Reaction Records
| Company type | Independent record label |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Founder | Robert Stigwood |
| Defunct | 1967 |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Albums, singles, EPs |
Reaction Records was a UK-based independent record label managed by music executive Robert Stigwood during 1966 and 1967. Although its catalog comprised just three albums, one EP, and eighteen singles, it notably signed two of the most influential British groups of that period, the Who and Cream.
The label's inaugural single was the Who's "Substitute", which saw several releases featuring different B-sides as a result of the band's legal conflict with their former producer Shel Talmy. This dispute prompted the Who’s managers, Kit Lambert and Chris Stamp, to create their own imprint, Track Records, which was likewise distributed by Polydor Records.
Polydor’s collaboration with Reaction, Track, and Giorgio Gomelsky’s Marmalade labels marked a deliberate effort to penetrate the 1960s pop and rock scene. Prior to this, Polydor’s expertise had largely been in the easy listening segment, represented by artists such as Bert Kaempfert.
In subsequent years, Stigwood went on to run the RSO Records label throughout the 1970s and 1980s, which also benefited from distribution via Polydor Records.
Albums
- Cream: Fresh Cream (Reaction 593 001 mono/594 001 stereo)
- The Who: A Quick One (Reaction 593 002 mono; no UK stereo version)
- Cream: Disraeli Gears (Reaction 593 003 mono/594 003 stereo)
Singles
- The Who: "Substitute" / "Circles" / "Instant Party" (Reaction 591 001) Released March 4, 1966
- The Who: "Substitute" / The Who Orchestra: "Waltz for a Pig" (Reaction 591 001) Reissued March 14, 1966
- Paul Dean: "She Can Build A Mountain" / "A Day Gone By" (Reaction 591 002)
- Oscar: "Club of Lights" / "Waking Up" (Reaction 591 003)
- The Who: "I'm a Boy" / "In the City" (Reaction 591 004)
- Birds Birds: "Say Those Magic Words" / "Daddy Daddy" (Reaction 591 005)
- Oscar: "Join My Gang" / "A Day Gone By" (Reaction 591 006)
- Cream: "Wrapping Paper" / "Cat's Squirrel" (Reaction 591 007)
- Lloyd Banks: "We'll Meet Again" / "Look Out Girl" (Reaction 591 008)
- The Maze: "Hello Stranger" / "Telephone" (Reaction 591 009)
- The Who: "Happy Jack" / "I've Been Away" (Reaction 591 010)
- Cream: "I Feel Free" / "N.S.U." (Reaction 591 011)
- Oscar: "Over The Wall We Go" / "Every Day of My Life" (Reaction 591 012)
- West Point Supernatural: "Time Will Tell" / "Night Train" (Reaction 591 013) (written and produced by Howard Conder)
- Billy J. Kramer & the Dakotas: "Chinese Girl" / "Town of Tuxley Toymaker" (Reaction 591 014)
- Cream: "Strange Brew" / "Tales of Brave Ulysses" (Reaction 591 015)
- Oscar: "Holiday" / "Give Her All She Wants" (Reaction 591 016)
- The Sands: "Mrs Gillespie's Refrigerator" / "Listen to the Sky" (Reaction 591 017)
- Marion Montgomery: "Love Makes Two People Swing" / "Monday Thru Sunday" (Reaction 591 018)
EP
- The Who: "Ready Steady Who" (Reaction 592 001)