Launched in 1958, Pye International was a subsidiary of Britain's Pye Records that specialized in licensing releases from small, independent American labels for the European market. It was created to compete with Decca's London-American Recordings sublabel, which was the leading licensee for US indies. (EMI later entered this market with their Stateside imprint.) The companies Pye International dealt with included Colpix (from which it licensed acts such as Nina Simone and George Burns), A&M (Herb Alpert), Buddah (Captain Beefheart, the Lemon Pipers), Kama Sutra (The Lovin' Spoonful), and 20th Century Fox (Barry White), among others. It also got the British rights for Chess and Checker (which were previously handled by Decca/London) just as that country's interest in American R&B music was peaking, which gave it access to legends like Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. However, Pye's declining fortunes caused the International imprint to be deactivated in 1980.
Pye International artists with TV Tropes pages:
- Herb Alpert
- Chuck Berry
- James Brown
- George Burns
- Captain Beefheart
- Bo Diddley
- Howlin' Wolf
- George Jones
- The Lovin' Spoonful
- Otis Redding
- Bobby Sherman
- Nina Simone
- Shirley Temple
- The Turtles
- Muddy Waters
- Barry White
