is a
Record Label currently headquartered in the
UK , and is a subsidiary of
Universal Music Group .
Polydor was originally an independent branch of the
Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft . Its name was first used, as an export label, in
1924 , the British and German branches of the
Gramophone Company having severed their ties during
World War I . Deutsche Grammophon claimed the rights to the ''
His Master's Voice '' trademark for Germany, where
HMV recordings were released under the
Electrola Trademark . In turn, DGG records exported out of Germany were released on the Polydor label. Deutsche Grammophon lost its rights to the ''His Master's Voice'' trademark to
EMI as part of Germany's surrender terms at the end of
World War II .
Polydor became a
Popular Music label in
1946 while the famously yellow Deutsche Grammophon seal became a
Classical Music label. No Frenchman, though, could be expected to buy (or pronounce!) a product labelled Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft, so Polydor remained Deutsche Grammophon's export label, including Classical music, in France and the Spanish-speaking world for the remainder of the long-playing era.
Polydor Records introduced their distinctive orange label.]]
In the early
1960s Orchestra leader
Bert Kaempfert signed unknowns
Tony Sheridan and the Beat Brothers to Polydor. The Beat Brothers, of course, were actually
The Beatles , and less than two years later, with a new drummer and new haircuts and now signed to
Parlophone , became one of the biggest and most influential groups the world has ever seen.
Popular German entertainers such as
James Last , Bert Kaempfert,
Kurt Edelhagen ,
Caterina Valente and the
Kessell Sisters appeared on the Polydor label, as well as many French, Spanish and Latin-American figures.
In
1972 , Polydor merged with giant
Philips owned
Phonogram Records to create
PolyGram in the
US . The ''Polydor'' label continued to run as a subsidiary label under the new company. In the middle of the decade, Polydor took interest in the
Sex Pistols in
1976 , but lost to
EMI .
Into the
1980s , Polydor continued to do respectable business, in spite of becoming increasingly overshadowed by its PolyGram sister label
Mercury Records . Polydor took over management of
British Decca 's pop catalogue.
A&R manager Frank Neilson was able to score a major top ten hit in March
1981 for the label with "Do The Hucklebuck" by
Coast To Coast as well as signing
Ian Dury ,
Billy Fury and the
Comsat Angels to the company. In
1984 , the company name was parodied in the "
Rockumentary " film
This Is Spinal Tap (whose
Soundtrack Album was distributed by Polydor), where "
Polymer Records" were the band's record company.
By the early
1990s , Polydor began to underperform, forcing PolyGram to trim most of its staff and shift it under their newly constructed PLG (PolyGram Label Group), a cost effective outfit designed to guide its lesser performing labels (like
Island Records ,
London Records ,
Atlas Records ,
Verve Records ) to continue operating without PolyGram wasting/losing more money.
In
1994 , as Island Records recovered from its sales slump, PolyGram dissolved most of PLG into it. Meanwhile, Polydor Records and Atlas Records merged into one company (Polydor/Atlas) and was shifted over to operate under another PolyGram subsidiary,
A&M Records . In
1995 , Polydor/Atlas became simply Polydor Records again.
Over the next few years, Polydor tried to keep itself afloat with new artist signings, new releases, and reissues, but ultimately continued to become more and more dormant. In 1998, PolyGram was purchased by
Seagrams and absorbed into its
Universal Music Group . During the consolidation of these two music giants, Polydor's US operations were dismantled, while its overseas branch remained intact with its records continuing to be distributed domestically through A&M and its new partner Interscope Records. However, North American re-issues of pre-1998 Polydor releases are handled through
Universal Records .
{Link without Title} Today, in America, the Polydor Records name and logo is mostly used on reissues of older material from its 1960s and 1970s heyday.
Though Polydor's
American branch is defunct, in the United Kingdom, however, Polydor continues to sign chart-topping acts and remains one of the strongest imprints in the country — with artists such as
The Klaxons ,
Sophie Ellis-Bextor ,
Take That and
Kaiser Chiefs . It also acts as the UK label for American-based acts under
Interscope-Geffen-A&M like
Eminem and
Gwen Stefani .
In Spring 2006, Polydor launched
Fascination Records , a music label dedicated to pop music. Both
Girls Aloud and
Sophie Ellis-Bextor transferred to the new label.
