Cherry Red

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Cherry Red is a London based independent record label. Beginning in 1971 as a firm to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens, after punk rock the founders (Iain McNay and Richard Jones) began to release albums and singles. The label was named after the song of the same name by The Groundhogs. The first band signed by Cherry Red were The Tights (1978). They became one of the key independent record labels in Britain in the 1980s, following the release of the quasi-mythical double-album 'Pillows & Prayers', then sold for all of 99p. For a while in the early 80's, driven by A&R man Mike Alway, Cherry Red led the way in left-field independent pop. However, Alway's departure to head the A&R department of the 'super-indie' Blanco Y Negro (taking away acts like The Monochrome Set with him) led to the label losing much of its aura, until Alway returned in 1985-86 to launch his own take on pop, él records, which quickly established itself as one of the quirkiest, and most rewarding projects of the late eighties. But él's first release ('I, Bloodbrother Be', by The Shockheaded Peters) proved to be its only chart success, despite the considerable acclaim garnered by singles and albums by artists like Momus, Louis Philippe, The King Of Luxembourg, Anthony Adverse, Marden Hill - and Bid, late of The Monochrome Set. Poor sales led to él folding in 1989. Cherry Red then moved into the reissue market and now has a number of spin-off labels which deal in such genres as punk, Goth, psychobilly, and, since recently, arcane pop psychedelia (with the Rev-ola sub-label). The label - still headed by Iain McNay, a fan of AFC Wimbledon - also branched out in the lucrative market of football-related records, and can claim to possess the most complete catalogue of soccer-related songs on the planet.