Deram Records was a sublabel of British Decca with an eclectic history, although it's best remembered for its Psychedelic Rock and Progressive Rock acts.
Decca launched Deram in 1966, and its output was diverse from the beginning. Most of the early albums were showcases for "Deramic Sound" (an abbreviation for "Decca Panoramic Sound"), a technique that Decca's engineers devised to make separation on stereo recordings seem more natural. However, the label's other releases featured the exciting new music being created in the wake of The British Invasion. The result: a schizophrenic label that issued early work by David Bowie and Cat Stevens alongside Easy Listening ensembles such as The Mike Westbrook Concert Band and The Roberto Mann Sax Sound, as well as novelty acts like Whistling Jack Smith ("I Was Kaiser Bill's Batman") and The Flowerpot Men ("Let's Go to San Francisco"). Producer Denny Cordell licensed his Straight Ahead Productions roster, including Procol Harum and The Move, to Deram; however, after only a few singles each (including Procol's Signature Song "A Whiter Shade of Pale"), Cordell moved his acts to EMI's reactivated Regal Zonophone label.note Other notable Deram performers during the early years included Giles, Giles and Fripp, an embryonic version of King Crimson; The Syn, which evolved into Yes; and Blues Rock quartet Ten Years After, one of Deram's best-selling acts.
However, the tipping point was reached when The Moody Blues, a floundering Decca group, switched to Deram for their pioneering Concept Album Days of Future Passed, which fused Rock with Classical Music — and became a smash hit that revitalized the Moodies' career. From then on, Deram gradually shifted its focus to "underground" acts that would appeal to the hippie counterculture, taking its cues from independent labels such as Island and Immediate. Soon, the rest of England's "Big Four" labels would follow Deram's lead with their own progressive imprints (EMI's Harvest Records, Philips' Vertigo Records, Pye's Dawn Records). Adventurous groups like Caravan, Egg, East of Eden, Khan, Chicken Shack, Mellow Candle and Keef Hartley Band became the norm, although Deram also signed some Soul acts (such as American expatriates The Flirtations and Clyde McPhatter) and had some hits with Pop groups like White Plains ("My Baby Loves Lovin'") and The Brotherhood of Man ("United We Stand").
Unfortunately, Deram never fully recovered from losing its two most successful acts in the early 70s; The Moody Blues formed their own Threshold label, while Ten Years After did a Channel Hop to Chrysalis. By the end of the decade, new releases had slowed to a trickle. But then, Deram got a brief revival in the early 80s, when it was repurposed as a Post-Punk label; its most successful group from this era was Bananarama, and its other acts included The Mo-Dettes, TV21, Splodgenessabounds and Patrick D. Martin. However, this version of Deram lasted only a few years, and it eventually received a third incarnation as a catch-all reissue label for the Decca/London catalog. Currently, Universal Music Group uses the Deram trademark for reissues and a new release every few years or so.
Compare Harvest Records and Vertigo Records, two former Deram competitors which are also owned by UMG.
