Regal - Biography

Biography - Regal

UK

'Cheap label brand' of Columbia UK

In 1913 Columbia decided that it should enter the cheaper end of the record market. At that time, its own 10-inch double-sided records were selling for 2/6 (£0.125), while cheap imports from Germany were selling for less than 2/- (£0.10) and even as low as 1/- (£0.05). The company, however, did not wish to harm its own reputation, so kept its association with low-price records as secretive as possible. Its first action was to secure a sole concession for Phoenix Records, which would sell for 1/1d (~£0.055), and this arrangement lasted for a few years (see a listing at Michael Thomas's Dance Bands Site). The second action was to establish a new mid-price label called Regal, selling at 1/6 (£0.075), which would prove to be much longer lasting. Columbia had succeeded in registering the name Regal in February 1911, but had only used it for machines.

In February 1914, two Regal catalogues were issued. The General Catalogue contained 512 records, 457 of which had already been released as Columbia records. The Scottish Catalogue contained 57 records, all previously issued by Columbia. Both catalogues contained recordings sourced from countries other than Britain. The label was claret with an orb and sceptre symbol.

Regular monthly new issues followed, but when war started in August 1914, the records intended for September issue were held back, while a more patriotic list was compiled, as well as a new label style without the orb and sceptre. In 1916 the British Government passed laws banning non-essential imports, stopping the flow of all Columbia recordings from the USA. This led to the formation of a British-based Columbia company in February 1917, although it was still majority-owned by US stockholders. After the end of the War, the label returned to its original orb and sceptre form.

The German Carl Lindström company, owner of many European labels, had its British assets confiscated during the war, and these became controlled by Columbia in 1919. Recordings from Lindström's Beka, Phoenix, Jumbo, and Scala labels became part of the Regal catalogue, and a short series of ten and three-quarter inch disks by John McCormack, from Lindström's Odeon masters, were released on Regal G5000 to G5006 in April 1922.

In August 1920 the label was changed by removing the orb and sceptre symbol. This new label was similar in style to the one that had been used throughout the wartime period.

Twelve-inch Regals were first released in November 1921 in a G1000 series. The 1926 and later twelve-inch record issues were electrically recorded.

In 1923 Columbia became British-owned. About this time the label was changed from the Regal name in an arc to a design with the Regal name horizontal. Many of the popular Columbia and Regal recordings were re-recorded acoustically from 1923 on, but in October 1925 electrical recording was introduced with the first British recordings issued in April 1926. It is possible to find three different recordings of the same record; the acoustic re-recording can only be determined by matrix number, but the electrical re-recording has an 'R' suffix.

In 1932, as a result of the merger of Columbia and HMV into the new company EMI, the two companies' budget labels were amalgamated to form Regal-Zonophone. The first R-Z records were released in January 1933.

Dating
12 inch
G1000 - G1008 : 1921
G1009 - G1021 : 1922
G1022 : 1923
G1023 - G1038 : 1926
G1039 - G1045 : 1927
G1046 - G1053 : 1928
G1054 - G1080 : 1929
G1081 - G1084 : 1930
MX1 - MX20 : 1930

10.75 Inch
G5000 - G5006 : 1922 "John McCormack"

10 inch
G6000 - G6011 : 1920 "Billy Williams"
G6012 - G6017 : 1915 "Australian-related"
G6019 - G6027 : 1920 "Billy Williams"

G6030 - G6835 : 1914
G6836 - G7203 : 1915
G7204 - G7385 : 1916
G7386 - G7436 : 1917
G7386 - G7436 : 1917
G7437 - G7446 : 1918
G7447 - G7471 : 1919

G7472 - G7567 : 1920
G7568 - G7700 : 1921
G7701 - G7866 : 1922
G7867 - G8067 : 1923
G8068 - G8276 : 1924
G8277 - G8487 : 1925
G8488 - G8723 : 1926
G8724 - G9006 : 1927
G9007 - G9225 : 1928
G9226 - G9439 : 1929

G9440 - G9473 : 1930
MR1 - MR222 : 1930
MR223 - MR450 : 1931
MR451 - MR748 : 1932

Main Sources
Regal Records 1914-1932, Arthur Badrock and Frank Andrews, 2009.
For a fuller history of Columbia see the Columbia Biography

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