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Edison Bell Radio

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Shellac label of company [i][l761353][/I]. Note that the first few releases in the 800 catalog series are labelled just Radio (without Edison Bell in smaller letters above). Edison Bell's entry into the lucrative 8" disc market came in 1928 with Radio records. The first issues made no mention of "Edison Bell" on the label. The records were described as "The Big 8" and cost 1/3. It was a high-quality product aimed at the popular market. Ex-music hall artist, Harry Hudson, was musical director and provided most of the dance music under a variety of pseudonyms. In 1931, the gold-on-blue colour scheme was almost reversed and it became black-on-gold, but time was running out and the label ceased to be in 1932. The catalogue numbers started at 800 and reached just over 1600 at the end, though 1000-1200 weren't used (at least in Britain). Continental series usually had a prefix and were printed with a dark blue-on-violet label with the same design as the usual British ones. Most were recorded and made in Britain. (Some Dutch, Surinam and Indonesian recordings were made in Amsterdam in 1929.) Matrix numbers were in an 80000-series. Shellacs were manufactured at [l431091]. See also [l=Edison Bell Electron].