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Pye Records

British record label

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 29, 2026
Entity authorityQ2117397 ↗
Source-derived summary

Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history, with artists including Lonnie Donegan (1956–1969), Petula Clark (1955–1972), the Searchers (1963–1967), the Kinks (1964–1971), Sandie Shaw (1964–1971), Status Quo (1968–1971) and Brotherhood of Man (1975–1979). In 1980, the Pye name was dropped due to trademark issues, and the label changed its name to PRT Records (distributing as Precision Records & Tapes). In 2006, the label was briefly reactivated as Pye Records.

In September 2024, the Pye company name and trademark was acquired by the Scottish broadcaster and music producer Tony Currie, who relaunched the label with vinyl records pressed at Sea Bass Vinyl's wind-powered pressing plant in Tranent, Scotland.

History

The Pye Company originally manufactured televisions and radios with its main plant situated off what used to be Haig Road, in Cambridge. The company entered the record business when it bought Nixa Records in 1953. In 1955, the company acquired Polygon Records, a label that had been established by Leslie Clark and Alan A. Freeman to control distribution of the recordings of the former's daughter, Petula Clark. Pye merged it with Nixa Records to form Pye Nixa Records.

Pye International

In 1958, Pye International Records was established.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Pye Records” as british record label. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Records, British and label.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1955, 1956, 1969, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1953-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Records, British and label providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Pye Records”, the useful work is to connect “british record label” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2117397. VIAF identifies the subject as 145569113. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1955, 1956, 1969 and 1972.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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  2. Expand the search: follow Pye Records primary sources, Pye Records archive and Records research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Pye Records” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.