[78-L] Need Help Identifying A Label

[Glenn Longwell]

Whether this label was related to Asch's Disc label was something I asked back in February and don't believe I ever got a definitive answer on that.  However, some of the story of the Metro, Rex, Rem story is told in the liner notes to the Charles 'Baron' Mingus West Coast 1945-1949 CD.  Liner notes by Andrew Homzy.
The label was run by Maurice Rappaport, who had a record store, Rex Records, in Hollywood and the label started out as Metro.  He promised to pay the musicians royalties based on sales.  That never happened. MGM threatened suit because of the name so he changed it to Rex.  He then gets a letter from someone in England who says he owns the name Rex so he changes it to Rem.  Many of the Rex discs sold had the name blackened out on later issues.  That would explain your discs.
Rappaport never paid the royalties to artists and when also slapped with tax evasion in the 50s he went to Mexico. Eventually was caught.  Bum.  I'll guess that he stole the label design from Asch based on his other dealings!

I bought this CD based on recommendation in Geoffrey Wheeler's book.  Has anyone heard from Geoffrey?  He hasn't posted here in a while.  Hope he's ok.

Glenn

--- On Fri, 11/5/10, Malcolm - Venerable Music <malcolm at venerablemusic.com> wrote:

From: Malcolm - Venerable Music <malcolm at venerablemusic.com>
Subject: Re: [78-L] Need Help Identifying A Label
To: "78-L Mail List" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Date: Friday, November 5, 2010, 11:06 AM

Hey Ron - I'll probably leave as is. I picked them up for the auction site, 
so I wanted to be able to list them somewhat correctly. I also wouldn't want 
to take the chance of messing up the label any more than it is. It was a 
pretty productive weekend - picked up some oddities including my first 
Flamenco records!
It's tough to find those in rural Georgia. Here is another interesting 
French label I found - http://www.venerableradio.com/DT_780V008A.jpg
It's really traditional sounding musette recordings. Any ideas on the dates? 
I really can't tell by listening - could be late twenties or early 40s?
Malcolm

Venerable Music - http://www.venerablemusic.com/
78rpm Auctions - http://www.vmauctions.com/
Venerable Radio - http://www.venerableradio.com
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----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron L'Herault" <lherault at bu.edu>
To: "'78-L Mail List'" <78-l at klickitat.78online.com>
Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 10:46 AM
Subject: Re: [78-L] Need Help Identifying A Label


> Will you try the judicious use of acetone on the label with a Q tip to see
> if you can remove the nail polish?
>
> Ron L
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: 78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com
> [mailto:78-l-bounces at klickitat.78online.com] On Behalf Of Malcolm -
> Venerable Music
> Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 10:16 AM
> To: 78-l at klickitat.78online.com
> Subject: [78-L] Need Help Identifying A Label
>
> Hello Everyone - While out junkin' this past weekend I picked up several
> records on an unknown (to me) label. Usually when I see something I'm not
> familiar with, I buy it if the price is reasonable. For some reason the
> label names on all of the records (I think there are three) are blacked 
> out
> with nail polish. Unlike most, they also note that they are Licensed For
> Radio Broadcast.
> Here is a link to the picture of the label -
> http://www.venerableradio.com/Cuba.jpg
> It's a black label with a couple of large buildings on the right - 
> probably
> from the late 40s?
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> Malcolm
>
> Venerable Music - http://www.venerablemusic.com/
> 78rpm Auctions - http://www.vmauctions.com/
> Venerable Radio - http://www.venerableradio.com
> On Myspace - http://www.myspace.com/venerablemusic
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