Kruger flew out to the US and made deals with, amongst others, 20th Century Fox (a major coup for an independent at the time), Sam Phillips, Harry Simeone Chorale’s ‘Onward Christian Soldiers’ label and Syd Nathan, boss of King and Federal Records in Ohio.
By 1963, Ember had built up a roster of UK artists such as Matt Monro, the Dale Sisters,[1] Grant Tracy and the Sunsets, and the duo John Shakespeare and Ken Hawker (recording as Carter, Lewis & the Southerners).
During his time with Ember, he scored hits with pioneering folk duo Chad & Jeremy, and "Christine" by "Miss X" (Joyce Blair), a song which referred to the Profumo scandal.
On the recommendation of John Abbey, who set up the subsidiary soul label Speciality where some of those previous releases first appeared, Kruger gave a debut to Glen Campbell, the man who would go on to become Ember’s biggest success.
In the early 1970s, the label released recordings by Julie Rogers and Susan Maughan, and helped the career of Avengers actress Linda Thorson, in a similar fashion to what had happened with Twiggy a few years earlier.
In 1979, after Kruger had continued to put out a substantial number of soul releases by artists such as Ed Robinson, Tony and the Tyrones and golden oldies such as Gladys Knight, as well as new albums by PJ Proby and Johnny Otis, the label entered a less active period.
By this stage, Kruger was involved with a number of other businesses in the music industry, being a concert promoter among other activities, and felt he could no longer meet the time restraints of running a label.