by Richard Skelly » Tue Oct 30, 2018 2:49 am
Fun with label logos. Co-owned by folk popster Tom Northcott, New Syndrome Records cut a circa 1966 deal with Warner Bros. to fund, record and release Northcott discs on both sides of the border.
Fellow New Syndrome artists The Collectors weren't immediately included as they were co-signed to Valiant. But in short order Warners bought Valiant to acquire The Association. At that point, in mid '67, The Collectors generally enjoyed the same benefits as Tom.
In Canada, Northcott and Collectors labels featured either a stand alone New Syndrome troubadour logo or an NS-dominated label with the W7 logo subordinated. W7 stood for Warner Bros. Seven Arts as those two companies merged at virtually the same time. In the US, both Northcott and Collectors vinyl featured Warners branding.
The Rainmaker was the second Northcott single to find him interpreting a song by then-fledgling tunesmith Harry Nilsson. In this case, it was a Nilsson-Bill Martin collaboration. About a year and a half earlier, Tom enjoyed his only Billboard charter with Harry's semi-autobiographical 1941.