Great Western started out in 1976 and was one of the labels of a firm called Dema Directions, which was based at 18, West Mall, Bristol. Dema seems to have been one of those companies which offered facilities through which artists could make make records to sell to the people at their gigs, though it may also have issued records itself. Many of its products were recorded at Mushroom Studios, of Clifton, but some were from elsewhere: the Roy Antony EP shown above, 'Roy Antony Sings' (DM-006), was recorded in the West Midlands, at Lee Sound Studios, Pelsall. Customers varied from Club / Cabaret acts to brass bands and a banjo player. Sadly there were no dates on the labels of Great Western records, but some were pressed by Lyntone and had Lyntone matrix numbers, which enables us to put a year to them. Generally Great Western EPs and LPs shared the same numerical series, which was DM-000 for the first ninteen or so records before it gained a '1' at the start of the number. Presumably the 'DM' stands for Dema Music, which was the company's publishing arm. Some records in that series came out on Firebrand (q.v.), Dema Directions's other label; it is possible that Firebrand may have been for Dema's own issues and Great Western for custom recordings, but that's only a guess - the Firebrands seem marginally more marketable than the Great Westerns. For the sake of interest the discography below contains both LP and 7" releases, and for once it includes releases from the 1980s. Firebrands are marked with an asterisk.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.