Philips Recording Company, Inc.

American pressing plant located in Richmond, IN, built in 1969. It replaced Mercury Record Manufacturing Company (formerly Richmond Record Pressings, Inc.).

This nomenclature (from which the initials PRC were derived) took effect upon shift in control of manufacturing from Mercury to its parent Philips via its American arm North American Philips Co. (a.k.a. Norelco), a grand opening of this new plant was held June 5, 1970. The full name would be used until about April 1972, when it was announced the plant was purchased along with Dubbings Electronics in Copiague, Long Island, N.Y. and Plastic Ware, Inc., Bronx, N.Y. by the Hainick Group, the ownership changed to a holding company called Richmond Recording, Corp., and the plant name accordingly changed to PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN. This plant was headed by Robert Teitelman.

It was at the point Philips Recording Company, Inc. came into being that the initials within the deadwax (runout section) of LP and 45 pressings changed briefly to 'PH' and eventually 'PR' (not to be confused with Presswell), and clients such as Elektra incorporated 'PH' within the deadwax of label matrix numbers. LP's used uncoated paper stock for center labels with 2.75" diameter pressing rings, while 45's were mostly styrene with center labels measuring 3.625". This continued after the 1972 change in plant ownership and name.

45's on Polydor and its sublabels usually had an underline below the artist name, a practice not used by the other plants the label handled.
A few samples can be found on:
3654241
823843
3947713
2804698

Pressings on London Records and their sublabels were identified by a PH suffix on the center labels, a practice that would continue on that label for years after.

On Atlantic releases, it was sometimes designated by the RI suffix in the label matrix numbers.

NOTE: Only use this entry for pressings made by the plant between June 1970 and April 1972. For pressings made between 1966 and 1970 use Mercury Record Manufacturing Company, and for pressings after April 1972 use PRC Recording Company, Richmond, IN.