But compete Petersen did, building an independent label that would last decades and put out records by Canadians such as Spirit of the West, Long John Baldry and Jeff Healey, before he and his co-founding partner Alvin Jahns, a chartered accountant, sold their recording catalogue in 2018 to Waterdown, Ont.-based Linus Entertainment Inc. Along the way, it also released albums by well-known international acts such as Ronnie Earl, Steve Earle and Emmylou Harris.
The success Petersen and co. achieved was a long way from the Pellworm Island, West Germany-born kid who grew up on Top 40 radio in Alberta. Then came the British Invasion, which affected him, along with millions of others, and he started collecting records, diving into piles of 45 singles at a couple of places in downtown Edmonton that serviced northern Alberta jukeboxes. The 45s were five for $1 and most of them were not popular enough to be on those jukeboxes or were a little worn out.