Beggars Banquet Records

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Beggars Banquet is an English independent record label that began as a chain of record shops owned by Martin Mills and Nick Austin. In 1977, spurred by the prevailing DIY aesthetics of the British punk rock movement (then at the height of its popularity), they decided to join the fray as an independent label and release records under the Beggars Banquet imprint. The first band on the label was English punk group The Lurkers; the first ever release on the label was The Lurkers' punk classic Shadow/Love Story 7" single. Later in the decade and into the early '80s, hits with Tubeway Army and Gary Numan secured the label's future. Two daughter labels, Situation Two and 4AD Records, were launched to release artists like The Southern Death Cult (later turning into The Cult), The Charlatans, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Play Dead, The Pixies, Cocteau Twins, M/A/R/R/S and others. Another subsidiary, XL Recordings, boasts dance artists such as The Prodigy, Lemon Jelly, Basement Jaxx.