Melodisc Records

Melodisc Records
Founded	1949
Founder	Emil Shalit
Status	Defunct
Distributor(s)	Decca
Genre	Jazz, blues, folk, calypso, mento, ska, African, Indian
Country of origin	UK

Melodisc Records was a record label founded by Emil E. Shalit in the late 1940s. It was one of the first independent record labels in the UK, and the parent company of the Blue Beat label.

The label was founded by Austrian-born American citizen Emil Edward Shalit (24 December 1909 – 23 April 1983). It is unclear whether Shalit set up Melodisc initially in New York, where he lived. Melodisc began trading in London in August 1949, and soon became established as one of the first—and, at the time, the largest—independent record labels in the UK. Its offices were in Earlham Street, Covent Garden.

The company was initially managed in London by Jack Chilkes, until a disagreement with Shalit led to his departure and legal action in late 1952. According to Chilkes, Shalit had tricked him into believing that he owned the rights to material owned by other companies. In the early 1950s Melodisc focused on licensing and releasing American jazz and folk records in the UK, and had a production and distribution arrangement with Decca Records. After Chilkes was replaced by Trinidadian Rupert Nurse, who became Melodisc's musical director, the label also released rhythm and blues, and West Indian and African recordings including calypso and mento, so as to cater for the growing Afro-Caribbean community in Britain. Early Melodisc releases in the UK included 78 rpm and later 45 rpm records, EPs and LPs, by Big Bill Broonzy, Louis Jordan, Josh White, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly, and Charlie Parker, among others.

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