Angelus

Angelus was a short-lived Australian budget 78-rpm label created and pressed by Clifford Industries Ltd. in Sydney during the late 1920s. Contemporary discographical notes from the Australian Jazz Museum indicate that Clifford opened a pressing plant in Sydney around 1928 and that Angelus was the firm’s principal label, drawing most of its repertoire from leased American masters (notably Cameo, Gennett, Crown, Paramount and other bargain catalogs).

The business model was straightforward: import or lease U.S. and European matrices (sides already recorded overseas), press them locally on Angelus, and sell them cheaply through Australia’s growing chain and department-store sector. Industry histories describe how the Davis brothers (of D. Davis & Co.) established Clifford Industries precisely to supply low-price records to retailers such as Coles, Woolworths, and Foy & Gibson—placing Angelus squarely in that value segment.

Angelus issues used a 10-inch series in the 3000s; individual catalog numbers survive in institutional discographies (for example, Angelus 3303 is documented), which helps date active production to roughly 1928–1931.

As the Depression deepened, Clifford Industries’ finances deteriorated. In August 1931 shareholders were told the company could not continue; in October 1931 the assets were sold to the newly formed Klippel Record Co. The same research explains that the successor business also pursued cheap, leased-matrix records but the market collapsed by 1932, effectively ending the Angelus venture.

Alongside Angelus, Clifford tried a parallel “Clifford” imprint that reused Angelus couplings under new numbers; surviving labels confirm the branding (“Clifford Industries — Made in Australia”) and a 5xxx catalog series (e.g., Clifford 5329-A). These artifacts illustrate how Clifford repackaged the same material across sister labels in the scheme’s final phase.

ANGELUS Series