Odeon Records
Odeon was a
record label founded by
Max Strauss and
Heinrich Zunz in
Berlin,
Germany. It was named after a famous theatre in
Paris, whose classical dome appears on the Odeon record label.
In 1904 Odeon launched the first double-sided
gramophone records. It became a subsidiary of the
Carl Lindstrom Company which also owned
Beka Records,
Parlophone and
Fonotipia. Lindstrom was acquired by the English
Columbia Graphophone Company in 1926. In
1931 Columbia merged with
Electrola,
HMV and other labels to form
EMI. In
1936 the director of the Odeon branch was forced to retire and replaced by
Dr Kepler, a
Nazi party member. In 1939 Odeon and Electrola were placed under a Nazi-appointed administrator. When the
Soviet Red army occupied Berlin in
1945 it destroyed most of the Odeon factory. After 1945 Odeon continued to be used as a label for pressings made for West Africa. In
Spain,
Argentina and
Brazil the label survived as an EMI subsidiary until the end of the LP era, mid
1980s, when it finally disappeared altogether.
Most official
Beatles releases, including solo, appeared on Odeon in many markets like
West Germany,
Japan,
Spain,
South America, and
France, some of which were slow to recognise
Apple Records until up to 1971, then switched back to Odeon by 1976.
Direct EMIā"HMV exports to the USA, where the
His Master's Voice label was owned by
RCA Victor Records, bore pasted-over Odeon stickers.
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List of record labels
