The record label of The Observer newspaper. The Observer put out several records, starting in 1969 and reaching into the early '70s. Catalogue numbers, which were in an OBS-0 series, got at least as high as OBS-5, but there were two OBS-1s and as yet I haven't been able to trace OBSes 2, 3 or 4. The first OBS-1, 'First Man On The Moon', was licensed from American MGM and was narrated by Hugh Downs. The only two issues from the '70s that I have been able to trace were made in conjunction with a company called 'C.I. Audio Visual' (q.v.); each came packaged with a booklet and a set of colour transparencies. 'The Making Of The British: Five Invasions 600 BC - 1066 AD', was the second OBS-1; The Observer Magazine ran a ten-part series on 'The Making Of The British' in 1971, and it seems reasonable to assume that the booklet and its associated items were intended as an adjunct to that. Manufacture of the record was by EMI. OBS-5, 'The New British: The British At War, 1914-1918, 1939-45', came with a similar package and presumably accompanied the magazine's 1973 series about 'The New British'. Both were written by Colin Cross and narrated by Observer journalist Kenneth Harris. If anybody can supply details of any missing Observer records I'd be pleased to hear from them. Thanks to Nicholas Hough for the third scan.
Copyright 2023 Robert Lyons.