A label dedicated to Classical music. Enigma was founded in the Summer of 1976 by John Bowden and Peter Whiteside, both of whom had previously been with EMI / Hamlyn's 'Music For Pleasure' company (q.v.). Bowden had been managing director of MFP and had been heavily involved in its 'Classics For Pleasure' arm; he had also been managing director of the London Symphony Orchestra ('Music Week', 17th July 1976). The company, which had a policy of not over-popularizing music for the sake of sales, was initially independent, with distribution by CRD and Selecta, but in December 1977 it signed a longterm distribution deal with WEA ('Music Week', 24th December). The relationship with WEA was to get much closer, quite quickly: in June the following year 'MW' reported that Enigma had been acquired by WEA, with Boyden staying on as both managing director and marketing director. In the event the arrangement lasted for a little over two years; in 1980 Enigma was sold to new company Academy Sound And Vision, which had been set up by former Argo label chief Harvey Ustill ('MW', 13th December 1980). At that point it seems to have lost its separate label identity - many of its (by then deleted) WEA-era issues were reissued on ASV. As you might expect, Enigma concentrated its efforts on LPs and CDs, but under WEA ownership it released a solitary 7" single: Julian Lloyd Webber's, 'Brazilian Love Theme' b/w 'Love Theme From Superman' (K-13520; 1979). According to Billboard magazine of the 11th of July 1979 the record was marketed as "The world's first disco classical single", but by that time there had already been a number of discofied versions of Classical melodies, so the claim is debatable. There was an offshoot label, 'Enigma Variation Two', during the WEA period, but it is outside the scope of this site as it didn't issue any singles.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.