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Polygon Records was one of the first British independent record labels.
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Petula Clark at the first recording session for the new Polygon label
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It was started in 1949 as the Polygon Record Company Ltd. by Alan A. Freeman and Lesley Clark, who was anxious to control distribution of his daughter Petula Clark's recordings. (Those associated with it fondly referred to the company as "Dead Parrot Records.") The two set up offices on Grosvenor Place in the Sloane Square section of London, and arranged Clark's first recording session with Ron Goodwin and his orchestra and a vocal backing group called The Stargazers. Since Polygon's UK distribution had not yet been set up, the first 78rpm single - "You Go to My Head" backed with "Out of a Clear Blue Sky" - was released in Australia, followed by a cover of Teresa Brewer's "Music! Music! Music!" backed with "Blossoms on the Bough", both on the Esquire label.
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Oddly, the first Polygon release in the UK was not by Clark but by Louis Prima and is orchestra. Clark's first official Polygon release was "You Are My True Love" (b/w "You're the Sweetest in the Land") in 1950. In all, she recorded more than fifty songs for the label, including a few duets with its other major artist, Jimmy Young.
Near the end of 1955, Polygon was sold to Nixa Records, then part of Pye Records, which lead to the establishment of Pye Nixa Records. Nixa utilized a selection of Clark's Polygon tapes to release her first LP album, Petula Clark Sings.
Clark's complete Polygon catalogue is available on CD - The Polygon Years, Volume One (1950-1952) and The Polygon Years, Volume Two (1952-1955).
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