About British Brunswick.

Brunswick records were introduced into Britain in 1923 under the name "Brunswick Cliftophone". The Cliftophone was a gramophone marketed in Britain by the music publishers Chappell Piano Company Ltd, of New Bond Street, London.  All masters were from American Brunswick and the catalogue numbers were in the same 2000 series, sometimes matching the American issue exactly, sometimes not. 

The recording quality was very good, excepting the early electric recordings in 1925. Brunswick used a technique known as "Light-Ray" for their electrical recordings, and it was poor to start with. The surfaces were also very smooth, though with a tendency to wear easily.

In the later 1920s, the Cliftophone label was dropped and replaced with the more familiar Brunswick label, in an identical design to the American label. This design was used right up into the 1950s, though by then it looked very old-fashioned. It was replaced with a smart modern Black and silver label (see last picture). Cliftophone labels may be found up to numbers in the lower 3400 range.

In the mid-1930s a special cheaper-priced red label dance band series was introduced with an RL-series of numbers in a range from 200 to about 320. A few issues of titles by Fred Astaire were printed in blue.

The standard Brunswick series of catalogue numbers is explained below:
                  2000 - 3999    1924 - 1929
                  5010 - 5050    1929
                  1000 - 1499    1930-1933 (note some later pressings use the "0" prefix)
                01500 - 06000  1933 - end (still used in the 1960s on 45RPM records)
                    100 -  220      1927-1929  (British masters only)

Brunswick used almost exclusively American masters. The short-lived 100- series used only British masters. The (0)1000- series occasionally used British masters (recorded by Decca). The only British dance bands to record for Brunswick were Fred Elizalde & his Savoy Music (on the 100- series), Ambrose & his May Fair Hotel Orch (some on 100- series, later on the 01000- series) and Billy Bason and his band (1200 period).

 In August 1928, the Duophone and Unbreakable Record Co Ltd, as it was now known, gained control of British Brunswick Ltd, and moved  to 15-19, Cavendish Place, London W1. They made a number of recordings during this period, but none were ever released; though test pressing exist of some of them. Electrically recorded items by Stan Greening's band  and Pete Mandell's band using an FB- and DB-series matrix range.