The UPC label - the initials stood for 'Universal Programmes Corporation' - received its first mention in 'Record Retailer' in the issue of the 6th of December 1969, which stated that producer Eddie Tre-Vett's new label was planned to make its debut in mid January 1970; John Pantry and Mike Claydon of IBC Studios (q.v.) were directors of the company. IBC had been making acetates and customer recordings for more than a decade, but UPC was to be a commercial venture, a proper record company. 'RR' of the 10th of January said that UPC was run by Tre-Vett and IBC, and that it had signed a worldwide distribution deal with CBS - in the event CBS also handled manufacture. The UK part of the distribution deal was confirmed in 'RR' of the 24th of January, and the first single appeared on the 13th of February, slightly later than had originally been anticipated. UPC went on to issue thirteen singles in ten months; none of them made any great impression, though one of them may be of interest to enthusiasts of the 'Carry On...' films: Barbara Windsor's 'When I Was A Child' b/w 'What A Right Carry On' (UPC-101; 1970).
Eddie Tre-Vett (or 'Trevett') left the company in November ('RR', 21st November 1970), and UPC appears to have run out of steam after his departure. Billboard magazine of the 28th of November 1970 reported that Liz Gardener, who had been with UPC since its beginning, was to be the new label manager, and director George Clouston was to be responsible for the label's activities. Sadly neither of them can have been in their new posts all that long, as the final UPC single came out in December that same year. One label design served throughout, and there was a colourful company sleeve. Universal Programmes Corporation had started out before World War II as a division of the International Broadcasting Company (later IBC), and until the time of the new label's launch IBC had used 'UPC' as the prefix for its custom recordings.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.