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Spalax

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French independent label established circa 1974. The label started from offices in a north-west suburb of Paris, largely with folk and jazz releases, changing focus to contemporary music and prog rock, especially so when producer/manager [a=Gabriel Ibos] joined the partnership in 1982. Gabriel was first known as the owner of [l=Vamp Records], worked for Barclay and other labels as an A&R man, and French manager / tour promoter for bands like Agitation Free and Ash Ra Tempel. Thus he was in a key position to get all the licenses when he later reinvented Spalax as a major CD reissue label in 1991. Circa 1994+ the status of the company changed and Spalax was rebranded [l6219]. [b]Important: enter label names as per the logo[/b] [b][l=Spalax][/b] all releases 1974 to mid 1990s (with the Spalax blind mole-rat "Spalax Ehrenbergi" logo) as seen here [b][l=Spalax Music][/b] all releases mid 1990s plus with the SPALAX MUSIC logo [b]Spalax Music[/b] also exists as a publisher (established in 1988) although is as often credited with "marketed by". [b][l=Tempel][/b] on such releases is a copyright holder only, not a label (established 1991). Add these additional identifiers to the "LCCN" as appropriate. [b]Ohr[/b] certain 1992-94 releases are devoid of the Spalax logo, with only the Ohr logo present. For credits for this please see [l=Ohr]. [b]Pilz[/b] similarly appears on some devoid of a Spalax logo. For credits for this please see [l=Pilz (2)] (both above: with Tempel and Spalax Music as copyright and marketing roles as specified on the release). [b]Tempel / marketed by Spalax[/b] also established other labels. See [l=Spalax Music] for a list. Spalax was handled by several distributors during its lifetime (some credited on releases, some not), including: [l147514], [l=Madrigal] (stickered only), [l414648], [l103888], [l66854], [l45427]. Note: many 1990s releases credit SUISA as Rights Society, causing some people to think the label is from Switzerland. Some releases were also pressed in Switzerland, or at pressing plants in Austria and Czech Republic. Any CD releases with SOCAN stickers were handled by and/or returned from Spalax's Canadian distribution partner. All Spalax Music releases are from France.