Pioneer

Michael Thomas' Website

Records

Pioneer

Records

British Dance Bands

First appearing in 1914, Pioneer records cost 1/6 each, but, if you traded in an old record in part-exchange, the price reduced to 9d. They were pressed for J. Blum and Co, initially in Germany, then subsequently by the Disc Record Company of Harrow. The labels were initially black, later changing to red, and they were quite short-lived, being only available until early 1915.

The first series, with the black labels, had a numerical catalogue number, starting probably at 1 and running up to about 170.

The subsequent red-labelled issues had an alphabetic prefix, rather like Victory, Diploma &c

There was also a plain white label called PIONEER which was pasted over existing records; the example I've seen was pasted over a John Bull record using Favorite masters. This example had no catalogue number, but had face numbers in a 4000 series.

Courtesy of Norman Field

The initial information mostly came from Arthur Badrock; more information is gratefully received.

Other people who have helped: Peter Andrews, Mike Atkins, Paul Buck, Greg Butler, Paul Cleary, Mike Comber, Graham Farnell, Norman Field, Rob Godridge, Mike Langridge, Ian McPherson, John Norman, Alan Williams.

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist	Notes
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58	031261 031374	Waiting At The Church Second Conu Guards	Pioneer Military Band
59	031070 031390	I Lee I Low [sic] Not Because Your Hair Is Curly	Sammy Bass (= George P Watson (yodeller)) Sammy Bass (= Arthur Collins)	ARC
60	5358 / X138 031334	Coon Medley Silence And Fun	Pioneer Military Band	US recording from Odeon
61	031242 031291	I Am Getting Sleepy He's Nobody's Friend, Not Even His Own	Sammy Bass (= Arthur Collins)
62	5352 031379	Busy Bee march March Though Catshaw [sic - anninced as "March From Boccaccio"]	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
63
64	031340 031412	Riding Through The Glen Alice Bleu Waltz	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
65
66
67	1238 5356	Flying Dutchman The Village Munster	Pioneer Military Band
68	031263 / 601.2 031314 / 857-2	Birds At The Brook California Dance	Pioneer Military Band (= Joe Belmont (whistling, with orch)) anonymous (= Pierre Leo (clarinet, with orch))	US Odeon US Odeon
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102	1651	The Blue Danube	Royal Military Band
103	1801 1802	"Carmen", selection parts 1 & 2 (Bizet)	Royal Military Band
104	1810 1814	Il Trovatore Cavalleria Rusticana	Royal Military Band
105	1807 1830	Unfinished Symphony (Schubert) Tannhauser Overture (Wagner)	Royal Military Band
106		Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 2, parts 1 & 2	Royal Military Band
107	1811 1835	La Danse Des Apaches Light Cavalry Overture	Royal Military Band
108
109	1836 1837	"Faust", parts 1 & 2 (Gounod)	Royal Military Band
110	1838 1839	William Tell, parts 1 & 2	Royal Military Band
111	1840 1841	William Tell, parts 3 & 4	Royal Military Band
112
113
114	2004 2004	Beethoven: Symphony No.1; 2nd movement (parts 1 & 2)	Royal Military Band
115
116
117	1633 1899	Annie Laurie "Maritana" - In Happy Moments	Madame Jomelli (soprano) (as Rose Thornton on some issues) Alan Turner (baritone
118	1596 1873	The Rosary Star Of Eve	Robert Carr (baritone) Alan Turner (baritone)
119	1862 2054	When All Was Young A Soldier's Song	Jessie Broughton Alan Turner (baritone)
120
121	1905 1906	The Diver Drinking	Tom Watts (= Tom Kinniburgh)
122	030809 031301 / 617	A Bit O' Blarney Yankee Girl	F. Ferreres (banjo) (= Vess Ossman)
123	2053 2055	The Irish Emigrant Venetian Song	Alan Turner
124	2071 2072	Excelsior, parts 1 & 2	Robet Carr & Gwilym Richards (duet) [some copies play an unidentified military band medley]
125
126
127	2105 2106	When Ev'nings Twilight Lovely Night	Oxford Minstrels (vocal quintet)
128	2107 2109	Piccaninni LullBby My Old Kentucky Home	Oxford Minstrels (quartette)
129
130
131		Gounod's Serenade Schubert's Serenade	Schumann Quartette
132	031060 / 1060 031061 / 1001	I Fear No Foe The Battle Cry For Freedom [X968 in wax]	E. G. Barnett (= Frank Stanley) E. G. Barnett (= Byron Harlan & Frank Stanley)
133	2490 2491	Imitation of F. Tinney, parts 1 & 2	Vernon Watson
134	2459 2460	Softly Awakes My Heart The Rosary	Jack Glover
135	2522 2523 / D12	Home To Our Mountains "Il Trovatore" - Miserere	Gwilym Richards & Carrie Lanceley (duet)
136	2484 2521	Come Into The Garden Maud Killarney	Gwilym Richards
137	2573 2576	The Pantomime Billy's Christmas Eve	Jack Charman & Co.
138	2574 2575	Jack Charman & Company's Christmas Share Out Jack Charman & Company's Christmas Reunion	Jack Charman & Co.
139	2527 2560	Holy, Holy, Holy It Is Well	Robert Carr
140	2529 2533	While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks Safe In The Arms Of Jesus	Robert Carr
141	232 GG 233 GG	Rienzi, overture, parts 1 & 2	Royal Military Band
142
143		Raymond, overture, parts 1 & 2	Royal Military Band
144
145
146	40439	Banjo Selection (actually "Sambo's Picnic")	F. Ferreres (banjo) (= John Pidoux)	from Beka 96
147	2603	Maritana	Stephens & Mitchell (Accordion duet)
148	2606 2609	Men Of Harlech Come Back To Erin	Stephens & Mitchell (Accordion duet)
149
150
151
152
153
154	2685 2699	Marseillaise God Save The King	Royal Military Band (with vocal effects) (vocalist: Albert Chapman)
155	2686 2700	God Bless The Prince Of Wales Russian National Anthem	Royal Military Band (with vocal effects)
156
157	2701 2702	Belgium National Anthem Servian National Anthem	Royal Military Band
158	031261 / 560.2 031374	Second Conu Guards (sic) (Announced as "Second Connecticut March") Waiting At The Church	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
159	031070 031392	I Lee I Low [sic] Not Because Your Hair Is Curly	Sammy Bass (= George P Watson (yodeller)) Sammy Bass (= Arthur Collins)	ARC
160	5358 031334	Coon Medley (announced as "The Bullfrog And The Coon") Silence And I (accounced as "Silence And Fun")	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
161	031242 031291	I Am Getting Sleepy He's Nobody's Friend, Not Even His Own	Sammy Bass (= Arthur Collis)	ARC
162
163
164	031340 031412	Riding Through The Glen Alice Bleu Waltz	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
165	031376 031023	Rare Bit Friends Red March (announced as "Northern Belles")	Pioneer Military Band	ARC
166	031299 031327	Wait 'Till The Sun Shines, Nellie Beyond The Smiling And The Weeping	The Pioneer Quartette	ARC
167
168	031263 / 601.2 031314 / 857-2	Birds At The Brook California Dance	Pioneer Military Band (= Joe Belmont (whistling, with orch)) Pioneer Military Band (= Pierre Leo (clarinet, with orch))	US Odeon or ARC US Odeon or ARC
169

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist
A-1	1816 1835	Old Comrades March Light Cavalry, overture	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-2
A-3
A-4	1800 1834	Coronation Bella Bells Of St. Malo	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-5
A-6
A-7	1836 1837	Faust, parts 1 & 2	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-8	1828 1881	Post Horn Galop 1812 Overture	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-9	1803 1804	Zampa, parts 1 & 2	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-10
A-11	1810 1814	Il Tovotore Cavalleria Risticana, selection	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-12
A-13
A-14
A-15	1616 1620	Inperial Edward, march The Crusader, march	Pioneer Military Band
A-16	1654 1807	"Cavalleria Rusticana" - Intermezzo Schubert's Unfinished Symphony	Royal Military Band Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-17
A-18
A-19
A-20	1614 1621	The Thunderer, march The Gladiator, march	Pioneer Military Band
A-21		Ballet Russe - Czardas Ballet Russe - valse lente	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-22	1651 1843	Blue Danube Waltz Ballet Russe - Marche Russe	Pioneer Military Band Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-23	1650 1822	Wee MacGregor Patrol Roaming In The Gloaming march	Pioneer Military Band Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-24	1649 1652	Gipsy Love Gold And Silver	Pioneer Military Band
A-25
A-26
A-27		Hungarian Rhapsody, parts 1 & 2 (Liszt)	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-28
A-29	1885 1887	Venus On Earth The Jolly Coppersmith	Pioneer Military Band
A-30
A-31		Coppelia, ballet music, parts 1 & 2 (Delibes)	Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues)
A-32
A-33
A-34
A-35
A-36
A-37
A-38
A-39
A-40
A-41	2000 2007	Gotterfunken The Commandment, march	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-42
A-43
A-44
A-45	2001 2017	Le Nozzi Di Figaro Tales Of Hoffman	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-46	2008 2009	"Oh! Oh! Delphin", parts 1 & 2	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-47
A-48	2020 2022	The Wedding Glide (intro: Bacchanal Rag) Ragtime Violin	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-49	1883 2021	Teddy Bear's Picnic Mysterious Rag	Pioneer Military Band Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-50
A-51
A-52	2069 2070	Dance Of The Flowers Always Gay	Royal Symphony Orchestra
A-53	2015 2016	The Billboard March The National Emblem	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-54		Rienzi, pverture parts 1 & 2	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-55		"The Marriage Market", selection parts 1 & 2	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-56		The Grail Song Funeral March	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-57	221 gg 242 gg	Steadfast And True Puppchen, two-step	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-58		Raymond, overture parts 1 & 2	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-59		"The Girl On The Film", selection Un Pen D'Amour	Band Of Duke Of Wellington's Own
A-60
A-61
A-62
A-63
A-64
A-65
A-66
A-67
A-68	2694 2699	Brittania, The Pride Of The Ocean God Save The King	The Pioneer Band (= Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues) ?)
A-69	2685 2688	The Marsellaise, march The Belgian National Anthem	The Pioneer Band
A-70	2700	The Russian National Anthem The Red, White And Blue	The Pioneer Band
A-71	2686	God Bless the Prince Of Wales Jerrias Royal Salutre and Japanese Anthem	The Pioneer Band
A-72	2697 or 2681 2682	Eternal Father Strong To Save Onward Christian Soldiers	The Pioneer Band (= Band of Royal Horse Guards (Blues) ?)
A-73	2695 2701	It's A Long, Long Way To Tipperary Belgian National Anthem and La Marsellaise	Pioneer Military Band
A-74
A-75
A-76
A-77
A-78
A-79

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist
B-1	1596 1663	The Rosary It's A Story That Shall Live For Ever	Robert Carr (baritone)
B-2	1889 1891	Rocked In The Cradle Of The Deep Out Of The Deep	T.F. Kinniburgh (bass)
B-3	1244 1272	Sympathy In Sweet September	Jessie Broughton (contralto)
B-4
B-5
B-6
B-7
B-8
B-9	1896 1897	The Sea Road Drake Goes West	T. F. Kinniburgh (bass)
B-10	1605 1867	Little Shepherdess Of Devon Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes	Robert Carr (baritone) Albert Watson
B-11
B-12		Annie Laurie Bood-Bye	Madame Jeanne Jomelli
B-13
B-14	1634 1635	The Land Of I Dunno Where The Land Of Some Day	Robert Carr (baritone)
B-15
B-16
B-17
B-18	1893 1898	Love's Old Sweet Song She Is Far From The Land	Alan Turner (baritone)
B-19
B-20	1972 1894	The Yeoman's Wedding Song Toreador's Song ("Carmen" - Bizet)	Alan Turner (baritone, with orch)
B-21
B-22
B-23	1601 1662	Yesterday You Called Me Sweetheart Silver Bell	Robert Carr (baritone) The Two Quids
B-24
B-25
B-26
B-27
B-28
B-29
B-30	2029 2081	Abide With Me Pro-A-Mas	Tom F. Kinniburgh (bass) Robert Carr (baritone)
B-31
B-32
B-33
B-34
B-35
B-36		Queen Of My Heart Oh, Promise Me	Alan Turner (baritone)
B-37
B-38	2074 2079	I Never Knew What "Sweetheart" Meant Till I Met You My Heart Is Ever True	Robert Carr (baritone)
B-39	2095 2096	Nirvana The Trumpeter	Archie Anderson (baritone)
B-40		Home To Ouir Mountains Miserere Scene	Mr. G. Richards & Miss C. Lanceley
B-41
B-42	2097 2099	When Love Creeps In Your Heart Don't Play That Old Love Melody	W. Thompson (= Will Thompson) (tenor)
B-43
B-44
B-45	2485 2486	Because Thora	Gwilym Richards
B-46
B-47	2521	Killarney Mother Machree	Gwilym Richards
B-48	246 gg 2451	Melinda's Wedding Day Take Me In Your Arms And Say You Love Me	The Two Quids
B-49		On The Trail Of The Lonesome Pine I Want The Whole World To Know	Robert Carr (baritone)
B-50	2489 2525	My Southern Maid My Little Persian Rose	The Two Quids Robert Carr
B-51
B-52
B-53
B-54
B-55	2623 2626	The Sunshine Of Your Smile To Have, To Hold, To Love	G. Hayes (baritone) (= Stanley Kirkby)
B-56		Last Night Was The End Of The World I Was Dreaming Of You Last Night	G. Hayes (baritone) (= Stanley Kirkby)
B-57
B-58
B-59	2670 2673	Sons Of The Sea Boys In Khaki, Boys In Blue	Harry Cove
B-60		Soldiers Of The King Tommy Atkins	Harry Cove
B-61	2671 2672	Motherland You King And Country Need You	Raymond Lowe (baritone) (= Harry Cove)
B-62	2675 2676	The Boys Of The Old Brigade Land Of Hope And Glory	Thomas Hayward (baritone) (= Robert Carr)
B-63	2689 2690	The Lads In Navy Blue Call Us And We'll Soon Be There	Thomas Hayward (baritone) (= Robert Carr)
B-64	2691 2692	Fall In Your King And Country Wants You	Thomas Hayward (baritone) (= Robert Carr)
B-65
B-66
B-67
B-68
B-69
B-70

Cat No	Matrix No	Title	Artist
C-1
C-2	1666 1667	Tickle Me, Timothy Put A Bit Of Powder On It, Father	Billy Wiliams
C-3
C-4	1668 1669	My Girl From London Town Jean From Aberdeen	Billy Williams
C-5
C-6
C-7	1665 1670	The Old Grey Coat I Must Go Home To-Night	Billy Williams
C-8
C-9	1623 1624	Hitchy Koo The Ragtime Gobin Man	The Two Quids
C-10	1626 1627	I'm Going Back To Dixie Dicky Bird	The Two Quids
C-11	1641 1642	The Burglar Rag How Do You Do, Miss Ragtime?	The Two Quids
C-12	1636 1637	Ragtime Cowboy Joe Waiting For The Robert E. Lee	The Two Quids
C-13	1643 1645	Take Ma Finger Tips, Malinda If You Want To Please Susannah	The Two Quids
C-14
C-15
C-16	1629 1630	Keep On Swinging Me, Charlie There You Are Again, Mr. Rainbow	Rose Hayes
C-17
C-18		The International Rag On The FIrst Dark Night Next Week	Harry Cove
C-19	1657 1661	Pucker Up Your Lips Miss Lindy Hear That Orchestra Rag	The Two Quids
C-20
C-21
C-22	1776 1778	Everybody's Doing It At The Seaside I Do Like You Susie In Your Sunday Clothes	Jack Charman
C-23
C-24
C-25	1797 1798	You Great Big Blue-Eyed Baby Hello, Hello, London Town	Harry Cove
C-26	1792 1794	Where Shall We Go To-Night? Where Does Daddy Go When He Goes Out?	Billy Melville (= Jack Charman)
C-27
C-28
C-29
C-30	1795 1846	Can I Get You Alone To-Night ? Oh, Those Ever-Loving, Wonderful, Beautiful Eyes	Harry Cove
C-31	1847 1850	Have You Seen Our John? My Boy	Harry Cove
C-32
C-33
C-34
C-35	1863 1864	Goodnight Mr. Moon We All Go Home In Ragtime	The Two Quids Jack Charman
C-36	1856 1865	My Irish Maggie When I Lost You	Harry Cove
C-37	1848 1849	We All Sang Too-Ral-Loo-Ral-Laddie Let's Go where All The Crowd Goes	Billy Melville (= Jack Charman)
C-38
C-39	1644 1858	Way Down South Hello, Little Miss U.S.A.	The Two Quids Jack Charman
C-40	1793 1859	Follow The Footprints In The Snow We Don't Care A Button If We Walk Home	Jack Charman
C-41
C-42	2033 2034	The Doorkeeper At Freightley's I Want To Sing In Opera	Vernon Watson
C-43
C-44	2046 2047	On The Mississippi Kill That Bear	The Two Quids
C-45
C-46	2045 2046	The Ragtime Curate On The Mississippi	The Two Quids
C-47	2041 2042	Are You Here, Maggie Mooney? Dance This With Me, Maggie McGee	Jack Charman
C-48
C-49
C-50	1315	I Love A Lassie It's Just Like Being At Home	Vernon Watson
C-51	2031 2061	Just a Wee Deoch-An-Doris The Night Watchman	Vernon Watson
C-52
C-53	B1 B2	The Blind Boy My Fiddle Is My Sweetheart	G.H. Chirgwin
C-54
C-55
C-56	2450 2463	The Girl From Boston Town There's No Place Like London	The Two Quids (Jack Charman only on second side)
C-57
C-58	2467 2473	Snooky Ookums On Moonlight Bay	Jack Charman Will Thompson
C-59	2474 2475	That's How I Need You You're My Baby	Will Thompson
C-60
C-61
C-62
C-63
C-64
C-65
C-66	2552 2554	Some Boy We All March To Trafalgar Square	Jack Charman
C-67		R-R-R-Rip That Melody Hold Your Hand Out, Naughty Boy	Harry Cove
C-68	2562 2569	Popsy Wopsy Row Row Row	Harry Cove The Two Quids
C-69	149 gg 2452	Hey-Ho, Can't You Hear The Steamer? When The Midnight Choo-Choo	Jack Charman The Two Quids
C-70	2568 2569 / 245	You Didn't Want To Do It, but You Did Hello There, Little Tommy Atkins	Harry Cove
C-71
C-72
C-73
C-74
C-75
C-76
C-77	1642	How Do You Do, Miss Ragtime?	The Two Quids
C-78
C-79
C-80
C-81
C-82	2618	Tennessee Moon In My Little Cabin Out West	The Two Quids
C-83	2621	Where Did You Get That Girl? Never Mind	The Two Quids Jack Charman
C-84	2614 2617	Sit Down, You're Rocking The Boat He'd Have To Get Out, Get Out And Get Under (sic)	Jack Charman Harry Cove
C-85	2640	Silly Dick I'd Rather Not	Jack G. (= J.W. Gallagher)
C-86	2616 2643	You're A Friend Of Mine Thumbs Up!	Jack Charman Jack G. (= J.W. Gallagher)
C-87	2615 2641	La Belle France Always Eat When You're Hungry	Jack Charman Jack G. (= J.W. Gallagher)
C-88		Johnson's Laughing Song Boating	Billy Whitlock
C-89		Laughing All The Day I Had To Laugh At Once	Billy Whitlock
C-90		Angustura Aeroplane	Billy Whitlock

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist
D-1	2542 2543	Departure Of The Troupship Wreck Of The Troupship	Pioneer Military Band
D-2
D-3
D-4
D-5
D-6
D-7	2678 2693	Departure Of The Troops For France Arrival Of The Troops In France	(descriptive)
D-8
D-9
D-10

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist
F-1	1784 1785	A Banjo Oddity Sweet Jessamine	Olly Oakley (banjo)
F-2
F-3	1786 1787	Queen Of The Burlesque Camptown Carnival	Olly Oakley (banjo)
F-4	1909 1912	Love's Dream After The Ball I Hear you Calling Me	Schumann Quartet
F-5
F-6	1788 1789	Lancashire Clogs Toronto Jig	Olly Oakley (banjo)
F-7
F-8
F-9	2454 2455	Fairyland Secrets	E.W. Rushforth (bells)
F-10
F-11
F-12
F-13
F-14
F-15
F-16
F-17	2036 2037	Spring Song Gounod's Serenade	The Schumann Quartette
F-18
F-19	236 gg 237 gg	Little Grey Home In The West Ever Thine	Alan Souter (cornet)
F-20

Cat No.	Matrix No	Title	Artist
P-101
P-102
P-103
P-104
P-105
P-106
P-107
P-108	2547 2548	A Christmas Party, parts 1 & 2	Jack Charman & Company
P-109
P-110