Oriole Records
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Oriole Records was the name of two record companies, one in the United States and one in the United Kingdom.
U. S. Oriole
The United States based Oriole was a record label of the 1920s and 1930s. The label was sold new exclusively at the McCrory chain of Department stores.
Audio fidelity of Oriole Records is somewhat below average for the era.
The Oriole label first appeared in 1921, selling for 25 cents a per disc record. Most of the masters were leasted from other labels, early on mostly Emerson and Grey Gull, later from Plaza Music, Banner, and from 1932 on from the American Record Corporation. The label was discontinued about 1938.
U. K. Oriole
British Oriole Records was founded in 1927 by the London based Levy Company, with a record company subsidiary called "Levaphone". It recorded popular music in England, and also issued masters from United States Vocalion Records. The label was discontinued in 1935.
Levy Company revived the Oriole label in 1950. It lasted until September 1964, when it was sold to the American CBS radio and television network and became the British arm of CBS Records. Oriole's subsidiary label, Embassy Records was sold exclusively through Woolworth Limited stores; its repertoire consisted of cut-price cover versions of British pop hits.