Weekend was one of the record labels of London Weekend Television, the first being Red Nail (q.v.). Its gestation was not without difficulties. In January 1977 LWT had joined forces with Essex Music to launch Red Nail. A licensing deal had been signed with B&C ('Music Week', 8th January), and the first Red Nail single, by Helen Barnes, had been issued. It seems, however, that LWT had ambitions in other directions. 'MW' of the 7th of May carried the news that the company was about to sign a deal with DJM for a new label, 'Weekend', but it had run into contractual difficulties. The second Helen Barnes single was due to be released on Weekend, and a band that had been lined up for Red Nail had also been moved to the new label. This came as news to B&C, whose manager, Brian Hutch, was reported as knowing nothing about the deal. DJM's legal manager was under the impression that the contract between Red Nail and B&C had been withdrawn, and he said that there would have to be discussions with Red Nail to sort the matter out. A fortnight later 'MW' carried the news that the DJM / Weekend plans had been postponed following confusion over the futures of the artists who were signed to Red Nail, and that the deal would not be signed until Red Nail's contract with B&C had expired. Two singles which had been scheduled for release had been 'delayed'. Stephen James, head of DJM, is quoted as saying "It is not company policy to poach artists from other labels." Finally 'MW' of the 11th of June revealed that Red Nail was to stay with B&C; the company had apparently fulfilled its minimum obligations to B&C under the contract, it was not obliged to provide any more, and the old repertoire would stay there. The Weekend label was therefore free to get under way, and it duly became the first UK label to be licensed to DJM. The projected Helen Barnes single appears to have been cancelled - it appeared in the 'New Singles' leaflet but there's no sign of any actual copies on Google - and Weekend made its debut with 'Manhattan Roll' b/w 'You Got To Believe' by Telephone Bill & The Smooth Operators (DJS-10785; 7/77). Weekend's '70s singles shared a DJS-10000 numerical series with those of that company. Manufacture and distribution were by CBS, as they were for DJM's own records at that time. The 'A' on the appropriate side is just for easy identification, it doesn't indicate a promo copy. DJM closed down its sales force at the end of July 1978; after that point CBS presumably marketed Weekend records alongside the other DJM product. According to 'MW' of the 3rd of June 1978, Weekend had originally been conceived as a vehicle for theme and title songs from LWT productions, but the plans for it had become more ambitious. Sadly the label never featured in the Charts, and it appears to have been shelved at the end of 1978. It was revived in the early 1990s for the occasional release, singles from that era being numbered in the WEEK-100s.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.