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    • Polydor was EVERYWHERE. It was THE #1 record label in Germany from 1945 until some time in the 60s or 70s. Up to 1953 with a red label, then with the typical orange-colored label, later (from the 60s onwards) with a red label again. They released virtually any style of non-classical music over here, and (from what I have seen and/or have in my collection) were present in the UK, France and Sweden too (plus certainly other countries too that I am not too familiar with). Even Australia!  German Polydor released jazz LPs from the 50s onwards. A Polydor catalog from August, 1954, lists a handful of jazz items, listed specifically as "Records for Export". I have some of them - German pressings but English liner notes. But no doubt these "export" records were sold in Germany just as well.  Though the affiliations and links with other countries and labels are hard to pin down and would certainly be a subject for record researchers. My copy of "Midnight in Munich" (45504 LPH) is a German pressing (English liner notes, cover printing date 09/55 according to the samll print) but I also have a copy of the same record with German liner notes and a different cover that is on Brunswick (86016 LPB) and has a cover printing date of 06/53. OTOH, my copy of "Jazz Made in Germany" (45508 LPH) is an AUSTRALIAN pressing ("Distributed by Philips Electrical Industries Pty. Ltd."). Same with, for example, the Kurt Edelhagen LP "Come On And Hear" (46001 LPHM): This catalog number is both on the German pressing (English liner notes) and the Australian pressing. Similarly for pop (R'n'R-ish) and semi-jazz records I have seen (and bought) on French Polydor. In some countries Polydor also released jazz records that were not just licensing deals but productions of their own, e.g. in Sweden  (Bertil Löfdahl quintet a.o.). In later years Polydor seems to have struck licensing deals in all directions too: One of my Oscar Peterson LPs from the "Exclusively For My Friends" series (on MPS) is a UK pressing on Polydor (with MPS in the small print and the red Polydor label on the vinyl).  And depending on where and when you bought your records over here, you were just as likely to get the 40s jazz reissues on the Don Schlitten-produced Onyx Label not as a US Onyx pressing but on either German or UK Polydor (red Polydor label)! These are just some I have and recall, but this shows that you were and are likely to bump into the Polydor label almost everywhere.  So ... researchers, have a go!   General info on the label history also is on Wikipedia.  
    • I learnt the pitfalls of these (oh so sticky) on-cover stickers the hard way in my early collecting days c.1977 - on the "Pres & Teddy" LP reissue on Verve. It had a diamond-shaped "Verve's Collectors Classics" sticker on the front of the cover that I tried to remove, but to no avail. Some glue stuck stubbornly, some paper remnants too. In short, the mess stood out like a sore thumb (and I had not heard of the hairdryer or oil removal trick yet). So, desperate for the visual impact, I decided to cover the mess up by cutting a similarly shaped diamond sticker from self-adhesive sheeting of an inconspicuoous color. Better than having to look at the mess each time ... Many years later I managed to remove everything after all (don't recall if by hairdryer or oil or ...) with only a few inconspicuoous dings and nicks remaining. At any rate, the same diamond Verve sticker is still on the cover of my copy of "Pres and Sweets". I sometimes keep the sales blurb stickers from the shrink wrap or the cover itself, but not always. It depends if they add a "period" touch or not. The other day I relegated a Jimmie Lunceford LP to my fleamarket vinyl crate but hesitated for a moment because it still has a fairly large UK "Recommended price" tag from the old pre-decimal currency system (priced at "19/11") on the front cover but found it would not remove easily so I did let it go. What I systematically salvage, however, are the record shop self-adhesive labels they used to stick the open side of the inner sleeves shut before selling so no buyer would be able to return the record AFTER playing it. Don't know if this practice was current in the US, but over here it existed well into the 70s, and I've retrieved several (though of course they are always split in the middle) that remind me of long-gone and nostalgically remembered record shops. 
    • McLaughlin and Cobham afternoon jam on the terrace at Montreux Jazz 1978
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