At the tail end of the 1950s, the Lyntone company obtained the license to manufacture
German-style postcard records and the US
Evatone Soundsheets.
Lyntone was originally
based at 46 Penton Street in Islington, and in 1970 expanded
their operations to much larger premises in Wedmore Street, Holloway N19.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the fully independent, family business, amassed an ever-increasing
work load as the nation’s manufacturers eagerly promoted their brands with its
very own audio recording on disc. There were slim profits in flexis, so it was
a matter of turning around as many units as possible.
By the late 1970s after the punk and independent record explosion, Lyntone began pressing more of
the traditional 7" & 12" vinyl, as bands would venture directly
to the Wedmore Street plant to get their DIY records pressed.
After three decades of producing millions of slimdiscs for thousands of
clients, Lyntone eventually called it a day in 1986. The CD revolution had
arrived - and inevitably this was the writing on the wall for the flexible
record.
No-one back then could have predicted the record revival of the 21st century!
Do check out the book 'Wobbly Sounds' by Jonny Trunk, which presents the wonderful cover art for Lyntone's flexidiscs. I wrote a short introduction tracing the story of the Lynton family who ran the operation. The following images are taken from a Lyntone catalogue kindly loaned to me by a family member.
WOW! this is nostalgia seeing this as i worked there in 1979 to 1981 thanks for the memories.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a very long shot but here it goes. In 1979, the now world famous band Iron Maiden pressed their first EP in Lynton Recordings. Do you have any information related to this? If so, I would love to contact you and probably interview you. If you don't know about this, could you please provide info about who may be able to answer my questions?
DeleteHi Luis, thanks for your message. I can't help you at all I'm afraid. Back in 1979, Iron Maiden were one of so many bands who had their records pressed by Lyntone. Judging by the incredible value of an original copy of their 'The Soundhouse Tapes' EP, I'm sure some employees at the time wished they had picked up a few copies! Also, there is no known archive for Lyntone so unless anyone knows otherwise, most of their output ended up in a skip when they closed down...
DeleteJust started collecting Flexi's so good knowledge to have, many thanks.
ReplyDelete