 hit in 1969 with "Picking Up Pebbles"), The Gathering,
Grandma's Tonic, The Perfection and The Town Criers, best known for their 1968 Astor hit "Everlasting
Love". Astor continued to sign local acts in the 1970s and early 1980s
-- Perth progressive rock band Bakery released their classic
second single "No Dying In The Dark" and their albums Rock
Mass For Love and the superb Momento on Astor; Normie
Rowe signed with the label in 1975 and recorded several singles
for them and ca. 1980 they signed the reformed lineup of The
Seekers with Lisa Wisselling and Buddy England.
Astor was also an important distributor of local independent
labels. In the '60s it distributed Melbourne's Go!!
and Scope labels (which
were owned by the same company that produced the famous Go!! Show pop music TV
series) and, in the early 1970s, the Sweet Peach and Image labels. The
old yellow-and-black 'diamond' label design was phased out sometime in
the early 1970s and replaced with an eye-catching full-colour design
featuring an idealised rural scene (pictured at left), and local
material was identified with the words "Australian Recording",
prominently placed just beneath the logo.
Recordings licenced from overseas labels (see below) were a
significant part of Astor's business, and as a
result Astor's locally-recorded releases are
not consecutively numbered.
Astor held the Australian distribution rights to a number of
important international labels including Elektra (USA), Pye (UK), MCA (USA), MGM/Verve (USA) --
which included the rights to the Kama Sutra/Buddah labels -- and
Casablanca (USA) after 1974.
Astor was one of the original shareholders in The
Phonographic Performance Company of Australia Ltd. The PPCA,
incorporated in 1969, was established to administer broadcast and
public performance rights and licences for sound recordings and (later)
music videos for radio, television and public venues.
In the early '70s, following the collapse of his own Air label, singer-songwriter Buddy England
(a latter-day member of
The Seekers) joined Astor as an Artists and Repertoire
Manager. Writer and satirist Brian
Dawe also worked for Astor as
a promotions/marketing manager around the same time
and, according to rock historian Ed Nimmervol, was
instrumental in
making Neil Diamond's Hot
August Night
into a major success in Australia.
In
late 1974 Astor made a distribution deal with the American
Casablanca label and Australia became one of the first overseas
territories to which Casablanca's major rock act of the time, KISS,
were distributed. Founded in 1973 by former Buddah
executive Neil Bogart, Casablanca enjoyed great success with
KISS in the
mid-70s and then became one of the most successful labels of the disco
era with Donna Summer, The Village People, Brooklyn Dreams, Cher, Love
& Kisses and Parliament.
In 1976 Astor inadvertently gained a place in punk
rock
history as the manufacturer of the first single by The Saints.
Guitarist Ed Kuepper was
working in Astor's Brisbane warehouse when the band decided to make
their first record. He approached the company to see if they could
press it for him, and was told that they could -- in fact the company
provided a custom pressing service that was often used by country
artists. With Mark Moffatt producing, The Saints recorded their classic
debut single "I'm Stranded" / "No Time" on their own Fatal Records
label, which was custom pressed for them by Astor.
One of Astor's last single releases -- which, ironically,
was its most successful -- was Joe Dolce's "Shaddap You Face" which has held
the record for the most successful song in Australian music history for
more than 20 years.
According to Frank Driscoll, one of the rarest and most
valuable recordings ever pressed by Astor is the track "You Gotta Let
Go" by Marcia Hines. Originally thought to have been an album-only
track, it was in fact also pressed in very limited numbers as a 7"
single. Whilst the album from which it was taken went platinum in
Australia, less than 10 copies of the single are known to exist and
these are currently valued at over AU$700!
Overseas labels distributed by Astor
Like with its Sydney rival Festival Records, the distribution
of
recordings sourced from overseas labels was an important part of
Astor's business, and it enjoyed considerable success with records
licenced from the American labels Vanguard, Kama Sutra, Buddah and
Elektra and the British label Pye, all of which were issued on
the Astor label in its "AP-1000" series.
The Vanguard label
The British Pye label was, like Astor, the recording division
of an electrical goods manufacturer, Pye of Cambridge, who
established their own recording division in the 1950s. According to the
history of the company by Dario
Western, Pye established its own Australian subsidiary in the 1950s,
but this folded in the early '60s and the Australian distribution
rights were
subsequently acquired by Astor. Pye recordings comprised the majority of Astor's international
releases, and most singles released underlicence from Pye were
issued on Astor's long-running 'A-1000' series.
Pye's leading acts included Lonnie
Donegan, The Searchers, Max Bygraves, Donovan, Petula Clark, Sandie Shaw, Jackie
Trent and Tony Hatch, The Kinks
(until their move to RCA in 1971), the early recordings by Status
Quo
(including "Pictures of Matchstick Men") and UK-based Australian jazzer Kenny Ball. Petula Clark was one
of Pye's most popular and successful artists and according to
a review from Go-Set
in 1967 she
was heavily promoted by Astor in Australia, scoring many
national hits. Other notable Sixties acts released through Astor
included The Dixie Cups, The Honeycombs, The Beau Brummels and The Ivy
League.
Pye's subsidiary imprint Pye International held the British
rights to a number of important U.S. independent labels including
Vanguard, A&M, Colpix and King, and they released artists
including Herb Alpert, The Marcels, James Brown, Dionne Warwick and
Chris Montez in the U.K. It is thought that the rights to most of these
labels were included in Astor's
Australian licencing deal with Pye, although the Australian rights to
A&M were acquired by Festival Records in the early 1960s.
Pye set up a subsidiary label,
Dawn, which had some success in the early '70s with The Brotherhood Of
Man and Mungo Jerry, whose version of "In The Summertime" competed with a rival version by Australia's The Mixtures,
released on Fable. Pye also
had links with the BBC, Satril, Fly, and Disco Demand labels but
their most successful affiliate label was DJM (Dick James Music), the
label to which Elton John was signed in the early '70s. Pye also had
success with their "Golden Hour" compilations (The Kinks, The Searchers
et al) and with their
budget imprint Marble Arch.
Astor distributed renowned US label Elektra, founded
by Jac Holzman in 1950.
From its origins as a small independent specialising in contemporary
American popular 'folk' and "ethnic" field recordings (including the
famed Nonesuch Explorer series), Elektra grew rapidly in the mid-1960s
with the assistance of A&R manager and house producer Paul
A. Rothchild, whose advice enabled enabled Elektra to sign up several
of
the hottest new West Coast acts of the period including The
Doors, Tim
Buckley,
Love and soft-rock superstars Bread. Astor
distributed Elektra in Australia until 1970, when
the label was purchased by the Warner Music group for $10 million and
the rights reverted to Warner's newly-established Australian subsidiary.
The story of the Kama Sutra and Buddah
labels is a
fascinating chapter in rock history. Kama Sutra was originally founded
as an independent production company in 1964 by American entrepreneur
George Goldner. The Kama Sutra label was set up by
Goldner's associate Artie Ripp in 1965. It was distributed in
the
USA by MGM, which Astor distributed in the mid-60s, and
this is presumably how Astor originally gained the Australian rights to
Kama Sutra, which they retained even after they lost the MGM/Verve
rights to Philips/Phonogram
in 1967.
Kama Sutra's first big major success was The Loving Spoonful,
who scored a major hit in 1966 with "Do You Believe In Magic". In 1967
managing director Art Kass established a sister label, Buddah, to
produce acts that fell outside Kama Sutra's agreement with its
distributor, MGM. Kass appointed former MGM and Cameo-Parkway executive
Neil Bogart as MD
of the new label, and during 1968-69 Buddah acts including The
Lemon Pipers, Ohio
Express and 1910 Fruitgum Company -- studio bands created and produced
by the team of Jeff Katz and Jerry Kasenetz -- spearheaded the
so-called "bubblegum" craze that soon dominated the charts.
Buddah handled a very diverse range of artists, including many
soul and R&B performers. One of their first big R&B
successes was with The Five Stairsteps & Cubie, who had a
sizeable US hit with the original version of "Something's Missing (In
My Life)", the song that was covered very successfully in Australia by Marcia Hines in the
'70s. Other Buddah artists of the late 60s were soul singer Timothy
Wilson, The Lemon Pipers (Green Tambourine), Captain
Beefheart & His Magic Band (Safe
As Milk), the Rhodes Scholars, Le Cirque, the Baskerville
Hounds and the Second Story.
In the early 70s Buddah signed Lou Christie and also released
records by a range of former 50s idols including Paul Anka, Johnny
Tillotson, James Darren, Freddy Cannon, Len Barry, Teddy Randazzo,
Trade Martin, Gene Vincent, Chubby Checker and Bill Haley. Another
notable Buddah recording from this period was the successful
gospel LP by the Edwin Hawkins Singers, who also featured prominently
on the classic single and LP Candles In The Rain by
labelmate Melanie Safka. Buddah had big success with 50s revivalists
Sha Na Na, released the debut
recordings by
The Flamin' Groovies and Charlie Daniels and signed new wave group NRBQ
and future
disco king Van McCoy.
Buddah also had distribution deals with influential
R&B labels Hot Wax/Invictus (The Honey Cone), Sussex (Bill
Withers) and Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label (Mayfield, The Staple
Singers, The Stairsteps). Some of these recordings were released in
Australia under licence on Astor and they include a number of
highly-regarded singles and EPs which are now of great interest to
'rare soul' aficionados. Astor's soul releases have been researched and
catalogued by collectors Frank Driscoll and Phil Fare and their
listings of soul singles released in Australia on Astor (and many other
Aussie labels) can be found on the excellent capitolsoulclub
website. Regrettably, few of these releases managed to make it onto
commercial radio playlists, due to the racist agenda that
pervaded
commercial pop radio programming in the Sixties and early Seventies.
In 1973, after Bogart and several other Buddah execs left
to form the Casablanca
label, Art Kass made an offer Motown hitmakers Gladys
knight & The Pips, whose Motown contract had recently expired.
After signing with Buddah they scored one the biggest hits of the
decade with "Midnight Train To Georgia". The label
continued with varying success until the late 70s.
Astor's shortlived licence to distribute the MGM and Verve
labels led to at least one early Australian release for Frank Zappa's
group The Mothers, who recorded for Verve from 1966 to 1970.
Astor never
released the Mothers' debut album in Australia (probably because it was
a double-LP
full of weird music) and they lost the MGM/Verve rights sometime in
1967, but around March 1966 they did release a very limited quantity of
the Mothers' single "How Could I Be Such a Fool?" / "Help, I'm A Rock"
(Verve V-5122). It is thought that only about one hundred copies were
pressed and this single -- which featured a distinctive orange-and-red
label -- is now one of the rarest of all Zappa vinyl collectibles.
Discography
Australian recordings,
1960-75
Note: overseas recordings released under licence are highlighted in yellow.
Singles -- Astor 'A-7000' series, 1960-1980
| Cat. # |
Date |
Artist |
Titles |
Notes |
| A-7001 |
1960 |
Pilita |
"Speak Low"
"Come Closer To Me" |
- |
| A-7002 |
1960 |
Randy Ross |
"Does She Know "
"Walkin' And Talkin' |
- |
| A-7003 |
1960 |
Barry &
The Planets with The Planetones |
"Remember You
Kissin'! "
"Sittin' On Top Of The World |
- |
| A-7004 |
1960 |
The Hi-Fi's |
"I Want The
World To Know "
"Bing Walla Bang" |
- |
| A-7005 |
1960 |
The Hi-Fi's |
Step By Step "
"Just Give Me Love |
- |
| A-7006 |
1960 |
Randy Ross |
"Mountain Of
Love "
"Jezebel |
- |
| A-7007 |
|
|
"Tie me kangaroo down sport"
"East of the sun" |
- |
|
|
|
|
|
| A-7009 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7010 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| A-7013 |
1961 |
Bobby
Cookson |
"That's All
Right "
"Flutter Flutter |
- |
| A-7014 |
Nov. 1961 |
Betty McQuade |
"Midnight Bus" (John D. Loudermilk)
"Tongue Tied " (Berry-Covay-Lewis)
|
rare -- current value AU$50 |
| A-7015 |
1961 |
Horrie Dargie Quintet |
"My boomerang did come back"
"Fish'n'chips" |
- |
| A-7016 |
1962 |
Bobby
Cookson |
"True And
Faithful "
"Slow Motion |
- |
| A-7017 |
1962 |
Betty Mc
Quade |
"Blue Train "
"Summer Love |
- |
| A-7018 |
1962 |
Bobby
Cookson |
"Timber "
"Ding-Dong |
- |
| A-7019 |
1962 |
Bobby
Cookson with The Premiers |
"Fourteen
Karat Gold "
"I Could Have Loved You So Well |
- |
| A-7020 |
1962 |
Betty Mc
Quade |
"The Doggie
In The Window "
"Have You Ever Been Lonely? |
- |
| A-7021 |
1963 |
Joan Baez |
"Kumbaya"
"Ox Driver Song" |
Vanguard |
| A-7022 |
1963 |
The Rooftop Singers |
"Walk Right In "
"Cool Water |
Vanguard 35017 |
| A-7023 |
1963 |
The Premiers |
"Mary had a little lamb"
"Song Of India |
- |
| A-7024 |
1963 |
Bobby
Cookson with The Premiers |
"Rona"
"Gone For The Summer |
- |
| A-7025 |
1963 |
The Marksmen |
"Triangle"
"Gunshot |
- |
| A-7026 |
- |
- |
- |
- |
| A-7027 |
1963 |
Denis Bugat |
"Three's A Crowd"
"Dance" |
- |
| A-7028 |
1963 |
The Rooftop Singers |
"Tom Cat"
"Shoes" |
Vanguard 35019 |
| A-7029 |
1963 |
Bobby
Cookson with The Premiers |
"I'm From New
Orleans"
"I've Had My Moments |
- |
| A-7030 |
1963 |
The Rooftop Singers |
"Mama Don't Allow"
"It don't mean a thing" |
Vanguard 35020 |
| A-7031 |
1963 |
Ian and Sylvia |
"Four Strong Winds"
"C.C. Rider" |
Vanguard 35021 |
| A-7032 |
1963 |
Frank Johnson's Dixielanders |
"The Dick Van Dyke Theme"
"Apex Blues" |
- |
| A-7033 |
1963 |
Betty Mc
Quade |
"Bobby,
Bobby, Bobby"
"You Make Me Mad |
- |
| A-7034 |
1963 |
Bobby
Cookson |
"One Last Kiss "
"She's My Southern Belle |
- |
| A-7035 |
1963 |
Joan Baez |
"We shall oversome"
"What have they done to the rain" |
Vanguard 35024 |
| A-7036 |
1963 |
The Marksmen |
"On The Run"
"Slalom 9" |
- |
| A-7037 |
1963 |
John McMahon with The Bruce Clarke Orchestra
|
"Never Never"
"My Blue Heaven" |
|
| A-7038 |
1963? |
The
Beachcombers |
Sea-Fury "
"High Noon |
- |
| A-7039 |
1964? |
The Rooftop Singers |
"Sail Away Ladies"
"Twelve String" |
Vanguard 35024 |
| A-7040 |
1964 |
Ian and Sylvia |
"You Were On My Mind"
"Some Day Soon" |
Vanguard 35025 |
| A-7041 |
1964 |
Ken Delo
with HSV-7 Orchestra |
"Mobile "
"Old-Time Religion |
- |
| A-7042 |
1966 |
The 4
Strangers |
"The Rip"
"Pearl Diver |
- |
| A-7043 |
1966 |
B.B. King |
"Rock Me Baby"
"I Can't Lose" |
Kent 393 |
| A-7044 |
1966 |
The Ikettes |
"Peaches And Cream"
"Biggest Players" |
Modern 1005 |
| A-7045 |
1966 |
Buffy Sainte-Marie |
Until It's Time For You To Go
The Flower And The Apple Tree |
Vanguard 35028 |
| A-7046 |
1966 |
The Rooftop Singers |
Rainy River
Buddy Won't You Roll |
Vanguard 35029 |
| A-7047 |
1966 |
Dobie Gray |
Mr. Engineer
In Hollywood |
Charger 109 |
| A-7048 |
1966 |
Joan Baez |
"There But For Fortune"
"Stewball" |
Vanguard 35031 |
| A-7049 |
1966 |
The Dargies |
"Strange Rain"
"Nobody Asked Me" |
|
| A-7050 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7051 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7052 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7053 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7054 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7055 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7056 |
1966 |
Sandpapers |
"Ain't Gonna
Kiss Ya "
"My Baby Said |
- |
| A-7057 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7058 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7059 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7060 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7061 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7062 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7063 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7064 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7065 |
1966 |
Judy Jacques |
"Since You're
Gone "
"You're Messin' Up My Mind |
- |
| A-7066 |
1966 |
The Hi-Five |
"You'll Never
Know What's In My Heart "
"Mi Pi Pow" |
- |
| A-7068 |
1966 |
Judy Jacques |
"Somewhere In
The World "
"A Real Live Fool |
- |
| A-7071 |
Oct. 1966 |
The Masters Apprentices |
"Undecided "
"Wars, Or Hands Of Time |
- |
| A-7072 |
1967 |
Grandma's
Tonic |
"Hi Hi Hazel "
"Johnny The Hummer |
- |
| A-7074 |
1967 |
Grandma's
Tonic |
"I Know "
"Lost Girl |
- |
| A-7075 |
May 1967 |
The Masters Apprentices |
"Buried And
Dead "
"She's My Girl |
#26 / 8 weeks |
| A-7078 |
Apr? 1967 |
Peter Doyle |
"If You Can
Put That In A Bottle "
"I'm Not The Boy You're After |
- |
| A-7081 |
Aug-1967 |
The Masters Apprentices |
"Living In A
Child's Dream "
"Tired Of Just Wandering |
#9 / 15 weeks |
| A-7082 |
Jun. 1967 |
Peter Doyle |
"Plastic
Dreams And Toy Balloons "
"You're My Remedy |
|
| A-7083 |
1967 |
The Colours |
"It's A Woman "
"Do Wah Diddy Diddy |
|
| A-7084 |
1967 |
Jim and Mike Graham |
"How Much Is
That Doggie In The Window?"
"Jo-Anne |
|
| A-7085 |
1967 |
Lionel Yorke |
"Whisper Low"
"That's The Way It Goes |
|
| A-7087 |
Feb-1968 |
"The Masters Apprentices |
Elevator
Driver "
"Theme For A Social Climber |
|
| A-7088 |
1968 |
"Jim and Mike Graham |
Footsteps "
"I'm Not Your Lover |
|
| A-7089 |
1968 |
The Brigade |
"As A Boy"
"Him Or Me, What's It Gonna Be |
|
| A-7095 |
1968 |
The Town Criers |
"Everlasting Love"
"I Can't Help Myself |
|
| A-7096 |
1968 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"Cinderella
Rockefella"
"Wiggle Your Toes |
|
| A-7098 |
1968 |
The Colours |
"Super Peculiar Bus"
"I Don't Think You Know Me At All |
|
| A-7099 |
1968 |
The
Perfection |
"Pretty Girl"
"Three Rooms And Running Water |
|
| A-7100 |
1968 |
The Colours |
"Plenty Of
Room Up Top "
"To London And Back |
|
| A-7101 |
1968 |
Johnny Chester |
"Heaven Help
The Man "
"I'm Gonna Have A Real Good Time |
|
| A-7102 |
June 1968 |
The Master's Apprentices |
"Brigette "
"Four Years Of Five |
|
| A-7105 |
1968 |
Jimmy Hannan with Orchestra |
"The Lady
Came From Baltimore "
"You Can't Do That |
|
| A-7106 |
1968 |
City
Stompers |
"Times Like
This "
"Half Past Midnight |
|
| A-7107 |
1968 |
The Brigade |
"Joan "
"All By Myself |
|
| A-7109 |
1968 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"Lovin' Season "
"Morning Song |
|
| A-7111 |
1968 |
Brass Tacks |
"I'll Keep
Holding On "
"Let The Sunshine In |
|
| A-7112 |
1968 |
The Dymond |
"Anna J."
"Ice Cream Machine |
|
| A-7113 |
1968 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"I Got You"
"We Can't Afford The "In" Crowd |
|
| A-7115 |
1968 |
The Town Criers |
"Unexpectedly"
"It's Hurting Badly" |
|
| A-7117 |
1968 |
The Paul
Mackay Sound |
"Strain In My
Heart "
"Thin Suit |
|
| A-7118 |
1968 |
Notes From The Underground |
"Down In The
Basement "
"I Wish I Was A Punk |
|
| A-7123 |
1968 |
The
Gathering |
"Portobello
Road "
"Get Ready For Me |
|
| A-7124 |
1968 |
The Colours |
"You Outside "
"Suddenly You Love Me |
|
| A-7125 |
1968 |
Anne Hawker |
"Timothy "
"Albert |
|
| A-7126 |
Aug-1968 |
The Masters Apprentices |
"But One Day "
"My Girl |
|
| A-7127 |
1969 |
Ian Crawford |
"Linda Said
To Say Hello To You "
"Yesterday Is Crowding My World |
|
| A-7128 |
1969 |
Lynn Rogers |
"Just Loving
You "
"Fresh Start |
|
| A-7130 |
1969 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"You're Out
Of Your Mind "
"Take A Breath |
|
| A-7131 |
1969 |
City
Stompers |
"Rainbow
River Band "
"? |
|
| A-7132 |
1969 |
Matt
Flinders with orchestra |
"Something Is
Happening "
"Kiss Me... Miss Me |
|
| A-7133 |
1969 |
Anne Hawker |
"Boom
Bang-A-Bang "
"All Day Long |
|
| A-7134 |
1969 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"I Love Your
Chin "
"My Lover And I |
|
| A-7136 |
1969 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
Dear World "
"Emmaline |
|
| A-7143 |
1969 |
The
Challenge |
"Honey Do "
"Things Get Better |
|
| A-7144 |
1969 |
Johnny
Hawker |
"My Papa Has
Got One (Les Moustaches) "
"Runaround |
|
| A-7146 |
1969 |
Ivan the
Great with Orchestra |
"Waddabeauty! "
"Terrapin Walk |
|
| A-7147 |
1969 |
The
Indefinite 4 |
"Images Of
Night "
"Four Strong Winds |
|
| A-7148 |
1969 |
Lynn Rogers |
"Ask Anyone "
"Troubles I Have |
|
| A-7149 |
1969 |
Anne and Johnny Hawker |
"Real True
Lovin' "
"Long Gone |
|
| A-7150 |
1969 |
Matt
Flinders |
"Picking Up
Pebbles "
"Susan Walks Away |
Go-Set
#4 / 22 Weeks |
| A-7151 |
1969 |
Simon and
De Sade |
"Girl"
"Green Grass |
|
| A-7152 |
1969 |
Jerry Dorsey |
"It Doesn't
Mean A Thing "
"Snow |
|
| A-7155 |
1969 |
The
Challenge |
"La-Dee-Doo-Down-Down "
"Time For Love |
|
| A-7156 |
1969 |
Lynn Rogers |
"Kiss Of Fire "
"Ode To A Housewife |
|
| A-7158 |
1969 |
Frankie
Howson |
"Seventeen
Ain't Young "
"Hide And Seek |
|
| A-7163 |
1970 |
Matt
Flinders |
"Where Has
All The Love Gone "
"Life Is Meant For Living |
Go-Set
#35 / 3 weeks |
| MA-7167 |
1970? |
Susie Coles |
"So Little,
So Much "
"What The World Needs Now |
|
| A-7180 |
1970? |
Candy Apple |
"That Same
Old Feeling "
"Promises That You Never Keep |
|
| A-7204 |
1971 |
Bakery |
"No Dying In The Dark"
"Trust In The Lord |
|
| A-7205 |
1971 |
Anne Hawker |
"This Is Melbourne" "
"Watching Raindrops |
|
| A-7206 |
1971 |
Frais Campbell |
"So Like My Love"
"Master Of The Sun |
|
| A7218 |
1971 |
Frais Campbell |
"I Know The Reason"
"New World In The Morning |
|
| A-7233 |
1974? |
Jimmy Payne |
"Sold American"
"Please Take Me Back |
|
| A-7236 |
1974 |
The Cherokees
(reissue of Go!!
GO-5051) |
"Minnie The Moocher"
"I've Gone Wild" |
|
| A-7239 |
1974 |
Benjamin Hugg |
"Thank God You're Here With Me"
? |
|
| A-7241 |
1975 |
The
Strangers |
"Home Ain't
Home Any More"
"Hitchhike" |
|
| A-7242 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7243 |
1975 |
Buddy
England |
"Carolina "
"Waiting Game" |
|
| A-7244 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7245 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7246 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7247 |
1975 |
The Seekers |
"Sparrow song"
"Every road leads back to you" |
|
| A-7248 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7249 |
1975 |
Barry Crocker |
"Love Where Are You Now?"
? |
|
| A-7250 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7251 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7252 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7253 |
June 1975 |
Normie Rowe |
"Harbour For
My Soul"
"That's The Way I Am" |
|
| A-7254 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7255 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7256 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7257 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7258 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7259 |
1976 |
The Seekers |
"Reunion"
"Break These Chains" |
|
| A-7260 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7261 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7262 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7263 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7264 |
|
|
|
|
| A-7265 |
Dec. 1975 |
Normie Rowe |
"Elizabeth"
"Little Ray Of Sunshine" |
|
| A-7266 |
1975 |
The Seekers |
"Where in the world"
"If I could write a fairy tale" |
|
| A-7297 |
1975 |
The Loved
Ones |
"Ever Lovin' Man"
"Blueberry Hill" |
|
| A-7316 |
1980 |
Joe Dolce |
"Shaddap You Face"
"Ain't In No Hurry" |
|
EPs
| Cat. # |
Date |
Artist |
Title |
| AEP-4001 |
? |
Horrie Dargie Quintet |
Dig The
Didjeridoo |
| AEP-4004 |
1965 |
Bill McCormack |
She
Wears My Ring |
| AEP-4012 |
1967 |
The Masters Apprentices |
The Masters Apprentices |
| AEP4057 |
1968 |
The Town Criers |
Everlasting Love |
| AEP-4059 |
1968 |
The Masters Apprentices |
Volume 2 |
Albums
| Cat. # |
Date |
Artist |
Title |
| ALPS-1032 |
Aug. 1971 |
Bakery |
Rock Mass For Love |
| ALPS 1035 |
1972 |
Bakery |
Momento |
| ALPS-1038 |
1974 |
Benjamin Hugg |
Early One Morning |
| ALPS-1041 |
|
The Seekers
(with Louisa Wisselling) |
The
Seekers |
| ALPS-1044 |
1979 |
Normie Rowe |
Out of the Norm |
| ALPS-1045 |
1979 |
The Seekers |
Giving
and Taking |
| ALpS-1060 |
1980? |
Chad Morgan |
You
Can't Keep A Good Man Down |
| ALPS-1062 |
1980 |
Bobby & Laurie |
The Very Best of Bobby & Laurie |
| ALPS-1063 |
1980 |
Various Artists |
Australian Rock Heritage Volume 1 |
| ALPS 1062 |
1980 |
Bobby & Laurie |
The Very Best of Bobby & Laurie |
References / Links
Ross Laird /
Screensound
The
First Wave: Australian Rock & Pop Recordings 1955-1963
The
Sixties: Australian Rock & Pop Recordings 1964-1969
John Hunter
Astor SJ Series Vintage Australian TV sets
http://203.44.53.131/TV/Astor-SJ.htm
capitolsoulclub - Australian Listings (compiled by
Frank Driscoll)
http://capitolsoulclub.homestead.com/AustralianListings.html
Hank B. Facer
Museum of Indigenous Recording Labels
http://mirl.hypermart.net/Images/05%20Astor%20Small.jpg
http://mirl.hypermart.net/mirl_page_2.htm
Caslon Analytics profile: copyright collecting
societies
http://www.caslon.com.au/colsocietiesprofile2.htm
Casablanca Records @ Disco.Disco.com
http://www.disco-disco.com/labels/casablanca.html
Dario Western
"Tasty Fresh Pyes" -- A History of the music division of Pye Of
Cambridge
http://www.ean.co.uk/Data/Bygones/History/Article/Radio_and_Television/html/body_pye_records.htm
Petula Clark.net - discography
http://www.petulaclark.net/discography/albums/pinkalbum.html
ABC Books
Love Is I The Air - Selected biographies
http://www.abc.net.au/love/episodes/s968647.htm
Dave Kimball
The Saints Homepage - Biography
http://saints.binke.com.au/bio-2.html
Collecting Frank Zappa In Australia
http://w1.858.telia.com/~u85821131/misc/australia.html
The affz FAQ - vinyl singles
http://fzsinglesfaq.w-i-s.net/Vinyl_Singles.html
Bob Hyde + Mike Callahan
The Kama Sutra/Buddah Story
http://www.bsnpubs.com/buddah/index.html
Oz Radio
http://www.bestnet.com.au/ASTOR%20TITLE.htm
NoNightSweats - Re-Release Critical Responses
http://www.users.bigpond.com/pturnbul/nns_reissue_responses.htm
Exotica mailing list
http://mailman.xmission.com/pipermail/exotica/2003-December/013623.html