pages
MONO
1. release timeline
→ 2. foreign exchange
STEREO
3. release timeline
4. foreign exchange
POST-1984
5. Fantasy & Concord
Disques Vogue
Among the labels given foreign rights to Contemporary’s catalog, the name Vogue occupied the most expansive reach. That name covers two companies, though: Disques Vogue in France and Decca-controlled Vogue Records in the UK, the latter having split off from the former in 1956.
Contemporary found itself in business with both and likely sent them each copy tapes. First, le French:
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Disques Vogue
LDM 30 101
France, 1958
Jacket:
Film-laminated flipback
Plating & Pressing:
Vogue, Villetaneuse 🇫🇷
Vogue in the UK (Decca)
Decca Studios in the UK handled local mastering for Contemporary Vogue (ie. Decca) titles. The original Way Out West lacquers are stamped -1B/-1B, which likely indicates cutting by Decca engineer Ron Mason⁽¹⁾.
Plating & pressings was then handled by Decca’s plant in New Malden.
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Vogue
LAC 12118
UK, 1958
Jacket: Film-lam flipback
Mastering:
Ron Mason @ Decca Studios 🇬🇧
Plating & Pressing:
Decca, New Malden 🇬🇧
Pressing ring:
~95mm “deep groove”
UK Vogue represses
Decca/Vogue remained Contemporary’s UK partner into the stereo dawn and early 1960s, during which the -1B/-1B Way Out West mono metal was repressed a handful of times.
A solid way to separate an early 1958-ish copy from a later repress is by the pressing ring; Decca’s plant transitioned in the late 50s from its curious 95mm ‘deep groove’ down to a more globally familiar 70mm version (the width of which, historically, landed just inside the outer label rum of a 78). Their inner sleeve also changed a bit, but you’d be just fine ignoring that.
Anyway: I’ve encountered a 70mm DG repress of Way Out West and it’s included below.
Of note: later UK Decca/Vogue deliveries received revised labels sans the large Vogue logo across bottom. It’s not clear which older titles were phased into that design or if Way Out West was among them.
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Vogue
LAC 12118
UK, 1960s
Jacket: Film-lam flipback
Mastering:
R. Mason @ Decca 🇬🇧
Plating & Pressing:
Decca, New Malden 🇬🇧
Pressing ring:
~70mm “deep groove”
UK metal exports
Decca’s contract extended to much of the former British Empire; as a result, the Vogue branding also covers numerous late 50s/early 60s Contemporary releases in Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Most (all?) of these localities sourced their metal from Decca in the UK.
Way Out West had South African and New Zealander mono variants, with none yet seen from Australia.
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Vogue
LAC 12118
South Africa
Jacket: Film-lam flipback
Mastering:
R. Mason @ Decca 🇬🇧
🇳🇿
Vogue
LAM C 6001
New Zealand, 60s
Jacket: Film-lam flipback
(banner jacket design puts this 1959+)
Mastering:
R. Mason @ Decca 🇬🇧
King of Japan
King Record Co., best known today for its Blue Note reissues of the 70s and 80s, began working with Contemporary as far back as 1959. King cut and pressed several Contemporary titles under the London Records label before shedding that name in the early 1960s. King kept Contemporary’s Japan contract for nearly two more decades, delivering hundreds of releases and reissues in that time.
Way Out West was issued just once in mono for Japan, back in 1959 or so while still on the London brand.
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London
LY 1004
Japan, 1959/60
Jacket:
Film-lam flipback
Plating & Pressing:
King Records, Japan 🇯🇵
the Sparton red label press
Around the mid-1960s, Contemporary partnered with Sparton of Canada to package and press several titles for the land up north. These were fully Contemporary-branded using US catalog numbers as well as US metal sourced from the current inventory at RCA.
Front artwork was printed (“litho”) in the US, though unlike the Dutch reissues a few years later, Sparton jackets were assembled in-country with revised liners giving the locals their due.
Several 1960s titles were reissued in both stereo and mono. Most 50s-era titles didn’t make the cut, but Way Out West was one of the lucky few, even if only in mono (or so it seems). The final delivery arrived on surprising blood red labels reminiscent of Sparton’s contemporaneous work for Impulse.
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Contemporary M3530
Canada, mid-60s
Jacket: Rear-wrap tip-on
Litho in US; liners in CA
Lacquers: D5 / D5 🇺🇸
Plating (lacquer):
RCA Hollywood 🇺🇸
Re-plating & Pressing:
Sparton of Ca., London 🇨🇦
Trova Argentina
Similar to Sparton, Argentina’s Trova label commissioned a handful of mono Contemporary titles and imported US metal for the cause. Adding some collector whimsy to these, the jackets were fully translated to Spanish— which meant some dedicated redesigns done to titling and covers.
Way Out West was among the Trova mono releases, but details of this one remain scarce. Updates to come.
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Trova M3530
Argentina
mid-60s
Jacket: Rear-wrap tip-on
Lacquers: TBC
(prob. US metal)
Sources
(1) Comment on “Common runout groove etchings: how to list them (Version 5) - defunct” Discogs, 2015, https://www.discogs.com/forum/thread/386878?message_id=3802504&page=20#3802504.