A debatable one, in that the Phase 4 label never appeared on any issue copies of singles in the UK or indeed on demo copies in the 1970s, but a modest case for its inclusion can be made. Decca introduced Phase 4 in August 1961 as an outlet for material that had been recorded using a new stereo technique which, according to 'Billboard' of the 14th of August, it regarded as a totally new approach to stereo. According to the article the various constituent parts of an orchestra were recorded separately, which cut out any 'bleed' of sound from one to another. The separation also allowed for 'panning' of instruments from speaker to speaker. 'BB' of the 28th of August noted that all the material had been selected, arranged and engineered with stereo in mind. It consisted of MOR / Easy Listening / Big Band tracks from the likes of Stanley Black, Ronnie Aldrich, Edmundo Ros, Frank Chacksfield and their orchestras, and the man in charge of the project was Tony D'Amato. As it was aimed at audiophiles, Phase 4 was album-only at first. It proved popular, especially in America, and Decca was encouraged enough to broaden its scope. A new 'Concert Series' for Classical music was introduced in January 1964, and the following year 'BB' of the 10th of April reported that a 'diversification project' had been launched, with the aim of sourcing material from all over the world.
In 1968 Phase 4 ventured into the singles market, but it only appeared as an actual 7" label in the USA and (later) in Canada. In Britain the first four singles to be lifted from Phase 4 albums came out on the main Decca label, without a credit to Phase 4. However, for some reason demo copies of them were given Phase 4 labels (2). A fifth single, 'The Old Home Guard' b/w 'When Johnny Comes Marching Home' by The Band & Chorus Of The Royal Military School Of Music 'Kneller Hall' (F-13234; 9/71), which came out around two-and-a-half years after the fourth, was issued on Decca with an ordinary Decca demo accompanying it, but both featured the Phase 4 logo (1, 3). The presence of that logo, and the existence of the demos with Phase 4 labels, persuaded me that Phase 4 had a sufficiently distinct 7" identity for me to allow it a place on this site. A sixth single sourced from Phase 4, 'You're So Vain' b/w 'When Banana Skins Are Falling' by Tony Randall & Jack Klugman (F-13439; 8/73) came out on Decca without a Phase 4 logo on either the issue or the demo; it did however appear on the Phase 4 label in America and Canada - it seems to have been the only 7" Canadian release on Phase 4. The American label was more prolific in singles terms, lasting until 1976 and issuing six records by Ronnie Aldrich in the process. In Britain, Phase 4 continued on as an album-only label until the end of the decade, but it doesn't seem to have survived Decca's purchase by Polygram in the Spring of 1980.
Copyright 2022 Robert Lyons.