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Melodisc Records was a record label founded by Emil Shalit in the late 1940s. It was one of the first independent record labels in the UK, and the parent company of the Blue Beat label. ==History== The label was founded by Austrian-born American citizen Emil Edward Shalit (24 December 1909 – 23 April 1983). It is unclear whether Shalit set up Melodisc initially in New York, where he lived. Melodisc began trading in London in August 1949, and soon became established as one of the first—and, at the time, the largest—independent record labels in the UK.〔 Its offices were in Earlham Street, Covent Garden. The company was initially managed in London by Jack Chilkes, until a disagreement with Shalit led to his departure and legal action in late 1952.〔 According to Chilkes, Shalit had tricked him into believing that he owned the rights to material owned by other companies.〔( Oral history of jazz in Britain: Jack Chilkes ). Retrieved 6 September 2013〕 In the early 1950s Melodisc focused on licensing and releasing American jazz and folk records in the UK, and had a production and distribution arrangement with Decca Records. After Chilkes was replaced by Trinidadian Rupert Nurse, who became Melodisc's musical director, the label also released rhythm and blues, and West Indian and African recordings including calypso and mento, so as to cater for the growing Afro-Caribbean community in Britain. Early Melodisc releases in the UK included 78 rpm and later 45 rpm records, EPs and LPs, by Big Bill Broonzy, Louis Jordan, Josh White, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Charlie Parker, among others.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Melodisc 7"s )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Melodisc Albums )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Melodisc )〕 From the early 1950s, Melodisc started recording musicians in London, particularly at the Esquire studios in Bedford Court Mansions in Covent Garden.〔〔 Early recordings were supervised by Denis Preston.〔 Among the musicians recorded were Jamaican-born jazz musician Joe Harriott, pianist Russ Henderson,〔 and the Trinidadians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener, whose song "Birth of Ghana" was recorded in London in late 1956. Melodisc was actively involved in exporting records from Britain to the emerging record-buying markets in West Africa and the Caribbean.〔 From the mid to late 1950s it also sought out records produced in Jamaica, for distribution in Britain, making deals with producers such as Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid. Melodisc released Laurel Aitken's "Lonesome Lover" in the UK in 1960.〔 Following its success, Shalit employed Sigimund "Siggy" Jackson to set up a subsidiary label, Blue Beat, focusing on Jamaican blues and ska music.〔 For several years the label name became synonymous with Jamaican music in the UK, and became associated with the mod and later skinhead sub-cultures of the 1960s and early 1970s.〔〔Larkin, Colin (1998) ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, pp. 31-32.〕 In 1966, Melodisc set up a new sub-label, Fab Records, to release rocksteady music. The Melodisc label continued to release LPs through the 1960s and into the early 1970s. Artists included Prince Buster, Ambrose Campbell, Ginger Johnson, Ravi Shankar, and Lord Kitchener.〔 Emil Shalit died in Slough, England, in 1983 at the age of 73.〔(England & Wales, Death Index, 1916-2007, Emil Edward Shalit ). Retrieved 5 September 2013.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Melodisc Records」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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