The birth of the sampler album is generally attributed to Jac Holzman, the head of Elektra Records. With no budget for advertising, he looked for other ways of promoting his catalogue (then) of folk and world music. Always big on concepts, in 1954 Holzman hit upon the idea of “a compendium of carefully assembled material all on a 10" album to sell for a bargain price of $2.”
It worked, and the canny label boss inserted a “sampler clause” in his artists’ agreements that enabled him to use one track from any album, royalty-free. Subsequently, the sampler became a commonplace means of showcasing a record label’s diverse wares. Arguably, the idea had peaked in the 70s, when labels such as Island and CBS used samplers as a way of promoting the kind of LP-oriented artists who didn’t get aired on commercial radio. Oten a fraction of the cost of a full-price album, these cheap and cheerful curate’s eggs usually had the kind of artwork that could induce a mild wave of nausea. But they enabled teenagers, students and cheapskates with limited funds to build their record collections and, more importantly, to open their ears to a wider range of styles and music genres. Series such as Virgin’s Front Line might even have played a role in forging that unlikely late-70s bond between reggae and punk.
Before the seismic shit triggered by the internet, every self-respecting record label had samplers in circulation. Some had “Son[s] of” and some had two- and even threerecord behemoths. Here, then, is a chronological sample of some of the most historically significant samplers and others owned or coveted by this particular compiler. Under-priced and often under-valued, Mint copies are as rare as Old English Spangles. Unless otherwise stated, rarest entries refer to UK releases.