Tentative, this one. There was a V.I.P. Records operating out of 21 Nassau Road, Barnes, the same address as that of John Hassell Recordings (q.v.), in the 1970s. It put out a couple of LPs in or around 1972, using the main John Hassell numerical series: 'The Four Lanes Male Choir And Wendy Eathorne' (HAS SLP-2013), and 'Wendy Eathorne Sings Songs For Everyone' (HAS LP-2058). The Rumpel Stiltskin EP pictured above - by courtesy of Nicholas Hough - came some seven years later and also had a John Hassell catalogue number, HAS EP-4090. There's no date on it, but HAS LP-4074 was made in 1978 and HAS LP-5006 in 1980, which suggests that 1979 is a reasonable bet. The Fairfield Welles responsible for the backing was a Manchester group which won on TV's 'New Faces' show in the late '70s; by September 1980 it had undergone a name change to Exposé, which again nudges us towards 1979. Tracks on the EP were 'Nights In White Satin', 'Apache', 'Hang On Sloopy' and 'How Deep Is Your Love'. The only other V.I.P. products that I've seen listed were reissues of vintage material by tenor Tom Burke. They were numbered in the VIP LP-100s or VIP EP-100s, and, sadly, they too were undated. It is possible that the two EPs were from the 1970s, and a comprehensive reissue programme of Tom Burke records would help to fill the seven year gap, but they have more of a '60s look to them. There would appear to be a link between John Hassell Recordings and V.I.P., then, but what it is remains to be established.
Copyright 2015 Robert Lyons.