At least four different Stag labels issued singles in Britain during the 1970s. This one was the earliest and the longest lasting. Set up in 1971 by songwriter Alan Richards, initially as a publishing company, Stag Music, it expanded into a record label that was intended to cater for Liverpool's vibrant Club / Cabaret circuit. According to Michael Brocken's 'Hidden Histories Of Liverpool's Popular Music Scene' book, artists were offered promotional services locally and advertising in both local and national press. Richards and his business partner in Stag, Charlie Weston, were both involved with the Liverpool Sound Enterprises studios (q.v.), Richards as A&R man, Weston as engineer, and many Stag records were made at that studio.
The Stag label made its debut towards the end of 1973. Its singles initially had rather plain red labels with black printing (1); several of them came in a 'company sleeve' which had the artists' name on it (14, 15). By 1974 Stag's singles were injection-moulded; there was no company name on the labels, just a small Stag logo (2, 3, 4, 5, 6). At some point in 1975 the label's name - by now Stag Music - appeared, surrounding the logo, which was reduced in size (7, 8, 9,10, 11). On at least a couple of occasions, with HP-23 and HP-10, there was no company name on the labels and they can only be identified as Stag products by their 'HP' prefixed catalogue numbers (12). Pressing of the injection moulded records was by Phonodisc; as can be seen, the labels came in several colours. Two different catalogue series were used, SG-1000 and HP-00; the numbers were shared by singles, EPs and LPs alike, which explains some of the gaps in the discography below. Records in those series occasionally appeared on other labels, such as Chimes, Eiburn, Prince, Riga, Baldy, Eagle & Child and RMC (q.v. all). Items with an SG prefix were financed by Stag, with royalties going to the label accordingly; records with a HP prefix were funded upfront by finance companies, the money being repaid to those companies by the artists. Stag seems to have had a working relationship with Magnum Studios, of Hyde, and at least one EP on the Stag Music label had a catalogue number from the MAG-0000 series used by that studio (13); another had a Stag Music logo on its sleeve but not on its label - see 'Magnum (Custom)'. Stag produced two collectable LPs, by Supercharge - who later recorded for Virgin - and Heavy Rock band Pinnacle before closing down, which it did c.1976. I've included LPs in the discography below, which is rather incomplete. Thanks to John Timmis for the fourth and fifth scans; the second, tenth and thirteenth scans appear by courtesy of Robert Bowes.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.