Arc Records (Canada)

Arc Records was a record label based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Some of the artists to have their work released on the label include the Abbey Tavern Singers, Terry Black, and Marg Osburne.

Background

The company began operations in 1959 by Phil G. Anderson and it was originally a company oriented to promotion, merchandising and distribution. As of 1968, the president was Phil Anderson and the vice-president was Bill Gilliland. That year the label announced its plans to enter the international market.^[1]

In 1965, the label released a single called "The Klan". It contained the lyrics, "Now, he who travels with the Klan, he is a monster, not a man". It was announced in the June 12 issue of Billboard that prominent political figures including Dr. Martin Luther King were to receive copies of the single. There had been an effort to promote the single.^[2] The band behind this anti-Klan single was The Brothers-in-Law with their The Brothers-In-Law Strike Again album.^[3]

In 1967, the label had an injunction brought against them restraining them from the manufacture and distribution of "This Land Is Your Land" which was a parody of the Woody Guthrie tune.^[4]

Besides the aforementioned artists, Arc Sound signed and produced many other top Canadian recording artists in the 1960s namely Anne Murray, Stitch In Tyme, Catherine McKinnon, Fred McKenna, Harry Hibbs, Ronnie Hawkins, The Travellers and the Ugly Ducklings. Still, one of their biggest successes was the Canadian release of "We're Off To Dublin In The Green" by The Abbey Tavern Singers. The group was an Irish band but became enormously popular in Canada as "We're Off To Dublin In The Green" reached #2 on Canada's CHUM Charts and selling close to 150,000 copies in Canada within the first year of release.^[5] Arc Sound became a subsidiary of AHED in the early 1970s, however AHED ceased operations in 1986 due to the slow Canadian economy and changes in the music industry.^[6]

References