Carinia Records

Australian label. In 1952, Polish refugees, Michael and Nathalie Kulakowski, started a record label to cater to communities of displaced Europeans nostalgic for the music and memories of their homelands on the other side of the world. The concept of 'home' was central to Carinia Records. The name itself is derived from an aboriginal word relating to home. Its logo shows the mermaid of Warsaw, their old home, over the coastline of their new home, Australia. Early Carinia Records releases contained popular Polish songs, but the label quickly added recordings from other parts of Europe. At its height, it was catering to more than 30 different language groups, and by 1977, it was the largest privately owned record company of Australia. The company even had its own orchestra, conducted by Stefan Bialoguski, and a radio programme. The company became the distributors for a wide range of European labels, in the early 1960s signing some lucrative deals with labels such as Germany's Telefunken and Ariola Eurodisc GmbH, Switzerland's Elite Special and Italy's Ricordi. In the 1970s, various Hammond artists were added, and the label was responsible for interesting contemporary releases that are now prized by record collectors, including the [m194290] LP from Nico Gomez And His Afro Percussion Inc. and the Jimi Hendrix one off curiosity [m57458]. Michael Kulakowski personally ran the company for 26 years, from 1952 until his death on 8 July 1978. Nathalie Kulakowski continued, until she retired in 1988. She passed away in May 2017. The name most often credited with the cover art of their EPs and LPs is A. Bokor. The relevant company is Carinia Co. Pty. Ltd., which is sometimes referred to as Carinia Records Pty. Ltd on certain releases