Nixa Records
Encyclopedia
Nixa Record Company Ltd. was founded in 1950
by F. H. B. Nixon. Nixa was the second company, after Decca
, in Britain to release LP records
. At the time, EMI
was attempting to promote 45 rpm records over 33 LP records. The record label, which traded as Nixa Records, was acquired by Pye Records
in 1953.
Nixon's stepson, John M Reid (then also known as Nixon) was manager from 1950 until the company was sold to Pye in 1953. Nixa Records was set up principally to market the catalogue of Compagnie Générale du Disque, Paris, in Commonwealth of Nations
countries. The artists included Dany Dauberson, André Claveau, and other continental cabaret and jazz artists. The shellac records were pressed for Nixa by the Decca Record Company. Later, Nixa made licensing arrangements with a number of US classical music record companies, including Period Records, Concert Hall Records, Haydn Society, and Vanguard Records
to manufacture and market their catalogues in the UK and British Commonwealth. Nixa also made original recordings in England at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall of Sir Adrian Boult
conducting Holst
's The Planets Suite, Vaughan Williams
English Folksongs Suite, and others.
Their primary artist was Petula Clark
, who recorded for the label in both English and French from 1955 to 1962. Many of her releases for the label were Top Ten hits in both the UK
and France
, with three of them charting at #1.
In 1987, the Nixa name was reintroduced as a classical imprint by PRT Records.
1950 in music
-Events:*January 3 – Sam Phillips launches Sun Records at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis, Tennessee.*August – Herbert Howells' Hymnus Paradisi is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival.*Malcolm Sargent becomes chief conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra....
by F. H. B. Nixon. Nixa was the second company, after Decca
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
, in Britain to release LP records
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
. At the time, 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...
was attempting to promote 45 rpm records over 33 LP records. The record label, which traded as Nixa Records, was acquired by Pye Records
Pye Records
Pye Records was a British record label. In its first incarnation, perhaps Pye's best known artists were Lonnie Donegan , Petula Clark , The Searchers , The Kinks , Sandie Shaw and Brotherhood of Man...
in 1953.
Nixon's stepson, John M Reid (then also known as Nixon) was manager from 1950 until the company was sold to Pye in 1953. Nixa Records was set up principally to market the catalogue of Compagnie Générale du Disque, Paris, in Commonwealth of Nations
Commonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
countries. The artists included Dany Dauberson, André Claveau, and other continental cabaret and jazz artists. The shellac records were pressed for Nixa by the Decca Record Company. Later, Nixa made licensing arrangements with a number of US classical music record companies, including Period Records, Concert Hall Records, Haydn Society, and Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records
Vanguard Records is a record label set up in 1950 by brothers Maynard and Seymour Solomon in New York. It started as a classical label, but is perhaps best known for its catalogue of recordings by a number of pivotal folk and blues artists from the 1960s; the Bach Guild was a subsidiary...
to manufacture and market their catalogues in the UK and British Commonwealth. Nixa also made original recordings in England at the Walthamstow Assembly Hall of Sir Adrian Boult
Adrian Boult
Sir Adrian Cedric Boult CH was an English conductor. Brought up in a prosperous mercantile family he followed musical studies in England and at Leipzig, Germany, with early conducting work in London for the Royal Opera House and Sergei Diaghilev's ballet company. His first prominent post was...
conducting Holst
Gustav Holst
Gustav Theodore Holst was an English composer. He is most famous for his orchestral suite The Planets....
's The Planets Suite, Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams
Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
English Folksongs Suite, and others.
Their primary artist was Petula Clark
Petula Clark
Petula Clark, CBE is an English singer, actress, and composer whose career has spanned seven decades.Clark's professional career began as an entertainer on BBC Radio during World War II...
, who recorded for the label in both English and French from 1955 to 1962. Many of her releases for the label were Top Ten hits in both 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...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, with three of them charting at #1.
In 1987, the Nixa name was reintroduced as a classical imprint by PRT Records.