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#87. Sears: A Barely Better Budget Label
"Rinky Dink" by Paul Revere & The Raiders

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Back in the day, Sears was a major record retailer. Because of this, I'm guessing that they were able to get sweetheart deals from some of the major labels allowing them to repackage back catalog albums at a low cost. In addition, there was a lower mechanical royalty rate for budget albums. Although they retailed for only $1.98, with little invested Sears could still make a profit or use them as loss leaders. The quality of these releases was a notch above other budget labels, but just barely.

There were three numbering runs. The 100 series was country; the 400 & 600 series' were pop and rock with more than 150 total titles released. Here's some fun ones:

JohnnyPineapple-SearsSP-415
Johnny Pineapple - Sears SP-415
 JohnnyRivers-SearsSPS-417
Johnny Rivers - Sears SPS-417
 Simon-n-Garfunkel-SearsSP
Simon & Garfunkel - Sears SPS-435
PaulRevere-n-TheRaiders-S
Paul Revere & The Raiders - Sears SPS-493
 BeachBoys-SearsSPS-608
BeachBoys - Sears SPS-608
 JerryLeeLewis-SearsSPS-61
Jerry Lee Lewis - Sears SPS-610
RoseMaddox-SearsSP-107
Rose Maddox - Sears SP-107
 JohnnyHorton-SearsSPS-110
Johnny Horton - Sears SPS-110
 PatsyCline-SearsSP-112
Patsy Cline - Sears SP-112
SkeetsMacDonald-SearsSPS-
Skeets MacDonald - Sears SPS-116
 GeorgeJones-SearsSPS-125
George Jones - Sears SPS-125
 ClinePatsy-SearsSPS127
Patsy Cline - Sears SPS-127
Flatt-n-Scruggs-SearsSPS
Flatt & Scruggs - Sears SPS-136
 Searslabelexample
Sears label example



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