MONA'S ISLE
Mona's Isle appears to
have been a small independent concern, based on the Isle of Man. It made
its debut in 1976 with a single by Jim Mitchell, 'Ellan Vannin' b/w 'Manx
Fisherman's Evening Hymn', the catalogue number of which was MIR-1. The
label of that record (1) bears a strong resemblance to that of Hollick
& Taylor (q.v.), which suggests that it may well have been made through that
company. 1979 saw the release of another single by Mitchell, this time
with the assistance of The Prospectors on the 'A'
side, 'Ramsey Town'; he handled the vocals on the 'B' side, 'Manx National Anthem', on
his
own. That record was made through custom
recording company MPA (q.v.); it had the MPA logo on
its labels and had an MPA catalogue number, SMP-076 (2). The sleeve,
however, had a different number on it, MIR-3. Another
MIR-3, which offered 'T.T. Hall Of Fame' by Don Burns
with Splinter on one side and a Splinter solo effort,
'Ellan Vannin Tragedy', on the other, came out in 1981, which suggests that
'Ramsey Town' should have been MIR-2 and that the MIR-3 on its sleeve was a
mistake - if it wasn't the identity of MIR-2 remains a mystery. Thanks to Jon
Downing for bringing Mona's Isle to my attention and for providing the first scan.
Copyright 2019 Robert Lyons.