Deram Records

Deram Records was a record label set up by Decca Records. It was active from 1966 until 1979.

History

Decca established Deram Records initially as an outlet for its 'Deramic Sound' recordings, which allowed for more space between instruments, rendering these softer to the ear. The first releases (with a DSS logo on the label and sporting 7xx catalogue numbers) were easy-listening albums with 'smooth' sounds. The label was soon moulded into a home for 'alternative' or 'progressive' artists and received 1xxx catalogue numbers to mark the change in direction. The roster now included British jazz and folk as well. Some of the more progressive jazz musicians of the late 1960s were released under the Deram imprint including Mike Gibbs, John Surman and Mike Westbrook.

Deram albums bore a DML prefix for mono and an SML prefix for stereo releases. As with other UK Decca subsidiary labels, Deram's U.S. counterpart was distributed under the London Records arm. Decca positioned it against Island Records, Harvest Records (launched by EMI) and Vertigo Records (launched by Philips Records), but it failed to compete long-term. An 'extra' progressive series with SDL prefixes did not improve the situation.

From the start, Decca placed pop records alongside progressive artists on Deram. Cat Stevens found early success on there before moving to Island Records and David Bowie's first album appeared on the label. Three of Deram's earliest hits, Procol Harum's "A Whiter Shade Of Pale, The Move's "Night Of Fear" and "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" were not artists actually signed to Deram; they were part of a deal with Straight Ahead Productions, who moved their acts to EMI and had them released on the reintroduced Regal Zonophone imprint.

In 1969, Decca launched a true progressive label called Nova, which lasted less than a year. This caused further confusion as simultaneous releases on "Deram Nova" and "Decca Nova" appeared.

Decca released Justin Hayward (of Moody Blues fame)'s Songwriter (1977) and Night Flight (1980) vinyl albums on Deram. Deram was briefly revived in the early 1980s, when its roster included Bananarama, The Mo-dettes and Splodgenessabounds. Deram has also been used as a reissue imprint for the Decca/London catalogue.

Artist roster

• Aardvark
• Johnny Almond Music Machine
• Amen Corner
• Lionel Bart
• Beefcake
• David Bowie (debut album)
• The Alan Bown
• Brotherhood of Man
• Pete Brown
• Camel
• The Camerata Contemporary Chamber Group
• John Cameron Quartet
• Junior Campbell
• Caravan
• Michael Chapman
• Chicken Shack
• Clouds
• Shirley Collins
• Curved Air
• Terry Durham
• East of Eden
• Egg
• Eyes of Blue
• Bill Fay
• The Flirtations
• The Flower Pot Men
• Frijid Pink
• Galliard
• Giles, Giles and Fripp
• Keef Hartley
• The Hawaiians
• Honeybus
• Clark Hutchison
• Iron Virgin
• Chim Kothari
• Alvin Lee & Company
• Neil MacArthur (pseudonym for Colin Blunstone)
• Stavely Makepeace
• Mellow Candle
• The Mo-dettes
• The Moody Blues
• The Move
• Pacific Drift
• Principal Edwards
• Procol Harum
• Les Reed
• Room (band)
• George "Harmonica" Smith
• Whistling Jack Smith
• Cat Stevens
• Streak
• Stud
• The Syn
• Ten Years After
• Tintern Abbey
• Darryl Way's Wolf
• The Web
• The World of Oz
• White Plains
• Zakarrias

See also

• List of record labels

External links

• List of Deram singles
• A discography of American Deram singles
• A discography of Canadian Deram releases