Canon received its first mention in 'Music Week' in the issue of the 7th of December 1974, where it is described as an independent company headed by Peter Self, based in Hillside, New Barnet, Herts. Its stated aim was to release Classical and 'unusual' records. An advert in the following week's issue said that the company was 'new', with 'A general listing but specialising in records that are different'. The advert added that the company had two labels, Canon itself and Charivari; the latter seems to have been album-only. In the summer of 1975 Canon opened an office in Glasgow, and Self was reported as negotiating to set up a Scottish label ('MW', 19th July); a couple of Various Artists LPs, 'Come To Scotland' (CTU-5969; 1975) and 'Best From McTavish's Kitchens' (VAR D-5958; 1976) would appear to have been fruits of that development. A year later, 'MW' (31st of July 1976) carried another snippet of news about Canon: it was now described as 'Chester Based', and it had signed a distribution deal with Selecta, which was scheduled to come into operation in September. The cover of the Harry Bence Big Band EP 'At Last' (CNNS-034; 1976) gives the New Barnet address for the company and the Chester one for the recording studio. Catalogue numbers for singles and EPs were in the CNNS-000s; the highest that I have seen is CNNS-047, the lowest CNNS-031, so it looks as though the lower numbers may not have been used. There are several smaller gaps in the listing below. The injection-moulded single above was pressed by Phonodisc, and was presumably coloured red because Liverpool play in that colour; the other injection-moulded singles that I have seen have been blue or silver. The colour of the paper labels varied too: the Black Abbots single 'Somewhere Over The Rainbow' b/w 'Medicine Bill' (CNNS-047; 1977) can be found with a silver top and a blue bottom as well as the black-and-white combination shown above. I haven't found any Canon record dated later than 1978, so it may be that the record company ceased operations in that year.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.