Monarch basically had two locations over its roughly 41-year history (1945-86) - the first, and longest, being at 4852 West Jefferson Boulevard in Los Angeles; then in 1978, they moved to a new plant at 9545 San Fernando Road in Sun Valley, CA. Not long thereafter, Monarch-pressed 45's would be switched to vinyl only, eschewing the styrene that had been their trademark. They also had a few affiliated plants, such as Record Labels, Inc. and AFM Engineering (the latter of which pressed 45's in vinyl, yet had the same Alco Research label typesetting and delta numbers as on Monarch pressings). From the early 1960's to 1970, they were owned by Jubilee/Josie Records' parent, known until the mid-'60's as Cosnat and afterwards as Jubilee Industries; then as Jubilee Industries was broken up in 1970, they sold Monarch to Viewlex (which owned Buddah Records and three other pressing plants). After Viewlex went bankrupt in 1976, the plants they owned would be administered under a new entity, ElectroSound. That company closed the Monarch plant in 1986 after deciding to consolidate all vinyl pressing to another plant they owned in Shelbyville, IN. [EDIT: Correction on year span.]
Monarch was bought by Cosnat, the owners of Jubilee Records, in June, 1961. Jubilee and Monarch were purchased by Viewlex in June, 1970. Viewlex also owned ElectroSound. The company changed its name to ElectroSound in February, 1978. ElectroSound merged with IGC in January, 1985. After that merger, Monarch ceased to exist.
Jubilee Industries (to which Cosnat had changed its name in July, 1966) was what Viewlex had purchased along with Monarch; the Jay-Gee Record Corp. subsidiary was spun off into another entity called The Jubilee Group (with the last Jubilee and Josie releases issued in 1971, and the labels' masters ending up in the hands of Morris Levy's Roulette label by 1972 and issued on a subsidiary, Virgo).
Cosnat was a separate company, organized in 1960. It bought Jubilee and Monarch in 1961. Yes, when Viewlex bought Cosnat it wound up with Monarch as a result.
Also part of Viewlex's acquisition of Jubilee Industries and Monarch: a medical division (Jubilee Medical Supplies) which manufactured disposable thermometers. As for ElectroSound, it actually started out in the '60's as a subsidiary of Bell Sound - which Viewlex owned in the last years of that studio's operation.
Not only was Monarch a high-quality outfit, but also they pressed for nearly all the biggies at one time. RCA and Columbia had their own pressing plants all across the country, but many smaller labels gave Monarch a call when they needed pressing on the West Coast. The Beatles, Elvis, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, and Led Zeppelin all released records that were pressed by Monarch. Fine quality pressings of those records, I might add.
It should be noted that even Columbia went to Monarch for a brief period, in early to mid-1978, when their own Pitman, NJ plant was on strike for a few months. I've seen Monarch pressings, with Alco Research typesetting on the labels, of two CBS-associated releases from that year, Johnny Mathis / Deniece Williams' "Too Much, Too Little, Too Late" on Columbia, and "Use Ta Be My Girl" by The O'Jays on Philadelphia International. (Don't know of any others; if there were, please advise.) This temporary arrangement may've also applied to Columbia's many custom clients.
So I've just checked my US press of Deja Vu - the label shows (ST-A-701830-MO) - I assume that this means Monarch? There is a delta and a number in the dead wax, asnd a few other scratchings, including a W (which may be just an up side down M) but no MR in a circle. my US "If I Could Only Remeber My Name" shows (ST-A-712107 PR) on the label - I assume that last 2 letters actually designate the pressing plant then? What is PR, and is it possible to get the same LP except with an MO in the serial # ? Will it be better than this one - I assume yes from the effusive praise for Monarch pressings in this thread.
What is the Monarch ("delta") number on your Deja Vu? There was at least one number for the original release and another for the 1978 repress. "PR" stands for "Presswell." Most Atlantic pressings from the 70's will have a Monarch-pressed component. That album is no exception; it is known to exist as a Monarch.
It's also possible that, if there's no "circle MR" on that Deja Vu copy, it was farmed out to one of the plants affiliated with Monarch (such as AFM Engineering whose pressings also displayed the delta numbers), albeit with labels that had the -MO suffix.
Thanks Frank, Deja Vu Side 1 deadwax ST-A-701829CC MO delta 14568. There is also "AT". Side 2 dead wax = ST-A-701830CC MO delta 14568-X. Also has 'AT' and some other scratchings. Vinyl is nice and hefty, I would guess this is early 70's not 1978 (or maybe I hope it is). I've looked at Discogs, Atlantic SD7200 seems to be used for the 1970 release only, 1977 re-issue was Atlantic SD19118 so looks good to me.
The number ∆ 14568 corresponds to the original release date of March, 1970. The Spring, 1978, pressing has the Monarch number ∆ 23117 -- much higher! Yes, the catalog number changed then, too. Some albums pressed by Monarch, however, have several Monarch numbers in their "original" pressings. Cat Stevens' "Tea for the Tillerman" is one. Love's "Forever Changes" has two Monarch numbers -- both early. Led Zeppelin's first album has a Monarch master from 1969 and another from 1973. WB is also quite correct. Occasionally Monarch sent metal parts to other companies for pressing there.
I have several of these, both on Monarch and Presswell...my go to is the Presswell...it just seems to have a little more of that special stuff.
Actually, after 1985 what had been Monarch was known as ElectroSound Los Angeles, with pressings therefrom bearing a (an?) "ELA" code within the deadwax. It was under that name that the plant finally closed in May 1986.
Joe Jackson - Look Sharp A&M AMLH64743 Has A1 B1 stamped matrixes, plus handwritten cutting information (looks like Bernie Grundman's handwriting), plus the MR in a circle and delta 24044. Sleeve is "printed in England by Robor Ltd, Lancing, Sussex". The labels on the vinyl have no indications of country of manufacture, but the spellings are English, not American.
Cool, thanks! I've always wondered about the UK pressing of Look Sharp, guess I'll just enjoy my US Monarch WLP, fantastic sound on this one!
hate to sound stupid but what exactly does a delta triangle look like? tried to look the image up online but i'm not sure what I saw was correct. also if anyone can clue me in to any of the Turtles albums that were Monarch pressed that would be greatly appreciated.
