This particular Spiral label was a product of the Ditchburn organization, which was also responsible for the 'Domino' and 'Red Domino' labels (q.v. both). 'Record Retailer' of the 15th of August 1970 reported that Ditchburn was planning to record more of its own product, which was intended to be MOR material; it is possible that Spiral may have been introduced eventually in order to give that material its own outlet and distinguish it from Domino's 'singalong' releases. 'RR' of the 9th of October 1971 was able to break the news that the label had been formed; the article said that its products would be aimed at the Pop market and that they would be distributed by Selecta, Decca's sales and distribution arm. The agreement seems to have hit a snag, as 'RR' of the 27th of November said that the first two singles were now being distributed by Pye, who handled the Domino labels. Spiral remained with Pye for the remainder of its existence, which admittedly was not long. It released its first LPs in April 1972; 'Music Week' (1st April) described them as 'Newly recorded easy listening material'. In October of that year a part of the Ditchburn group was taken over by MAM, which formed a new company, Ditchburn Music Maker. According to the 'MW' article which dealt with the takeover DMM would be responsible for the Domino and Spiral labels from that point ('MW', 14th October 1972). Sadly, neither of the labels appears to have lasted for much longer. An advert in 'MW' of the 28th of October stated that the sixth and seventh Spiral singles were available through Pye, but they were the last. In all, Spiral issued seven singles, in a DIT-0 numerical series. The Bob Miller ensemble featured on DIT-3 (1) was a popular Big Band in the '50s and '60s. The first two singles were pressed by Decca (2), the rest by Pye (1). Billboard magazine of the 6th of May 1972 named Jim Thomas as label manager of the various Ditchburn labels; an article in 'MW' of the 6th of April 1974 suggests that he left Ditchburn not long after the labels ceased to function.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.