The first of two Gold labels from the '70s, and a rather elusive concern. This particular Gold issued six singles, two EPs and an album ('Introducing Jaime Adams'; GDL-1001, 1977) during the period 1977-79, and added a further single in 1982, but there were no direct references to it in 'Music Week'. Its releases did, however, appear in 'Music Master' and in the appropriate 'The New Singles' leaflets. Googling 'Gold Records' was always going to be a futile thing to do, but I did at least manage to find the address from which it operated: 21, Tower Street, London WC2. The same address housed one of two 'Sticky Label' labels from the 1970s, which appears to have been an offshoot of Gold: see 'Sticky Label (STK prefix)'. The labels of Gold's records provide the information that they were marketed by President (q.v.). A company called Andy Patch Music was responsible for the publishing of several of the songs which were issued on Gold and on Sticky Label; it is possible that there was a link between them, but I haven't been able to prove it.
Gold's singles were numbered in a GD-000 series, which began with GD-007; EPs had a separate GDE-00 series, starting at GDE-11. Unusually, the company's first release, in June 1977, was a comedy EP, 'Just A Jiffy' by J.J. Stewart (GDE-11). Its first single, Hollywood's 'Come Up And See Me' b/w 'Has No One Ever Told You' (GD-007) followed in July. The best-known name to appear on the label was that of humorist Frank Muir, with his spoken-word tale for children, 'What-A-Mess' (GDE-11; 1977), but neither that nor any of the other Gold records ever threatened the Charts. The single by Rockin' Ricky & The Velvet Collars, 'Someone, Someone' b/w 'Sheila' (GD-008; 9/77) is collectable. That particular offering apart, Gold's products seem to have leaned in the direction of MOR.
The Gold label had a simple but rather attractive appearance, which was enhanced by the plain gold-coloured company sleeve. The printing on GDE-11 was in red (1) but black became the norm afterwards (2). Promo copies came in two different types, both of which were used by labels associated with President: those of GD-007 had a small black 'A' at 4 o'clock (3), while those of the subsequent singles had a large hollow 'A', in gold (4). A single with the matrix number GD-011, which fits into one of the gaps in the discography below, appeared on the 'Sticky Label' label with a catalogue number of STK-500. The number GD-013 seems not to have been used, and GDs 015 to 017 are also unaccounted for. 'Music Master' gives distribution as being by Lugton and H.R. Taylor, members of the British Independent Record Distributors group, which also handled the other President labels. An article in Billboard of the 4th of March 1978 reported that President would continue to distribute Gold records; it may be that BIRD and President supplied the same products to different retailers. It seems likely that President, as it was the marketer and co-distributor, would also have been responsible for manufacture. By the time of the 'afterthought' single, 'Dear John Paul' b/w 'Blessed Be God' by Spes Nostra (GD-018; 1982), the link with President had been broken.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.