Cube Records
Encyclopedia
Cube Records was launched on 26 May 1972 by independent music publisher David Platz, and was based at his UK
offices for Essex Music.
), decided to start his own independent record label in 1970. With Malcolm Jones as label manager he formed Fly Records
and tapped a rich vein of hits
, with The Move
, singles from T Rex and John Kongos
("He's Gonna Step On You"), as well as hit albums, the most important being Electric Warrior
, T Rex’s breakthrough number 1 album.
But by mid 1972 Marc Bolan
had left Fly Records
to set up his own label imprint and Essex/Fly producer Tony Visconti had also left with Bolan, setting up his own Good Earth Productions. With new staff brought into the label, Platz decided to promote a new roster of artists and re-launch with a new label named Cube Records.
The headline of the press release issued by Malcolm Jones in May 1972 to communicate this development boldly stated "Essex puts Fly into Cube". A fact literally translated by the label's logo
, which consisted of a fly
within a wire-frame cube. According to the press release, Fly Records had been limited to operating in the UK, but Cube Records would be an international operation. In effect, Cube simply continued using Fly's catalogue numbering prefix, but with only one Fly artist, guitar virtuoso John Williams
, remaining on the new label.
Cube's first singles came from Rod Thomas, whose rather insipid MOR/pop "Timothy Jones" failed to make any impact on the charts
, and folk music
stalwart Harvey Andrews
, whose gloriously poignant single
"In The Darkness"/"Soldier" (BUG 20) was subject to an 'unofficial' ban by the BBC
. At the height of the political explosion in Northern Ireland
, Harvey's "Soldier" was a gritty and moving account of the experience of a working class kid who joins the army out of lack of job prospects in his own country, and without sufficient training or preparation is thrown in the eye of the storm on the streets of Northern Ireland only to face a life and death situation which will prove fatal for him. It's a powerful statement, and with a change of location, can be just as moving in today’s troubled parts of the world.
Harvey's Cube album Writer Of Songs, was produced by long term Essex Music associate John Worth
, and featured a stellar cast of musicians including Ralph McTell
, Cozy Powell
, Danny Thompson
, David Pegg
and Rick Wakeman
,
Rodger Bain
, producer of Black Sabbath
and Budgie
, produced an album for folk-rock outfit the JSD Band
, which came replete with sleeve notes written by BBC Radio One DJ John Peel
.
But by July 1972 the label's ethos had moved too far from Jones' remit during the Fly days, and he left the label. The company's legacy recordings that had been released via FLY on its TOOFA series was also now brought into Cube, and by the end of the year Cube continued the TOOFA campaign with releases by Tyrannosaurus Rex and Procol Harum
, whilst all efforts were focussed on a brand new signing Joan Armatrading
, an artist developed by Elton John
producer Gus Dudgeon
. Cube released Armatrading's first album, "Whatever's For Us
" (with 11 of the songs co-written by Pam Nestor
) in 1972.
Even with their biggest promotional campaign to date, the critical favour Armatrading's album garnered could not be replicated in sales. It is fair to say that Cube mishandled the marketing of "Whatever's for Us
". Their decision to credit the album almost solely to Joan Armatrading, giving little credit to Pam Nestor, caused not only the break-up of the duo but also caused Cube to lose Armatrading, who, upset and annoyed by the episode, negotiated her way out of her contract and signed for A&M instead. Further albums by Harvey Andrews
, the JSD Band
, Batti Mamzelle & Kestrel followed, and surprisingly George Martin
's production for John Williams
' The Height Below – a sort of concept album
– failed to sell in large numbers.
Hits like Jimmy Helms
' mid 1970s pop
/soul
"Gonna Make You an Offer" and John Williams' film
theme tune, "Cavatina (Theme from The Deer Hunter)", were only an occasionality, and after around 80 singles and 30 album
s a new label makeover was ushered in.
As British pub rock
lay the minimalist foundations for the oncoming punk rock
scene, Cube became Electric Cube, albeit briefly, before its label manager Jeremy Thomas shelved the Cube imprint and established The Electric Record Company, whose Electric Records imprint became the home for new releases.
Cube Records soon ceased producing its own catalogue, opting to licence to various catalogue companies over the years. Going full circle, Cube's recordings were incorporated into Onward Music, run by David Platz's son Simon Platz, and Cube’s catalogue has returned to its initial home, Fly Records.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
offices for Essex Music.
History
Platz had entered the arena of record production in the early 1960s, and having had a string of hits by licensing records to major labels (most Essex artists were released on EMI's Regal ZonophoneRegal Zonophone Records
Regal Zonophone Records was a British record label formed in 1932, through a merger of the Regal Records and Zonophone Records labels. This followed the merger of those labels' respective parent companies - the Columbia Graphophone Company and the Gramophone Company - to form EMI.Originally Regal...
), decided to start his own independent record label in 1970. With Malcolm Jones as label manager he formed Fly Records
Fly Records
Fly Records is a British independent record label, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London.-History:...
and tapped a rich vein of hits
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, with The Move
The Move
The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States....
, singles from T Rex and John Kongos
John Kongos
John Kongos is a singer-songwriter. He is best known for his 1971 Top 10 hit single, "He's Gonna Step On You Again".-Career:...
("He's Gonna Step On You"), as well as hit albums, the most important being Electric Warrior
Electric Warrior
Electric Warrior is the sixth album by British rock group T. Rex, and is widely considered to be one of the quintessential glam rock releases. Electric Warrior reached number thirty-two in the US; it went to number one for several weeks in the UK, becoming the biggest album of 1971...
, T Rex’s breakthrough number 1 album.
But by mid 1972 Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan
Marc Bolan was an English singer-songwriter, guitarist and poet. He is best known as the founder, frontman, lead singer & guitarist for T. Rex, but also a successful solo artist...
had left Fly Records
Fly Records
Fly Records is a British independent record label, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London.-History:...
to set up his own label imprint and Essex/Fly producer Tony Visconti had also left with Bolan, setting up his own Good Earth Productions. With new staff brought into the label, Platz decided to promote a new roster of artists and re-launch with a new label named Cube Records.
The headline of the press release issued by Malcolm Jones in May 1972 to communicate this development boldly stated "Essex puts Fly into Cube". A fact literally translated by the label's logo
Logo
A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...
, which consisted of a fly
Fly
True flies are insects of the order Diptera . They possess a pair of wings on the mesothorax and a pair of halteres, derived from the hind wings, on the metathorax...
within a wire-frame cube. According to the press release, Fly Records had been limited to operating in the UK, but Cube Records would be an international operation. In effect, Cube simply continued using Fly's catalogue numbering prefix, but with only one Fly artist, guitar virtuoso John Williams
John Williams (guitarist)
John Christopher Williams is an Australian classical guitarist, and a long-term resident of the United Kingdom. In 1973, he shared a Grammy Award win in the 'Best Chamber Music Performance' category with Julian Bream for Julian and John .-Biography:John Williams was born on 24 April 1941 in...
, remaining on the new label.
Cube's first singles came from Rod Thomas, whose rather insipid MOR/pop "Timothy Jones" failed to make any impact on the charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
, and folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
stalwart Harvey Andrews
Harvey Andrews
Harvey John Andrews is an English singer, songwriter, and poet.-Career:From 1964, Andrews supported his nascent career as a singer/songwriter by working as a schoolteacher, before becoming a full-time professional musician in 1966.Harvey Andrews has produced 17 successful albums singing his own...
, whose gloriously poignant single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"In The Darkness"/"Soldier" (BUG 20) was subject to an 'unofficial' ban by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
. At the height of the political explosion in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, Harvey's "Soldier" was a gritty and moving account of the experience of a working class kid who joins the army out of lack of job prospects in his own country, and without sufficient training or preparation is thrown in the eye of the storm on the streets of Northern Ireland only to face a life and death situation which will prove fatal for him. It's a powerful statement, and with a change of location, can be just as moving in today’s troubled parts of the world.
Harvey's Cube album Writer Of Songs, was produced by long term Essex Music associate John Worth
Les Vandyke
Les Vandyke was a popular music singer and later songwriter in the 1950s and 1960s. He was also known as Johnny Worth and John Worsley...
, and featured a stellar cast of musicians including Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
, Cozy Powell
Cozy Powell
Colin Flooks , better known as Cozy Powell, was an English rock drummer who made his name with many major rock bands.-Early history:...
, Danny Thompson
Danny Thompson
Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
, David Pegg
David Pegg
David Pegg was an English footballer and one of the eight Manchester United players who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster on 6 February 1958....
and Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
,
Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain
Rodger Bain is a British former record producer, known for producing heavy metal albums by bands such as Black Sabbath and Judas Priest in the 1970s.-Career:...
, producer of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Budgie
Budgie (band)
Budgie is a Welsh Hard Rock/Heavy Metal band from Cardiff. They are widely considered as one of the first heavy metal bands and a seminal influence to many acts of that scene, with fast, heavy rock being played as early as 1971. The band has been noted as "among the heaviest metal of its day"...
, produced an album for folk-rock outfit the JSD Band
JSD Band
The JSD Band were a Scottish based celtic rock band, and one of the leading folk rock bands of the early 1970s. Following a split up, they reformed to produce two further albums due to the amount of interest in their early albums...
, which came replete with sleeve notes written by BBC Radio One DJ John Peel
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft, OBE , known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey, radio presenter, record producer and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly from 1967 until his death in 2004...
.
But by July 1972 the label's ethos had moved too far from Jones' remit during the Fly days, and he left the label. The company's legacy recordings that had been released via FLY on its TOOFA series was also now brought into Cube, and by the end of the year Cube continued the TOOFA campaign with releases by Tyrannosaurus Rex and Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
, whilst all efforts were focussed on a brand new signing Joan Armatrading
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, MBE is a British singer, songwriter and guitarist. Armatrading is a three-time Grammy Award-nominee and has been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist...
, an artist developed by Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
producer Gus Dudgeon
Gus Dudgeon
Angus Boyd Dudgeon , most commonly known as Gus Dudgeon was an English record producer, most notable for production of many of Elton John's recordings.-Early career:...
. Cube released Armatrading's first album, "Whatever's For Us
Whatever's for Us
Whatever’s for Us is an album representing the first recorded work of Joan Armatrading and Pam Nestor. It is the first album that Armatrading recorded.- Recording history :...
" (with 11 of the songs co-written by Pam Nestor
Pam Nestor
Pam Nestor is a former singer and lyricist who was active in the entertainment industry during the 1970s.-Early days:Pam Nestor was born in Berbice, Guyana, on 28 April 1948, and came to England in 1961. She auditioned for the musical Hair in 1969 and landed a part in it...
) in 1972.
Even with their biggest promotional campaign to date, the critical favour Armatrading's album garnered could not be replicated in sales. It is fair to say that Cube mishandled the marketing of "Whatever's for Us
Whatever's for Us
Whatever’s for Us is an album representing the first recorded work of Joan Armatrading and Pam Nestor. It is the first album that Armatrading recorded.- Recording history :...
". Their decision to credit the album almost solely to Joan Armatrading, giving little credit to Pam Nestor, caused not only the break-up of the duo but also caused Cube to lose Armatrading, who, upset and annoyed by the episode, negotiated her way out of her contract and signed for A&M instead. Further albums by Harvey Andrews
Harvey Andrews
Harvey John Andrews is an English singer, songwriter, and poet.-Career:From 1964, Andrews supported his nascent career as a singer/songwriter by working as a schoolteacher, before becoming a full-time professional musician in 1966.Harvey Andrews has produced 17 successful albums singing his own...
, the JSD Band
JSD Band
The JSD Band were a Scottish based celtic rock band, and one of the leading folk rock bands of the early 1970s. Following a split up, they reformed to produce two further albums due to the amount of interest in their early albums...
, Batti Mamzelle & Kestrel followed, and surprisingly George Martin
George Martin
Sir George Henry Martin CBE is an English record producer, arranger, composer and musician. He is sometimes referred to as "the Fifth Beatle"— a title that he often describes as "nonsense," but the fact remains that he served as producer on all but one of The Beatles' original albums...
's production for John Williams
John Williams
John Towner Williams is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. In a career spanning almost six decades, he has composed some of the most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T...
' The Height Below – a sort of concept album
Concept album
In music, a concept album is an album that is "unified by a theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, narrative, or lyrical." Commonly, concept albums tend to incorporate preconceived musical or lyrical ideas rather than being improvised or composed in the studio, with all songs contributing...
– failed to sell in large numbers.
Hits like Jimmy Helms
Jimmy Helms
James H. Helms is an American soul singer.-Early days:Helms' first release "Ragtime Girl" was put out on Pye Records in 1963...
' mid 1970s pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
/soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
"Gonna Make You an Offer" and John Williams' film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
theme tune, "Cavatina (Theme from The Deer Hunter)", were only an occasionality, and after around 80 singles and 30 album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s a new label makeover was ushered in.
As British pub rock
Pub rock (UK)
Pub rock was a rock music genre that developed in the mid 1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement, pub rock was a reaction against progressive and glam rock. Although short-lived, pub rock was notable for rejecting stadium venues and for returning live rock to the small pubs and...
lay the minimalist foundations for the oncoming punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
scene, Cube became Electric Cube, albeit briefly, before its label manager Jeremy Thomas shelved the Cube imprint and established The Electric Record Company, whose Electric Records imprint became the home for new releases.
Cube Records soon ceased producing its own catalogue, opting to licence to various catalogue companies over the years. Going full circle, Cube's recordings were incorporated into Onward Music, run by David Platz's son Simon Platz, and Cube’s catalogue has returned to its initial home, Fly Records.