Isaac Hayes - Theme From Shaft / Do Your Thing FLAC album

The track is from 1971 but this pressing is not! This is infact the 3rd UK rerelease of Shaft the B side is not! To confuse matters even more this is Stax's return to EMI for manufacture and distribution in the 1980's after EMI lost the original UK contract of what is known as Stax 2 1968 - 1970 and this first Yellow labels after the debacle with USA Atlantic.

Stax UK trip:-

Stax 1

(Via Atlantic) Decca London-Atlantic (London die-cut company sleeves) Decca-Atlantic (Blk labels) white wavey top die-cut sleeves these plain sleeves continued till the end of stax 1 Polydor Atlantic (Red labels) Polydor Stax Genric (Blue labels Stack of records logo) LITIGATION Re-releases etc Atlantic Kinney Corp Atlantic Warner Communications

Stax 2

(Yellow label snaping fingers/hand) From launch 1968 EMI in striking purple and white sleeves (till July 1969 ALL releases carried the EMI label text "Sold In UK etc"

1970 (As Polydor UK looses Atlantic to Kinney and CBS as their pressers) Polydor acquire the return of Stax (records come 1 1/2" LH die-cuts with Phonogram Spider adaptor, small hole and phonogram's standard 3pin Dinked optional centres) and sadly from 1972 IEP with yellow paint in all 3 finishes LH SH and 3pin Dinked Optional Centres real pot luck at the time) and back to white die-cut sleeves.

1973 Polydor looses Stax to Pye (they also loose Buddah to Pye too) Back to the striking yellow paper labels and Pye invest in new black with white text company sleeves (they do the same with Buddah in a chocolate brown with white text) All Pye pressings come in very deep claret died vinyl rather than carbon black so when held up to a light source the pressings look various shades of Red through lilac.

1978 Pye loose Stax to RCA Records Division all the singles are pressed by EMI have EMI's standard 4pin Dinked optional centres and come in plain black die-cut sleeves with the RCA logo in white at the bottom. Stax in USA difficulties with Fantasy and others the label shuts and some catalogue is released through Fantasy.

1981 Fantasy USA do a UK deal with EMI and EMI acquire the return of Stax for manufacture and distribution
the label is changed to a bright pillar box red all pressing naturally come with EMI's 4pin dinked optional centres and the records are sleeved in matt black die-cut sleeves! After this Stax gets muddy and confusing and here there and everywhere including a return to the 1968 yellow labels pressings under contract in europe same old same old titles again!

Stax have been with Polydor twice as Stax 1 and Stax 2 EMI twice as Stax 2 Pye once as Stax 2 RCA Records Divison once as Stax 2 the rest is up to you