UK Records was a music label launched in 1972 by Jonathan King to distribute his own releases and those by some other artists. The abbreviation UK stands for "United King". The label was distributed at first by Decca Records and, after 1976, by PolyGram (which later bought out Decca in 1980). When the label was established, its UK operations were first run by Chris Denning, then by former DJ Don Wardell and by John Peel's Dandelion Records chief, Clive Selwood.