Charisma Records
| Charisma | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Parent company |
|
| Founded | 1969 |
| Founder | Tony Stratton-Smith |
| Defunct | 1986 |
| Distributor(s) | Capitol Music Group |
| Genre | Progressive rock |
| Country of origin | England |
The Famous Charisma Label (Charisma for short) was a British record label that was founded by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith in 1969. Gail Colson was label manager and joint managing director. She left to form her own management company, Gailforce, in the late 1970s.
Manager for The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der Graaf Generator at the time, Stratton-Smith was unable to find a record company willing to release an album by one of his favourite groups so he founded his own company and released the Van der Graaf Generator album The Least We Can Do Is Wave to Each Other himself.
Charisma's first record label was a distinctive "pink scroll" design. Its second logo (used beginning in 1972) of Sir John Tenniel's drawing of the Mad Hatter (sometimes combined with a montage of other images from Alice in Wonderland) made the label instantly recognisable.
The label's most successful acts were Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Julian Lennon, and Monty Python. It also released material by Van der Graaf Generator, The Nice, Lindisfarne and Alan Hull, Hawkwind, The Alan Parsons Project, Clifford T. Ward, String Driven Thing, Jack The Lad, Audience, Vivian Stanshall, Brand X, Sir John Betjeman, Malcolm McLaren and Afraid of Mice. 1970s solo albums of Peter Hammill, Tony Banks and Steve Hackett were also on Charisma Records.
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