Fly Records
Encyclopedia
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
.
s funded by Essex, and leasing them to major record label
s. These creative collaborations quickly made their mark with hits
such as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale
" (Procol Harum
), "Flowers In The Rain
", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" and "Blackberry Way" (The Move
) alongside influential recordings from the likes of Beverley Kutner
, Tucker Zimmerman and Michael Chapman.
The producer roster involved with Platz included Denny Cordell
, Gus Dudgeon
, Rodger Bain
, Don Paul, Johnny Worth
and Tony Visconti
, whom Platz had brought over to the UK
at Cordell’s initiation.
After a string of hits in the late 1960s licensed via labels Deram
and, later, Regal Zonophone
, Platz launched his own label Fly Records in 1970. Malcolm Jones had left university to work for EMI
, becoming a label manager and creating his own imprint at EMI, Harvest Records
, but moved to work for Platz as manager of Fly.
Fly's first release was "Ride A White Swan" by T.Rex, produced by Visconti. The following year the album Electric Warrior
was both Fly's and Bolan's first #1 album
.
In keeping with Platz’s publishing style, the label chose not to concentrate on a particular sector of the market but preferred to offer an eclectic mix of artists and releases, some aimed directly at the chart and some intended simply to enhance the profiles of new artists or artists who were linked to the Platz's publishing enterprise. Vivian Stanshall
, Third World War, John Kongos
, Georgia Brown
, John Keating
, Richard Henry and John Williams
were all featured on the label's early releases.
In 1972, Fly consolidated their chart success with older material. Three-track Magni-Fly singles re-introduced songs from the company's back catalogue, such as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", into the UK Singles Chart
. An album campaign entitled 'Toofas', (double album
s priced as a single), found favour, and albums such as Procol Harum's debut set suddenly made the UK Albums Chart
years after their initial release.
Once T.Rex's Bolan Boogie
reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, departures at Fly HQ forced a change of plan. Jones left the label, Cordell moved to the United States
forming Shelter Records
, and Bolan moved to EMI
, where he was given his own imprint, taking Visconti with him. The new Fly team chose to re-launch the label as Cube Records
, with a new logo caging the 'Fly' in a cubic goal. A raft of new artists were signed, and Fly Records was shelved as a label in its own right.
By the time the Fly label was revived in 1988 as an independent outlet for various publishing related projects, Platz had incorporated the Fly label into his company Onward Music Ltd, whilst Platz’s publishing company Bucks Music Ltd remained his core business.
Following David Platz's death on 20 May 1994, his son Simon Platz continued managing Onward's ongoing archive exploration under the wing of his own publishing company, Bucks Music Group
. A host of original tapes thought lost, as well as unreleased and forgotten recordings from unfinished or unreleased projects from the production company, continues to fuel releases through Fly Records and various licencees.
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...
independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
History
Platz had been producing records independently, in conjunction with record producerRecord producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
s funded by Essex, and leasing them to major record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
s. These creative collaborations quickly made their mark with 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...
such as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale
A Whiter Shade of Pale
"A Whiter Shade of Pale" is the debut song by the British band Procol Harum, released 12 May 1967. The single reached number one in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June 1967, and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, it reached #5 on the US charts, as well...
" (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"...
), "Flowers In The Rain
Flowers in the Rain
"Flowers in the Rain" is a song by the sixties Rock band The Move. The song was released as a single and reached number two in 1967 on the UK Singles Chart....
", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" and "Blackberry Way" (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....
) alongside influential recordings from the likes of Beverley Kutner
Beverley Martyn
Beverley Martyn is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist.While still a student, she was picked to front The Levee Breakers, a jug band who played the folk circuit in South East England...
, Tucker Zimmerman and Michael Chapman.
The producer roster involved with Platz included Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...
, 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:...
, 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:...
, Don Paul, Johnny 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 Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...
, whom Platz had brought over to the UK
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...
at Cordell’s initiation.
After a string of hits in the late 1960s licensed via labels Deram
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...
and, later, Regal Zonophone
Regal 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...
, Platz launched his own label Fly Records in 1970. Malcolm Jones had left university to work for EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, becoming a label manager and creating his own imprint at EMI, Harvest Records
Harvest Records
-References:* Harvest Records collectors guide ISBN 978-5-9622-0021-7...
, but moved to work for Platz as manager of Fly.
Fly's first release was "Ride A White Swan" by T.Rex, produced by Visconti. The following year the album 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...
was both Fly's and Bolan's first #1 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...
.
In keeping with Platz’s publishing style, the label chose not to concentrate on a particular sector of the market but preferred to offer an eclectic mix of artists and releases, some aimed directly at the chart and some intended simply to enhance the profiles of new artists or artists who were linked to the Platz's publishing enterprise. Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall
Vivian Stanshall was an English singer-songwriter, painter, musician, author, poet and wit, best known for his work with the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, for his surreal exploration of the British upper classes in Sir Henry at Rawlinson End, and for narrating Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells.-The great...
, Third World War, 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:...
, Georgia Brown
Georgia Brown
Georgia Brown, pseudonym of Rossana Monti is an Italian Brazilian singer noted for her extensive vocal range. She was listed in the 2005 Guinness World Records for hitting the highest vocal note and for possessing the greatest range, claimed to be exactly 8 octaves from G2-G10 using scientific...
, John Keating
John Keating (musician)
John Keating is a Scottish musician, songwriter and arranger.After studying piano and trombone, he taught himself how to arrange and compose in his teens. He went to work with British big band leader Ted Heath in 1952 as a trombone player, but within two years Heath asked him to become his...
, Richard Henry and 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...
were all featured on the label's early releases.
In 1972, Fly consolidated their chart success with older material. Three-track Magni-Fly singles re-introduced songs from the company's back catalogue, such as "A Whiter Shade Of Pale", into the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
. An album campaign entitled 'Toofas', (double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....
s priced as a single), found favour, and albums such as Procol Harum's debut set suddenly made the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
years after their initial release.
Once T.Rex's Bolan Boogie
Bolan Boogie
Bolan Boogie is a compilation album released by T. Rex in 1972.After Marc Bolan had left Fly Records to form his own label distributed through EMI/T. Rex Wax Co, his former label Fly released this "best of..." compilation with recent A an B sides many of which had not appeared on previous albums....
reached #1 in the UK Albums Chart, departures at Fly HQ forced a change of plan. Jones left the label, Cordell moved to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
forming Shelter Records
Shelter Records
Shelter Records was a U.S. record label started by Leon Russell and Denny Cordell that operated from 1969 to 1981. The company established offices in both Los Angeles and Tulsa, Russell's home town, where the label sought to promote a "workshop atmosphere" with a recording studio in a converted...
, and Bolan moved to EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, where he was given his own imprint, taking Visconti with him. The new Fly team chose to re-launch the label as Cube Records
Cube Records
Cube Records was launched on 26 May 1972 by independent music publisher David Platz, and was based at his UK offices for Essex Music.-History:...
, with a new logo caging the 'Fly' in a cubic goal. A raft of new artists were signed, and Fly Records was shelved as a label in its own right.
By the time the Fly label was revived in 1988 as an independent outlet for various publishing related projects, Platz had incorporated the Fly label into his company Onward Music Ltd, whilst Platz’s publishing company Bucks Music Ltd remained his core business.
Following David Platz's death on 20 May 1994, his son Simon Platz continued managing Onward's ongoing archive exploration under the wing of his own publishing company, Bucks Music Group
Bucks Music Group
Bucks Music Group is an international and independent music publisher, whose core business evolved from a strong 60s and 70s back catalogue of copyrights...
. A host of original tapes thought lost, as well as unreleased and forgotten recordings from unfinished or unreleased projects from the production company, continues to fuel releases through Fly Records and various licencees.