GRT of Canada Ltd

GRT of Canada, Ltd.

GRT of Canada, Ltd. Record company, active 1969-79. It was established in London, Ont, as a subsidiary of General Recorded Tape of California. At first only a distributor for the Canadian tape market, GRT of Canada moved to Toronto later in 1969 and began distributing foreign labels and recording Canadian pop artists for its own GRT label. By 1976 GRT had acquired foreign catalogues of popular music (ABC, Dunhill, Island, and other labels), classical music (Festival, Richesse Classique, and Westminster), blues (Chess), and jazz (America, Impulse, and Musidisc). It also distributed the Canadian labels Axe (including recordings by Gary and Dave, Walter Ostanek, Rain, the Shamrock Singers, Thundermug, and others) and Daffodil (Crowbar, Klaatu, A Foot in Cold Water, and others). Canadian artists who recorded for GRT itself or for the Magnum label that was introduced just before the company's demise included the singers Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Dan Hill, R. Harlan Smith, and Ian Thomas, the reggae group Ishan People, Downchild Blues Band, Moe Koffman, Lighthouse, Prism, and Doug Riley's Dr Music. GRT's founding president, Ross Reynolds, was succeeded in 1978 by Gordon Edwards.