Have had many a record that's been made there, all of them in styrene. Just seen one with all the authentic run- out markings but record is vinyl.

Possible?

There are a few. Champion demos of Gloria Jones were in both vinyl and styrene. Also the Sandy Wynns black issues of Venus are in both. DOC copies of that song were also in vinyl.

It maybe that the few vinyl titles they did were mastered at Monarch but pressed elsewhere, but I don't think I've ever heard of this happening. Others may know more.

The 7ts Mel Britt Bootlegs were pressed at Monach, in Styrene and vinyl.

There are a few on Highland alone that are on vinyl.

My original copy of Wade Flemons is vinyl and made by Monarch with the MR stamp and delta number.

Edited Thursday at 20:084 days by Solidsoul

11 hours ago, Chris L said:

Have had many a record that's been made there, all of them in styrene. Just seen one with all the authentic run- out markings but record is vinyl.

Possible?

I saw the overall historical breakdown figures for Monarch between styrene and vinyl. It was about 90-92 % on styrene and 8-10% on vinyl. I've seen many vinyl records that had been pressed there. They were concentrated in a much narrower range of labels. So, I suspect that they were many pressed on vinyl on special projects. So, it may be that Monarch always had some (albeit a relatively small amount) of vinyl stock in-house. Unfortunately, I can't recall which labels were the main ones for which I found vinyl pressings.

My West Coast Demo of Village Of Tears - Ben Zine is a Monarch Vinyl pressing as is my Wendy Rene Barbeque

Edited Friday at 18:513 days by Rotherham Soul

4 hours ago, Rotherham Soul said:

My West Coast Demo of Village Of Tears - Ben Zine is a Monarch Vinyl pressing as is my Wendy Rene Barbeque

I've had "Bar-B-Que" from Monarch on both styrene, and vinyl.

Many of the records pressed on vinyl that bears a "monarch" delta number were actually pressed by Alco. Monarch and Alco shared the same delta numbering system. The records pressed on vinyl that used the monarch delta numbering system should have a (sometimes very faint) Alco stamp in addition to the delta number in the run-out groove.

4 hours ago, Sebastian said:

Many of the records pressed on vinyl that bears a "monarch" delta number were actually pressed by Alco. Monarch and Alco shared the same delta numbering system. The records pressed on vinyl that used the monarch delta numbering system should have a (sometimes very faint) Alco stamp in addition to the delta number in the run-out groove.

Just checked the vinyl Wade Flemons record I posted the pictures of earlier in this topic.

It only has the delta and number then further around the runout area it has the MR stamp in a circle. Can not see an Alco stamp on either side.

Edited Saturday at 19:162 days by Solidsoul

Whilst monarch was well known for their styrene 45s they also had their own vinyl presses. You only have to look at the work they did for others, especially LPs.

2 hours ago, Chalky said:

Whilst monarch was well known for their styrene 45s they also had their own vinyl presses. You only have to look at the work they did for others, especially LPs.

Yes. The statistical breakdown of styrene and vinyl pressing by Monarch didn't include Alco Steel pressing figures. As Chalky stated, they had their own vinyl pressing operation.

9 hours ago, Sebastian said:

Many of the records pressed on vinyl that bears a "monarch" delta number were actually pressed by Alco. Monarch and Alco shared the same delta numbering system. The records pressed on vinyl that used the monarch delta numbering system should have a (sometimes very faint) Alco stamp in addition to the delta number in the run-out groove.

But, I don't think ALL the vinyl records that were pressed by AlCo (Allied Steel) were stamped with the Alco stamp. I have several small L.A.(Hollywood-based) label records, which I think were pressed at AlCo, that don't have the stamp.

1 hour ago, Robbk said:

But, I don't think ALL the vinyl records that were pressed by AlCo (Allied Steel) were stamped with the Alco stamp. I have several small L.A.(Hollywood-based) label records, which I think were pressed at AlCo, that don't have the stamp.

I think you're absolutely right.

But are you 100% sure that Monarch actually pressed vinyl? I've read elsewhere that they only had styrene presses and vinyl records that carry a delta number were pressed at Alco and not Monarch.

3 hours ago, Sebastian said:

I think you're absolutely right.

But are you 100% sure that Monarch actually pressed vinyl? I've read elsewhere that they only had styrene presses and vinyl records that carry a delta number were pressed at Alco and not Monarch.

I'm sure I saw a scan Monarch's official pressing totals from their start through the 1970s, and it had a split between vinyl and styrene. I've also read that they had vinyl pressing capability, and that they pressed those on special projects. Chalky must have seen some of the source material I have, or he wouldn't have made the statement above. Unfortunately, I can't remember the source. I don't keep track of such information because I don't write articles for a living. But that data was on a website that had a lot of other US pressing plant data. I seem to remember also reading that Shelley, in Long Island, New York, which pressed mostly on styrene, also had vinyl capability, and pressed some records on vinyl. I guess that there were always some clients that insisted upon getting their recordings pressed on vinyl, and pressing plants wanted to please certain large clients, so despite the cost savings of pressing on styrene, plant owners that wanted to take advantage of that in large volumes, still wanted to have capability for both.

Also related to L.A. pressing plants.......

AnoraksCorner.com lists Allied Record Co. as having a pressing plant in Los Angeles. I assume that that plant sometimes got confused with AlCo (Allied Steel Co.), also in L.A. And, I wonder if ARDCO (Allied Record Distributing Co.) - (secondary level L.A. record distributor) had a connection to Allied Record Co. Can anyone here answer that?

I would say the two were related. These 2 items are both from Cashbox in 1959. Both Allied Record Manufacturing Co. and the Allied Record Distributing Co. share the same address-

8 hours ago, Robbk said:

I'm sure I saw a scan Monarch's official pressing totals from their start through the 1970s, and it had a split between vinyl and styrene. I've also read that they had vinyl pressing capability, and that they pressed those on special projects. Chalky must have seen some of the source material I have, or he wouldn't have made the statement above. Unfortunately, I can't remember the source. I don't keep track of such information because I don't write articles for a living. But that data was on a website that had a lot of other US pressing plant data. I seem to remember also reading that Shelley, in Long Island, New York, which pressed mostly on styrene, also had vinyl capability, and pressed some records on vinyl. I guess that there were always some clients that insisted upon getting their recordings pressed on vinyl, and pressing plants wanted to please certain large clients, so despite the cost savings of pressing on styrene, plant owners that wanted to take advantage of that in large volumes, still wanted to have capability for both.

Also related to L.A. pressing plants.......

AnoraksCorner.com lists Allied Record Co. as having a pressing plant in Los Angeles. I assume that that plant sometimes got confused with AlCo (Allied Steel Co.), also in L.A. And, I wonder if ARDCO (Allied Record Distributing Co.) - (secondary level L.A. record distributor) had a connection to Allied Record Co. Can anyone here answer that?

That sounds reasonable.

Found this site a moment ago (that I had no idea existed), it has got some good info:

https://www.monarchrecorddatabase.com/monarch-history

55 minutes ago, Sebastian said:

That sounds reasonable.

Found this site a moment ago (that I had no idea existed), it has got some good info:

https://www.monarchrecorddatabase.com/monarch-history

I wonder is Monarch ever "knew" Soussan was "using" them for bootlegging

4 hours ago, The Yank said:

I would say the two were related. These 2 items are both from Cashbox in 1959. Both Allied Record Manufacturing Co. and the Allied Record Distributing Co. share the same address-

These '1041 N. Las Palmas Allied Co's' passed through several iterations of ownership but they kept coming back to Daken K. Broadhead ( he bought them back in 1962 from Tops Records/Precision Radiation Instruments). The pressing plant was at 57th St. He also acquired the Bellville N.J. plant along with it.

11 hours ago, The Yank said:

I would say the two were related. These 2 items are both from Cashbox in 1959. Both Allied Record Manufacturing Co. and the Allied Record Distributing Co. share the same address-

Thanks Dave,

I always thought they were one in the same. So ARDCO had a pressing plant, and the small record companies who got their records pressed there, also got ARDCO to distribute them both regionally, and IF they hit big in California, ARDCO would also distribute them nationally.

Speaking of ARDCO, I always wondered if they and CIRCA (Consolidated International Record Company of America) were related (they both distributed many of the small small Indie record labels , mostly located in L.A. Metro Area, and S.F. Bay Area, and San Diego (e.g. California), sand both used the same Blue Ribbon Icon.

Here's what I found when Googling that question:

"CIRCA and ARDCO were related in the context of the music industry, specifically in record distribution. 

• ARDCO (Allied Record Distributing Company) was a distribution company established by Allied Record Manufacturing Company in 1958. It focused on distributing independent labels and offered services that covered the entire manufacturer-distribution relationship.

• CIRCA (Consolidated International Record Company of America) was founded by Mike Elliot, who was formerly the general manager of ARDCO. When Allied and ARDCO were sold to PRI in 1961, Elliot left to create CIRCA.

• Successor Relationship: CIRCA adopted a business model very similar to the one previously used by ARDCO, and Billboard magazine reportedly presented ARDCO as CIRCA's predecessor. 

Essentially, CIRCA grew out of ARDCO, building upon a similar business model for independent record distribution. "

some Monarch may have been pressed at AFM Engineering, nickel plating , etc. In 1965 the Cosnat Corp bought AFM Engineering ( & Record Labels Inc). AFM may well have been a subsid/division of Monarch.

@Sebastian

@Robbk I'm not sure where your ref to Alco Steel fits in? But, I don't think ALL the vinyl records that were pressed by AlCo (Allied Steel)

Edited Sunday at 17:251 day by Kenb

Monarch was bought by the Coznat Record Distribution , later Jubilee Industries. They owned other plating and pressing plants and recording studios.

On 15/06/2025 at 08:48, Sebastian said:

That sounds reasonable.

Found this site a moment ago (that I had no idea existed), it has got some good info:

https://www.monarchrecorddatabase.com/monarch-history

I came across that site a few years ago (actually posted it in here I think?). Superb site and totally does away with the little tables we were using to date their 45s.

...ooofff...deep dive on the monarch front...good reading and info...thanks all...(think ive just used up my up vote quota for the day)...