Argo Records (British music label)

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Argo Records is a record label founded in 1951 by Harley Usill (1925-1991) and musicologist Cyril Clarke with a capital of £ 500. Initially, "British music, interpreted by British artists" was supposed to be published there, but gamelan music and soon a wide variety of different sound carriers through to jazz was also included on the initially independent label .

Due to financial difficulties, the label was taken over by Decca Records in 1957 , but initially retained artistic independence. Relevant new productions continued to appear there, such as Noye's Fludde by Benjamin Britten in 1961 , records by jazz musicians Alan Cohen and Michael Garrick , but also folk songs by Ewan MacColl and Peggy Seeger . In 1979 the label came to PolyGram , but remained artistically independent until 1988. Since 1990 it functions as a sub-label of Decca in the classical area; recordings by Michael Nyman are also published there.

literature

  • Bielefeld catalog jazz 1988 & 2001