American. The Pacific Arts Corporation was - is? - owned by ex-Monkee Michael Nesmith. It started out in 1974 in its homeland and continued on until at least 1981, but it came later and went earlier in Britain. Not many records came out on the label over here; in this country it seems to have served as a vehicle for Nesmith's own recordings, whereas in the States it featured other artists as well. Pacific Arts received its only mention in the UK Trade press in 'Music Week' in the 4th of September 1976, which said that Island was to manufacture and distribute the company's records, giving them a Pacific Arts label and logo; a four-track EP of tracks by Michael Nesmith with The First National Band was scheduled to be the first release. The EP duly appeared, as did a couple of singles and three albums. All of them had catalogue numbers that were taken from Island's main EP, single and LP series. Another Pacific Arts album, 'When Scopes Collide' by (the American band) Kaleidoscope, was released on the Island label (ILPS-9462; 1/77) for some reason. Michael Nesmith's 'Rio' b/w 'Life, The Unsuspecting Captive' (WIP-6373; 2/77) just about got into the Top 30, an achievement which his 'Navajo Trail' b/w 'Love's First Kiss' (WIP-6398; 7/77) sadly failed to match. The label seems not to have lasted into 1978 in this country. Manufacture of the singles and EP appears to have been by EMI, as was the case for many of Island's singles at the time. Promotional copies were marked after the then-current Island manner (2).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.