A Reggae label, initially at least. 'Music Week' of the 15th of January 1969 reported that BAF had been launched by Radio 1 DJ John Farlowe and his business associate Peter Craig. According to the article distribution was to be by Island and Keith Prowse, but by the time the second and third singles came out Lugton and H.R. Taylor had been added ('MW', 20th February 1969). BAF enjoyed a degree of success with its first single, 'Swan Lake' b/w 'Swing Low' by the Cats (BAF-1; 1968), which just about got into the Top 50 in 1969. The Cats were from London and were put together by John Kpiaye, who was later to become a prominent member of the British Reggae scene. The band were responsible for the label's first four-and-a-half singles; there were ten released altogether. The first nine came out in 1969-70, then there was a gap before 'Bubble Gum' b/w 'Heart Ache' by Wave One (BAF-10) appeared, in 1972.
One label design served throughout, but some copies of 'Swan Lake' had the label name in larger letters without the 'explosion' around it. The first three singles had 'Side 1' and 'Side 2' on the appropriate labels (1), but from the fourth single onwards the designation was replaced by an 'A' or 'B' suffixed to the catalogue number (2). The company sleeve shown opens on the right-hand side, which must have invited accidental spills by people who thought that they were holding the record the right way up. In 1971 BAF released a Various Artists album with a naked lady on the front cover, but even that didn't prove popular enough to prevent it closing down shortly afterwards. Pressing of the first seven singles was done by Pye's Tranco arm. BAFs 2 to 10 are collectable.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.