Stiff Records

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Stiff Records is a record label created in London in 1976 by entrepreneurs Dave Robinson and Andrew Jakeman (aka Jake Riviera), and active until 1985.

Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff Records often featured a provocative, rebellious stance. Stiff had billed themselves as "The World's Most Flexible Record Label". Other slogans were "We came. We saw. We left." and "If it ain't Stiff it ain't worth a fuck." Another legendary slogan -- which came printed onto some promotional clocks -- reads "When you kill time you murder success". Less known, but worth mentioning, is the small pun which can be found, for example, on the label of Stiff's sampler compilation Heroes & Cowards : "In '78 everyone born in '45 will be 33-1/3". A very early Stiff album was the sampler "A Bunch of Stiff Records" which introduced the slogans "If they're dead we'll sign them" and "Undertakers to the Industry".

Stiff is also well remembered for their eccentric but highly effective promotional campaigns, such as the two package tours in 1977 and 1978, featuring most of the artist roster performing at alternating times each night; Elvis Costello's "busking outside CBS Records" arrest or perhaps the 12 different wallpaper sleeves printed for Ian Dury's second album Do It Yourself, with associated unscheduled makeovers of unsuspecting record shops.

Barney Bubbles was responsible for much of the graphic art associated with the early Stiff releases.

1 History
2 Artists released by Stiff
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] History

Robinson and Riviera were well-known London music business characters, Robinson having briefly worked for Jimi Hendrix in the late 1960s and also managed pub rock combo Brinsley Schwarz in the early 1970s, and Jakeman having been an early manager for another pub rock band, Dr. Feelgood, from Essex. The label was started with a loan of £400 from Lee Brilleaux of Dr. Feelgood.

The Stiff record label found quick success. The first release, BUY 1, was "So It Goes" by Nick Lowe, a tune which bore more than a slight resemblance to a then-current Thin Lizzy hit. The next few releases featured a motley crew of artists. However, with the signings of Elvis Costello and punks The Damned at the tail end of 1976, the label picked up speed. Bigger sales followed, and a distribution deal with Island Records and EMI was set up. Each release was given individual attention, with inventive artwork, picture sleeves and a range of snappy slogans, often coupled with inventive marketing campaigns that achieved the label a great deal of notoriety, if not always huge profit margins.

Robinson and Riviera were a fiery management combination, and after a series of disagreements, Riviera left Stiff in early 1978 to form the short-lived Radar Records, taking Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe with him as a settlement package. Riviera's departure coincided with the end of the "5 Live Stiff's Tour" which showcased emerging artist Ian Dury whose album New Boots & Panties raced up the charts and kept the label in business over the following months. In 1979, Robinson signed Madness whose considerable commercial success, both in Britain and abroad, would keep the label afloat for several years.

The next few years were the halcyon period for Stiff, with many Top 20 single chart placings (including the label's first No. 1 single: "Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick" by Ian Dury) and a number of big-selling albums. The label expanded rapidly and moved premises twice. It also continued to release dozens of totally obscure and often uncommercial releases (e.g. The Wit & Wisdom of Ronald Reagan, which actually had sales of over 30,000) many of which might well have only seen the light of day because of connections with Stiff management.

At the end of 1983 Island records bought 50% of the label with Robinson running both labels. Island was very short of money at the time and Robinson had to lend Island £1,000,000 to fund the share purchase and pay the Island payroll. Despite this, Island under Robinson had their best year ever with releases by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Legend by Bob Marley and U2's Unforgettable Fire among others. Stiff signed the Pogues, however Madness left Stiff under a cloud, the Island deal wasn't a success, and Dave Robinson regained control of the newly independent label in 1985. Hits by The Pogues and Furniture helped the label to survive a further year and eight months but the reasons for the failure of the Island deal finally became too much of a burden on Stiff and the label was sold to ZTT