Probe

A label owned by the US ABC Records group and used both in the US and internationally under license. ** Consider adding ABC Records or ABC Command as second label if they also appear on the release. For (unofficial) releases see label: . In the US Probe was an ABC Records subsidiary which lasted between 1968 and 1970. It was established to record and issue the psychedelic sounds of the late 1960s, and had such artists as the Soft Machine, the Litter, Zephyr (2), and Rare Bird. In the UK Probe was introduced in October 1969 by E.M.I. Records Limited to release licensed ABC and Dunhill product. This deal was expanded to other territories outside the US on 1 October 1970 and existed until late 1974 when the ABC name became available and the Probe label was merged with that. ABC set up an office within EMI in early 1974 and their contract with EMI expired on 1 October 1974. [B]Name/Label Variations:[/b] Although short-lived, there was a label variant of Probe as 'Command/Probe', which appeared on the first album by The Soft Machine. Another variant was 'Probe/ABC', which appeared on a Rare Bird release among others. A 'modernised' Probe logo then followed. See the images for clarification.