Melodiya Record label history; Riga manufactured company sleeves

Melodiya (Russian: Μелодия, meaning melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) record label. It was the state-owned major record company/label of the Soviet Union.

  

It was established in 1964 as the "All-Union Gramophone Record Firm of the USSR Ministry of Culture Melodiya". It utilized gigantic resources of numerous recording studios, manufacturing facilities throughout the USSR as well as powerful centres of distribution and promotion system. The best selling format at the time was 33⅓ and 78 RPM vinyl records. As of 1973 Melodiya released some 1,200 gramophone records with the total circulation of 190-200 million per year and 1 million compact cassettes per year and was exporting its production into more than 70 countries.

The Bachelors - No Arms Can Ever Hold You/Oh Samuel Don't Die, Decca F 12034

The founding members of the group were Conleth (Con) Cluskey (born 18 November 1941), Declan (Dec) Cluskey (born 23 December 1942), and John Stokes (Sean James Stokes) (born 13 August 1940). In 1957 they formed their first band together: "The Harmonichords" (also seen as "The Harmony Chords"), a classically styled instrumental harmonica-act.

As The Harmonichords, they appeared on Hughie Green's 'Opportunity Knocks' on Radio Luxembourg and on the 'Ed Sullivan' TV Show St. Patrick's Day Special (filmed in Dublin, broadcast 15 March 1959), where they played "Danny Boy." They also played background music plus featured pieces in a 25 week radio comedy series called 'Odd Noises' on Radio Éireann featuring Eamonn Andrews. They changed their name to "The Bachelors" in 1962 at the suggestion of Dick Rowe, A&R at Decca Records, who reportedly recommended the name "because that’s the kind of boy a girl likes."

Russ Conway - Conway Capers No.2, Columbia DB 7312

Conway was born Trevor Herbert Stanford in Bristol England. He won a scholarship to Bristol Cathedral Choir School and was largely self-taught on piano as he whiled away hours as a youngster during a three-year term in borstal. His father then let him join the Merchant Navy. Conscripted into the Royal Navy in 1942, he served in the Merchant Navy from 1942 to 1948, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal as signalman in a minesweeping flotilla "for distinguished service, efficiency and zeal" in clearance of mines in the Aegean and operations during the relief of Greece 1944-45. During his Navy service, he lost the tip of the 3rd finger of his right hand while using a bread slicer. He was discharged on health grounds because of a stomach ulcer.

Conway was talent-spotted while playing in a London club, signed to EMI's Columbia label and spent the mid-1950s providing backing for artists on their roster, including Gracie Fields and Joan Regan. He recorded his first solo single "Party Pops" in 1957, a "medley of standard songs" which included "Roll the Carpet Up" and "The Westminster Waltz".

Between 1957 and 1963, Conway had 20 U.K. chart hits, achieving a cumulative total of 83 weeks on the UK Singles Chart in 1959 alone. This included two self-penned number one instrumentals, "Side Saddle" and "Roulette", the latter deposing Elvis Presley's "A Fool Such As I". He was a fixture on light entertainment TV shows and radio for many years afterwards, appearing at the London Palladium on a number of occasions and becoming a regular on the Billy Cotton Band Show for several seasons.