Editing Ensign Records (section)

==History==
Nigel Grainge began his career in the record business as a sales office assistant at Phonogram UK in 1970. After a promotion to US-affiliated labels manager, he was responsible for the marketing and chart success of many hits by acts such as [[Faron Young]], [[The Detroit Emeralds]], [[The Stylistics]], [[Chuck Berry]], [[Rod Stewart]] (switching "[[Maggie May]]" from an original [[B side|'B' side]]), and eventually became the company's head of A&R from 1974 to 1976. He directly signed [[Thin Lizzy]], [[10cc]], [[The Steve Miller Band]], and a worldwide license for the successful [[All Platinum Records|All Platinum]] label (hits by Shirley & Co, the Moments, etc.), among others, before deciding to leave and set up his own independent label, funded by [[Phonogram Inc.]], which distributed it.

Ensign had early success with [[The Boomtown Rats]] in 1977, who went on to have 13 UK Top 20 entries including two at number 1 – "[[Rat Trap]]" and "[[I Don't Like Mondays]]". Ensign also had a constant stream of UK and European hits with [[Flash and the Pan]], [[Eddy Grant]], [[Light of the World (band)|Light of the World]], and [[Phil Fearon|Phil Fearon & Galaxy]].  Grainge's cohort throughout the life of the label was London DJ [[Chris Hill (DJ)|Chris Hill]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HDX_AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT241 | title=One Way Or Another: My Life in Music, Sport & Entertainment | publisher=[[Omnibus Press]] | author=Wright, Chris | year=2013 | pages=241| isbn=9781783230297 }}</ref>

Grainge sold the company to [[Chrysalis Records]] in 1984 and continued to run it from their offices in Notting Hill until the mid-1990s. The roster had reached its most credible peak with [[Sinéad O'Connor]], [[The Waterboys]], [[World Party]], and [[the Blue Aeroplanes]]. The Waterboys' contract with Ensign expired in 1991.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-05-23-ca-38790-story.html | title=Re-Open the Floodgates | work=Los Angeles Times | date=23 May 1993 | access-date=12 August 2014 | author=Hilburn, Robert}}</ref>

By 1990, millions of records had been sold by O'Connor, the biggest success being "[[Nothing Compares 2 U]]" which hit number one in over 30 countries.

After [[EMI]] acquired Chrysalis Records in 1991, Grainge felt stifled by the corporate changes and requested to leave the company, and the label was folded into its parent.

With the acquisition of the EMI group by Universal in 2012, the ownership of the Ensign catalogue of artists was transferred to [[Parlophone]]/[[Warner Music Group]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/global/1538515/warner-music-group-acquires-parlophone|title=Warner Music Group Acquires Parlophone|magazine=Billboard|access-date=9 February 2018}}</ref> and in 2016 Ensign and Chrysalis were acquired by [[Blue Raincoat Music]].
 
Chris Hill continues to DJ in the London area, and Grainge relocated to [[Santa Monica]], [[California]] in 2002, where he co-founded cultural search-engine TunesMap, owned by [[G. Marq Roswell]], and<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/ensign-founder-nigel-grainge-dies-aged-70/|title=Ensign founder Nigel Grainge dies aged 70 – Music Business Worldwide|date=12 June 2017|work=Music Business Worldwide|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> worked as a special advisor on the HBO series ''[[Vinyl (TV series)|Vinyl]]''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6882583/industry-vets-hbo-vinyl-characters-accurate|title=Industry Vets on How HBO's 'Vinyl' Depicts the Business: 'The Characters Are Dead On'|magazine=Billboard|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref> He died, at age 70, on 11 June 2017.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7825819/nigel-grainge-ensign-records-founder-exec-lucian-dead|title=Nigel Grainge, Ensign Records Founder and A&R Legend, Dead at 70|magazine=Billboard|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://variety.com/2017/music/news/nigel-grainge-ensign-records-dies-1202462347/|title=Nigel Grainge, Ensign Records Founder and Brother of Universal Music Chief, Dies at 70|last=Halperin|first=Shirley|date=12 June 2017|work=Variety|access-date=20 June 2018}}</ref>