PLANET

Important Australian independent label formed by Bob Crawford (aka Robert "King" Crawford) and Marcus Herman - sound engineer and technician. It existed from 1951 to 1961.

The label began when Bob Crawford borrowed 90 Australian pounds from his Aunt Ethel (a needlework designer in the Block Arcade, Melbourne) while still in his teens and was registered on 14th March 1951.

Initially the label was established to release some 78rpm records while Bob Crawford was lead singer/crooner with Alan Rhodes & The Jump Men.

The label folded in about 1961 caused by debts from a scam artist masquerading as a band manager and an ill-fated "merger" with a company called "Telefil (Aust.) Co. Pty. Ltd." (headed by Philip Opas Q.C.) - which turned out to be nothing but a debt-laden shell and resulted in the deliberate erasing of all Planet master tapes (by the firm secretary Mrs. Kinnon who bulk erased them to then sell on as blank re-usable tape). Much of the artwork was also lost at this time.

Source: kingcrawford.com.au