French. Pathe was founded in the 1890s by brothers Charles and Emile Pathe; it was sold to English Columbia in 1928, and became part of Electrical and Musical Industries in 1931, when Columbia joined forces with the Gramophone Company. It is still going today, as part of the EMI group of labels. Pathe was really a European affair, and it is most often found abroad: while it issued records in Britain during the 1920s, its products subsequently seem to have come out on other EMI labels - Columbia? - over here. The label made a very brief appearance in Britain in 1979, when EMI used it to issue two singles by French Punk group Telephone: 'Anna' b/w 'Hygiaphone' (PM-101; 2/79) and 'Fait Diverse (English version)' b/w 'La Bombe Humaine' (PM-102; 9/79). The latter was also available as a telephone-shaped red 12", with the catalogue number PMT-102. For some reason 'Hygiaphone' was marked as the 'A' side on the demo copy shown above, even though it has the 'B' matrix number. I have yet to see an issue copy of PM-102, though they may perhaps be out there.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.