Sam Fox

[apmnut]

US label under Sam Fox Film Rights, Inc. This label actually was involved in the trade since the 1910s, when they started out selling folios of sheet music for silent movies ("photoplay music"), including several cues by J.S. Zamecnik. According to listings in Business Screen Magazine, they started releasing recorded music in 1930, although the actual physical releases I've seen likely were released in the mid-late 1960s, featuring some great music from such composers as Syd Dale, Johnny Hawksworth, and Nino Nardini.

A good quantity of their music ended up being released by Capitol Records on their Hi-Q library with the prefix "SF" [Sam Fox- duh!]. Select recordings from this label were also released by Fox in Britain on their English subsidiary, the Synchro Library of Recorded Music. Also, a number of jazz music composed for the label by Robert Mersey were commercially released by Family Records on their album "Jazz From Great TV Shows" (one of which I'm listening to right now as I type this). Carlin Production Music now has a number of their music lovingly restored from probably the original tapes (not a huge amount of them like the Bluestone/Cadkin stuff, but there's still quite a bit.), albeit retitled and the original composer's name replaced with "Lee Jacobs", a pseudonym for Nick Farries (why, that insufferable character, him...)

This label also seems to have been the library of choice for a number of drive-ins and movie theatres, as I've heard some of their music on those ubiquitous films made for drive-ins and movie theatres, both made by firms which specialized in this kind of stuff and by the theatres themselves ("Route Nationale" by Roger Roger for one example). I suspect, because I've attributed a lot of this music in these films to Sam Fox (and that is definitely not a wild guess), that they had a package of cues with the theatre in mind. Now, on with the list:

SF 1001: Marches/Light Movement/National/Scenic, Pastoral, Title Music/Jazz, Blues and Dance Music/Novelty
SF 1002: Travel, National/Light and Modern Movement/Rhythmic, Jazz/Romantic, Sentimental, Fashion/Dramatic, Suspense, Space, Industrial/Neutral (Saxophone Quartet)/Marches: Documentary, Sports/Title Music, Scenic, Pastorale
SF 1003: Untitled
SF 1004: Untitled
SF 1005: New Roots for the Stage Band
SF 1006: Title Music, Light and Modern Movement, Documentary/March/National/Dramatic/Plantive/Sentimental/Neutral/Novelty
SF 1007: Suspense/Mystery/Space/Light and Modern Movement/Small Group/Organ and Harpsichord
SF 1008: Untitled (unconfirmed)
SF 1009: Marches/National (Title Music: Open- Close)/Scenic, Pastorale/Novelty/Modern Movement/Dramatic/Jazz
SF 1010: Industrial/National/Scenic, Pastorale/Dramatic/March (Childrens'- Toy)/Dance/Jazz/Swing/Novelties
SF 1011: Fox Popular Melodies
SF 1012: Untitled
SF 1013: Untitled
SF 1014 Untitled
SF 1015: Modern Beat Music/Period Music with a Beat/Novelty/Dramatic/Industrial/Space/Fanfares/Links, Bridges/Fanfares
SF 1016: Modern Movement, Big Band Sound/Novelty/Light, Delicate Touch/Mechanical Activity/Industrial (in a Modern Style), National Music
SF 1017: Untitled
SF 1018: Untitled
SF 1019: Untitled
SF 1020: Electronic Effects
SF 1021: The Charisma of Joe Sherman/The Viability of William Goldstein
SF 1022: Nuances of Hale Smith/Untitled
SF 1023: A Hawksworth Happening
SF 1024: Alla Barroco (Folk Rock)/Symphonic Movement (Infinite Splendour)/Folk Legend/Sonatina for Band (The War Game)/Ali Baba Overture/Russian Christmas Music
SF 1025: Untitled
SF 1026: Untitled
SF 1027: Untitled
SF 1028: Untitled
SF 1029: Deserted Palace
SF 1030: Untitled (tracks licensed from World Music Co, Belgium)

Synchro-Fox Golden Groups:
SF 2001: Light and Modern Movement/Marches

[Mr]

Nice one! Another composer of note associated with the publisher is J. P. Sousa, some of his most well-known marches having been under Sam Fox Publishing, including "Washington Post" and "The Thunderer", both of which were also issued as library recordings. Though much more prolific in sheet music than recorded music, Sam Fox were a big deal back in the day, and with extensive international distribution through their branches in the US, UK, France, Germany and elsewhere. In addition to the theatres you mention, I believe the company was very prolific in scoring newsreels. Of other particular note, Jean-Michel Jarre (yes, that Jean-Michel Jarre) had his very first LP issued on the label.
SF 1030 is licensed from World Music Company, Belgium. I think there are other licensing deals with international collaborators here - both British, German, French, Italian, Belgian and Mexican(!) composers appear alongside American ones.



I also had this lying around - my notes below:

Notable US label under Sam Fox Film Rights, Inc., based in New York, NY.
Except for the latter half of the releases in the catalogue, the LPs are all essentially untitled, except for descriptive headers added for sections of the tracklist. While simply branded "A Sam Fox Production" for most of the catalogue, these later releases on the label also saw release under the branding "Synchro Fox Music Library" or "Synchro-Fox Library of Recorded Background Music", following the merger/acquisition of the Synchro Recorded Music Library Ltd.
Now under W.B. Music Corp.

SF 1001 - Marches/Light Movement/National/Scenic, Pastoral, Title Music/Dramatic, Industrial/Jazz, Blues and Dance Music/Novelty
SF 1002 - Travel, National/Light and Modern Movement/Rhythmic, Jazz/Romantic, Sentimental, Fashion/Dramatic, Suspense, Space, Industrial/Neutral (Saxophone Quartet)/Marches: Documentary, Sports/Title Music, Scenic, Pastorale
SF 1003 - Scenic, Title Music/Light Movement, Travel/Saxophone Quartet/Jazz/Romantic, Sentimental/Solos in Three Moods (Gay, Neutral, Sad)/Duets/Space Music, Suspense
SF 1004 - Jazz (Dramatic/Light)/Dramatic Tension, Suspense (Modern Scoring)
SF 1005 - New Sounds for the Stage Band under the Direction of Ray Wright - Conducted by Fred Karlin
SF 1006 - Title Music/Light and Modern Movement/Documentary/March/National/Dramatic/Plaintif/Sentimental/Neutral/Novelty
SF 1007 - Suspense/Mystery/Space/Light and Modern Movement/Novelty/Jazz (Small Group)/Organ and Harpsichord
SF 1008 - Light and Modern Movements/Title Music/Light Industrial/Dramatic/Space/Seascape/Pastorale/Scenic/Comedy/Novelty/Ceremonial/Documentary/Rhythmic/National/Links and Bridges
SF 1009 - Marches/National (Title Music-Open & Close)/Scenic/Pastorale/Novelty/Modern Movement/Dramatic/Jazz
SF 1010 - Industrial/National/Scenic/Pastorale/Dramatic/March (Children's/Toy)/Dance/Jazz/Swing/Novelties
SF 1011 - Fox Popular Melodies
SF 1012 - Untitled
SF 1013 -
SF 1014 -
SF 1015 - Modern Beat Music/Period Music with a Beat/Novelty/Dramatic/Industrial/Space/Suspense/Links/Bridges/Fanfares
SF 1016 - Modern Movement; Big Band Sound/Novelty/Light, Delicate Touch/Mechanical Activity; Industrial (in Modern Style)/National Music
SF 1017 - Industrial/Modern, Dance, Rhythmic/Children, Animal, Humour/Romantic Mood/Industrial, Mechanical/Scenic, Pastorale/West Indian/Hawaiian/Achievement, Novelty
SF 1018 - Light, Industrial, Jingles/Dance, Beat, Sport Marches
SF 1019 - Untitled
SF 1020 - Electronic Effects
SF 1021 - The Charisma of Joe Sherman/The Viability of William Goldstein
SF 1022 - Nuances of Hale Smith/Untitled
SF 1023 - A Hawksworth Happening
SF 1024 - Untitled
SF 1025 - Untitled
SF 1026 - Untitled
SF 1027 - Untitled - Music arranged & orchestrated by Alex O. Kulaks
SF 1028 - Untitled (1973)
SF 1029 - Deserted Palace Volume 1 - Jean Michel Jarre (1973)
SF 1030 - Untitled

Synchro*Fox Golden Group (Re-issues of the most successful Synchro*Fox music cues previously unavailable on LP records):
SF 2001 - Light and Modern Movement/Marches/Documentary/Ceremonial/Dramatic/Suspense
SF 2002 - Sophisticated Jazz and Colourful Light Music

K-1 - Synchro-Fox Music Library Presents... Kaleidoscope (sampler LP)

Composers:

SF 1001 - Larry Simmons (Leo Kempinski)/John Cacavas/Frank Ventre/Hecky Krasnow/William Loose/Desormes arr. Harry O. Henneman/Dorothy Adair/Roger Roger/William McRae/Frank Talley (Frank Damico)/Eugene Cines/Loren Wilfong/Offenbach arr. Victor Lamont (Victor Maiorana)/Nino Nardini (Georges Teperino)
SF 1002 - Roger Roger/Hecky Krasnow/Zeller arr. Harry O. Henneman/Denes Agay/Philippe Pares/William Loose/William McRae/Chuck Cassey/John Cacavas/Frank Talley (Frank Damico)/Dorothy Adair/Paul Guilmain/Cecil Leuter (Roger Roger)/Frank Ventre/Gregory Stone
SF 1003 - William McRae/John Cacavas/Desire Dondeyne/Hans Berry/Loren Wilfong/Chuck Cassey/Cecil Leuter (Roger Roger)/Roger Roger/Philippe Pares/Howard Marshall (Howard Lerner)/Frank Samuels (Francis Porretta)/Robert Fredericks/Mark Winter (John Cacavas/Bonnie Cacavas)
SF 1004 - Meyer Kupferman
SF 1005 - Lerner-Loewe arr. Fred Karlin/Larry Wilcox/Yellen-Pollack arr. Fred Karlin/Yellen-Magidson-Meyer arr. Larry Wilcox/Dick Lieb/Mitchell-Alter arr. Ray Wright/Fred Karlin/Clare-Gorney arr. Larry Wilcox/Garry Sherman/Clare-Whiting arr. Dick Lieb/Hughes-Lake-Stillman arr. Ray Wright
SF 1006 - William Goldstein/Loren Wilfong/Roger Roger/Nino Nardini (Georges Teperino)/John Cacavas/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)/Frank Ventre/Fred Norman/Marcel Frank/Mark Winter (John Cacavas/Bonnie Cacavas)
SF 1007 - Roger Roger/Nino Nardini (Georges Teperino)/John Cacavas/Cecil Leuter (Roger Roger)
SF 1008 - Harry Rabinowitz/King Palmer/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)/Steve Race/Raymond Jones/Arthur Wilkinson/Ronald Binge
SF 1009 - Puccini-Antonini arr. John Cacavas/John Cacavas/French arr. Edrich Siebert (Stanley Smith Masters)/Ward arr. Carmen Dragon/Alfred H. Bartles/Rizzo-Horton-Blalock arr. Wayne Robinson/Haenschen arr. John Cacavas/Richard Walker/Rimsky-Korsakoff arr. John Cacavas/Caesar Giovannini/Wayne Robinson/Bach arr. John Cacavas
SF 1010 - Mario Nascimbene
SF 1011 - Mitchell-Stept/Conrad-Magidson/Lerner-Loewe/Haenschen/Reaves-Evans/Clare-Gorney/Gillespie-Young-King-Van Alstyne/Schertzinger-Mitchell/Marvell-Posford/Ridge-Moller/Mitchell-Alter/Yellen-Pollack/Mitchell-Pollack/Clare-Whiting/Norman/Arndt/DeVos-Rosenstock/Kahn-Whiting (no arr.)
SF 1012 - George Wright Briggs/Robert R. Way/Roger Roger/Loren Wilfong/Cecil Leuter (Roger Roger)/Nino Nardini (Georges Teperino)/Philippe Pares/Jim Wakerfield (Philippe Pares)/J.S. Zamecnik/Walter E. Miles/Czibulka arr. Victor Lamont (Victor Maiorana)/trad. arr. Victor Lamont (Victor Maiorana)
SF 1013 - Darion-Leigh arr. Frank Erickson/Giovannini arr. Wayne Robinson/J.P. Sousa/Araque arr. Hale Smith/Steffe arr. Carmen Dragon/Lerner-Loewe arr. John Cacavas/Skelton arr. Don Ferris-Frank Erickson/William Loose/Gregory Stone/John Cacavas (UNCONFIRMED)
SF 1014 -
SF 1015 - Syd Dale/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)
SF 1016 - Malcolm Lockyer/Syd Dale/Brian Fahey/Carey Blyton
SF 1017 - Brian Fahey/Malcolm Lockyer/Syd Dale/Raymond Jones/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)/Ronald Binge/Billy Bell/Carey Blyton
SF 1018 - Syd Dale/Dennis Wilson/Malcolm Lockyer/Alan Roper/Ronnie Hazlehurst/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)
SF 1019 - Sten Clift (Peter Thomas)
SF 1020 - Reynold Weidenaar
SF 1021 - Joe Sherman/William Goldstein
SF 1022 - Hale Smith/Malcolm Lockyer/Ronnie Hazlehurst/Dennis Wilson/Johnny Hawksworth/Frank Horrocks
SF 1023 - Johnny Hawksworth
SF 1024 - Caesar Giovannini/Wayne Robinson/William Goldstein/Donald Hunsberger/Maria Cherubini/Robert Weatherly/Alfred Reed
SF 1025 - Joe Sherman/Reynold Weidenaar
SF 1026 - Mario Nascimbene
SF 1027 - Benigno Franco/Marty Brumer/Acapulco Gonzalez/Ezechiel Rincon/Moises Ortega Molina/Dario A. Zorzano/Ricardo Rosas Ocana/Arnulfo M. Vega/Rolando Noriega/Gaston Cendejas/Jorge Renner
SF 1028 - Steve Wittmack/Anthony Clausi/Reynold Weidenaar/David Peelle
SF 1029 - Jean Michel Jarre
SF 1030 - R. Dero (Rolande Rozenbaum)/Andree Giroud/Andre Brasseur/Henry Wyn/Wanda Lam (Fernando Lameirinhas)/Tony Lam (Antonio Lameirinhas)/Jack Say (Jack Ysa˙e)/Ralph Benatar/Will Tura (Arthur Blanckaert)/Van Aleda (Jacob Kluger)/Guy Wood/Roland Thyssen/Raymond Colignon/Marcel Mortier/Michette Lelong (Marie-Louise van Berkel)/Marcel de Ville

SF 2001 - Philippe Pares/Roger Roger/Andy Thurlow (Harry Rabinowitz)/Peter Dennis (Den Berry)/Edward White/Robert Mersey/J.P. Sousa/J.S. Zamecnik/Jack Belasco/L. E. DeFrancesco/Weber arr. Bruno Reibold/Joseph Cacciola
SF 2002 - Robert Mersey

K-1 - Nino Nardini (Georges Teperino)/Meyer Kupferman/Frank Talley (Frank Damico)/Larry Wilcox/Roger Roger/John Cacavas/J.P. Sousa/Robert R. Way/L.E. DeFrancesco/Hecky Krasnow/Darion-Leigh/Stette arr. Carmen Dragon/Giovannini arr. Wayne Robinson/Raymond Jones/Cecil Leuter (Roger Roger)/Jo Van Wetter/Robert Mersey/Chuck Cassey/Loren Wilfong/Lerner-Loewe/Reaves-Evans/Clare-Gorney/Ridge-Moller/Arndt/Mitchell-Alter/Clare-Whiting/Haenschen/Yellen-Pollack/Gillespie-Young-King-Van Alstyne/Hughes-Lake-Stillman/William Goldstein/Eugene Cines/Andrew Arvin (Andrew Adorian)/Marcel Frank/Steve Race/Bud L. Cross/Mario Nascimbene/Ronald Binge/Peter Dennis (Den Berry)/King Palmer/Edward White/Richard Walker/Red Skelton/Joseph Cacciola/William McRae/Frank Engelen/Benny Couroyer/Fred Karlin

[apmnut]

Personally, I think some of the Brit stuff on this label was originally recorded for Synchro. Not sure about the Syd Dale/Hawksworth/etc. stuff, those are either "inventory" cues from probably KPM or some other label (the Dale stuff in particular have a bit of a KPM vibe to them, plus Sam Fox had some kind of relationship with them, as there's some Hi-Q albums which have KPM tracks with SF prefixes attached to them, so that might be the case).

The French stuff might be from Synchro Disc and/or another label under the same publisher, because a Discogs entry for that label apparently has a cue called "Route Nationale" on it: hxxps://www.discogs.com/Roger-Roger-Puissance/release/9004724

Finally, do you have any images of that "Kaleidoscope" demonstration record? It intrigues me, and if there's a copy out there it might have some of my personal holy grails on them.

[Mr]

If I recall correctly, there are also some 7-inches on this label with wind band music - though not intended for library usage, I think.
That sounds very likely. The SF 2001 cues largely seems licensed from Synchro Recorded Music Library Ltd., the British branch.

Kaleidoscope:
hxxps://www.ebay.ca/itm/153107899429

[apmnut]

Nice, thanks.

I've noticed those 7-inch ones with the wind band music. There's a tiny possibility those may be library, but maybe not.

[Lord Thames]

Personally, I think some of the Brit stuff on this label was originally recorded for Synchro. Not sure about the Syd Dale/Hawksworth/etc. stuff, those are either "inventory" cues from probably KPM or some other label (the Dale stuff in particular have a bit of a KPM vibe to them, plus Sam Fox had some kind of relationship with them, as there's some Hi-Q albums which have KPM tracks with SF prefixes attached to them, so that might be the case).

If I remember rightly, these tracks were recorded by Syd Dale and Adrian Kerridge's Motive Music production company, using the same studios in Cologne and the same musicians as were being used by KPM at the same time - I'm not sure whether they were commissioned by Fox, or whether Motive recorded them first and Syd hawked them around before Sam Fox bit. 

Some of the Hawksworth tracks later appeared on Conroy (seemingly taken from tapes several generations down from the originals, the sound quality's rotten!)

SF 1019, the Sten Clift one, is a recycling of Peter Thomas' cues for the TV series 'Raumpatrouille'.

[apmnut]

If I remember rightly, these tracks were recorded by Syd Dale and Adrian Kerridge's Motive Music production company, using the same studios in Cologne and the same musicians as were being used by KPM at the same time - I'm not sure whether they were commissioned by Fox, or whether Motive recorded them first and Syd hawked them around before Sam Fox bit. 

Some of the Hawksworth tracks later appeared on Conroy (seemingly taken from tapes several generations down from the originals, the sound quality's rotten!)

SF 1019, the Sten Clift one, is a recycling of Peter Thomas' cues for the TV series 'Raumpatrouille'.

Yep, they're on BMLP 096, albeit under different titles. Nowhere in the picture I see on Discogs do I see any mention of who they might've gotten them from, but then again, the Eurobeat releases didn't, so wouldn't be surprised if there was no "Released by permission of Sam Fox Film Rights" text anywhere on the record.

Also, Fox might have distributed the KPM and Harmonic libraries at one point, since there are some Hi-Q albums out there with cues from those labels with "SF" code numbers (D-93/94 as one example), but other than that, I haven't found any evidence of that being true.

[stackjackson]

SF 1019, the Sten Clift one, is a recycling of Peter Thomas' cues for the TV series 'Raumpatrouille'.

Also, Fox might have distributed the KPM and Harmonic libraries at one point, since there are some Hi-Q albums out there with cues from those labels with "SF" code numbers (D-93/94 as one example), but other than that, I haven't found any evidence of that being true.

Well, just got around to listening to SF 1019 and very quickly discovered that it's identical to Hi-Q D-51-52 "Intrigue, Danger, Soul Sax" -- so there's one more SF/Capitol example

[Upgrade]

I was looking up the Robert Mersey (or Bob Mersey) album "Jazz From Great TV Shows" mentioned in the lede.

It appears there are quite a few issues of the album, all with various credits.

discogs.com/Bob-Mersey-Jazz-From-Great-TV-Shows/release/3561319

discogs.com/Bob-Mersey-Det-Moor-And-His-Orchestra-Great-Jazz-From-Great-TV/release/9521101

discogs.com/Bob-Mersey-Orchestra-Det-Moor-Jazz-Dramatic-/release/11751762

discogs.com/Det-Moor-Orchestra-Jazz-Dramatic/release/10132650


The performance is sometimes credited to the Det Moor Orchestra. They don't appear in Billboard or other Google Books and other searches for them refer back to this album. The liner notes seem to be vague as usual.


The Bob Mersey pieces don't seem to appear in the main Sam Fox LP catalog aside from the Golden Groups, but they do appear in the early Syncro 78s.

discogs.com/The-Greenwich-Group-Beatnik/release/4039975

discogs.com/The-Grosvenor-Studio-Orchestra-Jazz-Dramatic/release/4039759

discogs.com/The-Greenwich-Group-Vibraphonics/release/4039980



They seem to have retained their original titles, but the performers are credited to the Greenwich Group and the Grosvenor Studio Orchestra. Thames mentioned that the Dolf Van Der Linden's Metropole Orchestra was also known as the Grosvenor Studio Orchestra in the other thread.


Are these all the same recordings by the same performer masquerading under different orchestra names? Is the Det Moor Orchestra pure marketing? Will the performers be known be certain?

Of course the Carlin Archive Series has muddled things up again. A rip of the album on Youtube and the subsequent Content ID in the description shows that all the tracks were scattered piecemeal amongst Carlin CDs.

youtube.com/watch?v=t1VPECFKwW8

Naturally, they were all given different titles and the artist given is "David Morse".