The Pye Records group included quite a few little-known labels in the '70s; Surrey International was one of them. It was the Pop offshoot of John Abbey's Soul label Contempo (q.v.), and its musical range spanned Soul, Pop, and also Rock 'n' Roll Revival, in the shape of 'Good Golly Miss Molly', by Little Bo Pete & The 1974 Rock 'n' Roll Janitors (SIT-5005; 5/74), who deserve a mention for the daftess of their name. Much of its material appears to have been licensed from other companies. According to 'Music Week' of the 23rd of February 1974 the label's first single was going to be 'Love It Along' by the New Christy Minstrels, licensed from Gregar of the USA, but that release seems to have been cancelled. None of Surrey International's fifteen singles, which appeared in 1974-75, cracked the Charts, and none are commonly seen nowadays. Numbers were in the SIT-5000s; a couple seem not to have been used. Promos were marked in the standard Pye manner of the time (2).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.