I.R.S. Records
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| I.R.S. Records | |
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| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder(s) | Miles Copeland III Jay Boberg Carl Grasso) |
| Distributing label | A&M Records (1979-1985) MCA Records (1985-1990) EMI (1990-1996) |
| Genre(s) | Rock music |
| Country of Origin | US |
| Location | Los Angeles, California |
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the US in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands.
I.R.S. releases were distributed by A&M Records until 1985, by MCA Records until 1990, and finally by EMI (which bought the label in 1994) until the label folded in 1996.
Acts on I.R.S. included R.E.M., The Go-Gos, The Fleshtones, Black Sabbath, Oingo Boingo, Suburban Lawns, Over the Rhine, The Buzzcocks, The Alarm, Wall of Voodoo, General Public, Belinda Carlisle, Camper Van Beethoven, Dread Zeppelin, Lords of the New Church, and Fine Young Cannibals. An instrumental-only imprint, I.R.S. No Speak, released albums by Miles' younger brother Stewart Copeland (Ex-Police) and William Orbit. I.R.S. also produced the MTV series The Cutting Edge, which aired on the last Sunday night of each month (and beginning in 1986, followed by 120 Minutes, which was broadcast weekly), and the feature film Shakes the Clown, which starred Bobcat Goldthwait. In 1990, the band Green Day included a mock letter from then-I.R.S. college radio rep Lori Blumenthal in one of their last cassette releases for Lookout Records. The fictional letter expressed IRS' interest in signing the band to the label. A mock reply letter from Lookout, also included in the cassette artwork, deemed I.R.S. a "cheesy" and "washed up" record label.
"I.R.S." stood for "International Record Syndicate" (or "Independent Record Syndicate" on some early releases); it should not be confused with the Internal Revenue Service, the United States income tax agency. However, the logo did feature a shadowy figure wearing a trench coat and hat.
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[edit] The Cutting Edge
From 1983 to 1987, I.R.S. Records sponsored a weekly MTV show called The Cutting Edge, hosted by Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones. The series focused heavily on bands that recorded for the label.
[edit] I.R.S. Records - On The Charts
This was a 1994 compilation album that chronicled the acts of I.R.S. Records from 1979 to 1994.
- The Alarm - 68 Guns
- Belinda Carlisle - Mad About You
- Concrete Blonde - Joey
- dada - Dizz Knee Land
- The Go-Gos - Our Lips Are Sealed
- Doctor and the Medics - Spirit In The Sky
- Dread Zeppelin - Heartbreaker (At The End Of Lonely Street)
- Karel Fialka - Hey Matthew
- Jools Holland - Holy Cow
- R.E.M. - The One I Love
- Stan Ridgway - Camouflage
- Timbuk 3 - The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades
- Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
[edit] Album Trivia
- Stan Ridgway's "Camouflage" was remixed by William Orbit.
- The record was distributed through the labels deal with EMI and had the catalogue number of EIRSCD 1069 or 7243 8 31835 2 4.
- According to some sources, I.R.S. may be the initials for "Ilich Ramírez Sánchez" aka "Carlos the Jackal".
