After 1935[2] Silvertone Records issued 8-inch
discs made by British Homophone Co. Ltd. for sale in
Selfridges department stores using masters from their Plaza label.[citation needed] While the discs were only 8 inches in diameter, as the grooves were close, it had a long playing time equivalent to standard records.[3] The quality of Plaza recordings was considered good.[2] British Homophone discontinued production of its own records in April 1935,[4] and was sold jointly to
EMI and
Decca Records in May 1935,[5] but continued to press discs for other companies.[6] Silvertone releases were selected from the Plaza catalogue by Britain's first
disc jockeyChristopher Stone.[7][8] To keep production costs lower,
public domain works were recorded,[2] and artists contracted to other labels were given
pseudonyms on Silvertone releases.
Discography
The records had a catalogue number series starting at S-1, but the series was fairly short-lived. Only three releases have been discovered.[9]
S-2 "Da-Dar, Da-Dar (waltz)" (written by
Robert Hargreaves,
Stanley J. Damerell, and
Tolchard Evans)[12][13] (Matrix L-985) by Silver Dance Band (nom de disque for Syd Lipton's Grosvenor House Band) b/w "On My Mind" (Matrix L-1009) by Eddie Walters' Dance Band (nom de disque for
Nat Star's Dance Orchestra).[9][14] This is a reissue of Plaza P-102.[11]
S-3 "Till the Clock Strikes Three" (Matrix L-1019) by Eddie Walter's Dance Band (nom de disque for
Oscar Rabin's Romany Band) b/w "
Stormy Weather" (Matrix L-1031) by Silver Dance Band (nom de disque for Nat Star's Dance Orchestra).[9] This is a reissue of Plaza P-104.[11]
^Frank W. Hoffmann, "British Homophone Co., Ltd.", in Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound, Vol. 1. 2nd ed. (CRC Press, 2004):131; "Plaza",
"LabelindexN-P". Archived from
the original on 2010-09-14. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
^"Archived copy". mgthomas.co.uk. Archived from
the original on 13 September 2002. Retrieved 6 June 2022.{{
cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (
link)