The first of two Safari labels in the 1970s. This one was owned by Reg McLean, who at the time was managing director of management / agency / promotion / production company Circle International. Its first mention in 'Music Week' came in the edition of the 8th of February 1975, where it was referred to as a new company specializing in commercial Pop and Reggae. Presumably it had been around for a few months, as the first two singles have '1974' on the labels, though it is possible that those recordings may have been made by Circle International in that year and not placed with a record label. In the event most of Safari's output seems to have been in the fields of Reggae and Soul / Dance music. At first catalogue numbers were in the SFI-100s and distribution was by Enterprise and Creole, but in or around March 1975 CBS took over and the numbers were adjusted slightly to become SF-1100s. An advert in MW of the 8th of March stated that SF-1101 was available from that source - was SFI-101 referred to as SF-1101 because it fitted CBS's four-digit numbering system more easily? The Doyley Brothers' 'Scaredycat' can be found as both SFI-102 and SF-1102; the latter is a reissue from 1976. The CBS agreement seems to have been for one year, as Safari signed a worldwide licensing agreement with EMI in July 1976; 'MW' of the 10th of that month says that at that time the company was doing its own distribution, though the label of SF-1112 has 'Marketed by EMI' on it (4). Records issued under the new deal were given pink labels and a new SFR-0 numerical series (5, 6). According to 'MW' the company had moved from Chiswick to Trott Street , Battersea, and intended to concentrate on breaking singles. In the event, however, just five more singles were released, one of which was another re-release of 'Scaredycat', this time as 'Scaredy Cat' (SFR-2), and the label expired in the first half of 1977. By then McLean had started the Circle International label (q.v.); see also Voyage International, which came on the scene later. He had briefly managed an early line-up of The Stranglers and had recorded three tracks by them in April 1975 for a Safari single, but nothing was issued. Perhaps one of the numbers missing from the discography below might have been slated for it - SF 1103 or 1104. Safari used just the one basic label design, which came in three different colour schemes. The labels were initially black with gold printing (1), but on SF-101 the gold was replaced by silver; silver was also used for SF-1109 to 1112 (3). With the adoption of the pink colour the 'jungle' above the spindle hole disappeared, and was replaced by the word 'Records'.
