Rather obscure, this one - in fact I haven't been able to get hold of a picture of either of the two EPs I know it released. Triosk appears to have been the label of a company called Triosk Enterprises. 'The Stage' magazine of the 17th of June 1971 revealed that Triosk Enterprises Ltd., registered at 52 Shaftesbury Avenue, London W1, intended to apply for registration under the 'Theatrical Employers Registration' acts; the issue of the 29th of October added that the company consisted of a group of showmen headed by John Keam, and that it was ambitious to revive the British entertainment scene. Some fourteen months or so later, 'The Stage' of the 14th of December 1972 noted that directors Keam, Keith Leggett and Laurie Bloom were applying to register a management company, 'Triosk Management'. The record label seems to have been formed in between these two dates.
'The Stage' of the 21st of September 1972 carried notes on a conversation with accordionist Lawrie Adam which stated that he had recently started his own label, Triosk, and had just made his debut EP as a vocalist. Adam assured other entertainers that "It need no longer be a difficult or expensive process to make your own discs for personal promotion and distribution." According to the article, trumpeter Syd Francis, organist Roy Woodhall and comedian Steve Collins had all made use of Triosk's facilities. There's no trace of any records by the latter two, but an EP by Francis was released. Called 'Introducing Syd Francis' it offered versions of 'Misty', 'Quando Quando', 'Raindrops Are Falling On My Head' and 'Georgia', and it had a catalogue number of TSK-EP-101. The Lawrie Adam EP was numbered TSK-EP-102 and the tracks on it were 'A Scottish Medley', 'Amazing Grace', Dark Island' and 'Keep Right On Smiling'. The report's crediting the label to Adam suggests that the Triosk Enterprises company and the label were separate concerns, but it seems unlikely that two companies with the same name, operating in the same area of entertainment, should start up in the same year; my own guess would be that the label was run by Triosk Enterprises and was intended as an outlet for artists who were signed to that firm. Perhaps the only hope of the matter being sorted out definitively lies in Lawrie Adam's reading this and getting in touch. The only other mention of Triosk that I have been able to find came in 'Billboard' of the 12th of August 1972, which reported that an American show called 'Mother Earth' was due to start a UK run at London's Roundhouse on the 19th of September thanks to the combined efforts of MAM and Sidney Terry, in association with John Kean (sic) of Triosk. Any more information would be welcome, as indeed would a scan of labels of either EP.
Copyright 2025 Robert Lyons.