The city of Bristol, in England, has since the mid 1970’s had a particularly fertile music culture, resulting in not only a great many influential musicians and bands, but also its own sound; Bristol Sound or Trip Hop. Along with the music scene, a number of local record labels also developed, some receiving national and international attention, others had a smaller audience appeal. In the 1970s there was a DIY culture of record production and the independent record label came to prominence, one of the most successful at that time was Virgin Records started in 1972. Chiswick Records, Stiff Records, Rough Trade Records and Factory Records were to follow. By the later part of the decade Virgin had become a part of the music business establishment, and new independent record labels began appearing in virtually every British town and city, Bristol was no exception. One of the very first Bristol punk bands The Cortinas released their debut single on Miles Copelands Step Forward Records in 1977, eventually moving on to CBS before disbanding. Miles Copeland also released in 1977 The Pigs Youthanasia EP on his newly formed New Bristol Records.[1] The explosion in Punk/New Wave bands forming in the area did not attract interest from the major and London based record labels, so local labels sprung up to release recordings from these groups. Amongst the first, and initially more successful, were: Heartbeat Records, Fried Egg Records, Recreational Records, and Riot City Records (a Heartbeat subsidiary). Others had more modest success Wavelength Records (although its subsidiary Bristol Recorder, did achieve some popularity), Circle Records and Sheep Worrying. Some bands set up their own labels: Black Roots (Nubian Records) and Essential Bop (Monopause Records). Yet other labels, although not based in Bristol, had a strong representation of bands from the area: Y Records, Rialto Records and Naïve Records.
After the initial burst of activity in the Post-Punk/New Wave Era, most of the labels folded (although Heartbeat, or one of its subsidiaries, is still bringing out the occasional release). Riot City came under the influence of EMI after they signed Vice Squad, and last released a record in 1988. Meanwhile The Blue Aeroplanes released their first LP on Party Records in 1984, and there was some short lived output from Children of the Revolution Records (COR),[2] until a new generation of record labels were spawned from the Trip Hop movement. Several exceptions to this were: rock label Sugar Shack Records, the Indie pop of Sarah Records and C86 sounds of The Subway Organization.
There are still a number of record labels operating in Bristol, but it is ironic that one of the most prolific is Bristol Archive Records, which specializes in unreleased tracks and re-releasing recordings (mainly for download) from the Punk/New Wave Era of Bristol Record Labels, 1977–1981, and later.
Listed below are a number of Bristol (and surrounding area) Record Labels that due to their short lifespan, few releases or poor distribution, may have received limited national or international attention:
The own label of Bath band Neon formed by Rob Fisher and Pete Byrne in 1979. It issued their first single "Making Waves/Me I See You" in October 1980.[3] The duo later found success with EMI as Naked Eyes.
Classical label of parent Saydisc, based in Badminton, Gloucestershire. “Amon Ra pioneered the recording of authentic performances on original instruments from the late 1970s and has built up a catalogue and reputation for quality and innovation in this field.”[4]
Record label formed by Jane Taylor a Bristol-based guitarist, pianist, songwriter and vocalist. It is distributed by Pinnacle. Jane won the UK and International Songwriting Competition in 2003 with her song "Blowing This Candle Out".
Subsidiary of Sugar Shack Records, set up in 2008 and specializing in unreleased tracks and re-releasing recordings (mainly for download) by Bristol bands, from 1976 onwards. According to Mike Darby, label owner, “Bristol Archive Records was officially launched this year 2008 as a vehicle to talk about and remember Bristol’s forgotten stars, those people that should have, could have or probably had no chance of fame and Global domination, but had a go, made some great music, went to the gigs, helped make the records, bought the records or just had great fun growing up in this ace city of ours.”[5]
Innovative subsidiary label of Wavelength Records, that produced three issues of a combination LP/magazine, before folding. Bristol Recorder 1 included live tracks from Electric Guitars, Circus Circus, Various Artists and Joe Public. Recorder 2 had live tracks from Peter Gabriel (including Ain't That Peculiar), plus Fish Food, The Radicals, The X-Certs and The Welders (otherwise known as The Korgis). Recorder 3 had tracks from P.B. Davies (of Crystal Theatre/Shoes For Industry), Essential Bop. Robert Fripp, Ekome Dance Company and Thompson Twins.[6]
| Cat No. | Artist | Title | Date | Configuration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BR 001 | Various | Bristol Recorder 1 | 1980 | LP/Magazine | |
| BR 002 | Various | Bristol Recorder 2 | 1981 | LP/Magazine | |
| BR 003 | Various | Bristol Recorder 3 | 1981 | LP/Magazine |
Commercial label (distributed by Pinnacle) that produced 6 singles and a compilation LP in 1981, before calling it a day. The LP, The Circus Comes To Town (TENT 0001), included tracks from: Rimshots, Black Roots, Treatment, Alarm Clox, Gold, Riz Wah Wah, Steve Booton & Pat Jones, The Dangerous Brothers,[7] Forty Blue Fingers, Info-Mania, Kevin McFadden and The Bite.[8][9]
| Cat No. | Artist | Title | Date | Configuration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CIRC 0001 | Bohana Mouse Band | F/Seven C’s | 1981 | 12” single | |
| CIRC 0002 | The Source | Like a Child/? | 1981 | 7” single | |
| CIRC 0003 | The Stingrays | Never do/Satellites | 1981 | 7” single | |
| CIRC 0004 | Bendall’s Box | Nightmares/Games Today | 1981 | 7” single | |
| CIRC 0005 | Sky High | Ghettos of your own kind/Part 2 | 1981 | 7” single | |
| CIRC 0006 | Slim Bridges And The Wildflowers | Rocking Goose/Mole At The Circus | 1981 | 7” single | |
| TENT 0001 | Various | The Circus Comes To Town | 1981 | LP |
Founded in 2008 Flightcase is a small independent label currently looking after the catalogue and new releases of Bristol dance/DnB troupe and producer Dr Meaker. The first long player release was the album A Lesson From The Speaker. The label has gained exposure via Radio 1, 1xtra, 6Music, XFM as well as print articles in Clash, Venue, Knowledge, Word magazine and others. Flightcase is distributed by AMD (Absolute Marketing and Distribution) and run from Easton area in Bristol.[10]
Record label currently producing material from Steve Bush (ex-Essential Bop) and Fran Frey. Their first CD 'Row of Ashes' was released in 2008.[11]
Parent company of Bristol labels, Heartbeat Records formed in 1978, Punk labels Riot City Records and Disorder Records, the band Flying Saucer Attack label FSA Records and USA Garage Band label Trash City Records.
A Bristol based record label established in 1998 by Leon Alexander and Steve Satterthwaite. It is run by Leon Alexander, with English house music DJ and record producer Nick Warren in control of its A&R, and is home to progressive house and breaks artists such as Starecase, Jaytech, Matt Rowan, and Parallel Sound.
This was Essential Bops own record label, having previously had the track “Chronicle” on the LP Avon Calling. There were two releases, both in resealable plastic bags with folded picture sleeves and lyrics printed inside, and distributed by Bristols’ Revolver Records. The second single received airplay in New York, resulting in the band touring and recording there in 1981. The band subsequently released 2 tracks on the Bristol Recorder 3, an LP on TSAR Records and a downloadable album on Bristol Archive Records.[12]
| Cat No. | Artist | Title | Date | Configuration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moan 1001 | Essential Bop | Raider’s Blues/Eloquent Sounds/Failsafe/Mandarin Whores (live) | 1980 | 7” EP | |
| Moan 1002 | Essential Bop | Croaked/Butler (in running shorts) | 1981 | 7” single |
In 1977 Miles Copeland helped set up a number of labels to ride the current Punk/New Wave. Bristols’ The Cortinas had already signed to Step Forward Records and New Bristol was another of his labels. As the labels first band The Pigs put it, “August 12th at Sound Conception 4-track studio. It’s been about 20 weeks since we formed, we’ve written maybe 12 songs and played 6 or so gigs. Now we’re recording our whole set. As it turns out, most of this stuff won’t see the light of day for 30 years. Copeland chooses the four tracks for the EP that’s going to launch a new Bristol record label. They call it New Bristol Records. Yeah.”[13] The label appears to have had only 2 releases, by The Pigs and Gardez Darkx.[14]
| Cat No. | Artist | Title | Date | Configuration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NBR 01 | The Pigs | Youthanasia/They Say/Psychopath/National Front | 1977 | 7” EP | |
| NBR 02 | Gardez Darkx | Freeze (In the U.L.zone)/Heartbeat | 1978 | 7” single |
Released The Blue Aeroplanes first album 'Bop Art' in 1984 and distributed by The Cartel.[15]
Founded in 1965, and based in Badminton, Gloucestershire, it has developed a wide range of releases; from Traditional, World, Period, Exotic and Unusual recordings, through to Folk and Meditative.[16] It also has produced a number of local dialect and spoken word recordings. Parent of Classical label Amon Ra and Folk label The Village Thing. Saydisc and Village Thing are featured in two books by Bristolian author, Mark Jones:
Label that grew out of Bridgewater based Magazine and Entertainments Promoter, Sheep Worrying, founded by Brian Smedley. They released the single ‘False Nose/County Councillor’(1980) and 2 tape albums 'Internal Organs' (1978) and 'Going Shopping' (1980) by The Dangerous Brothers.[17][18]
Shoc-Wave was based in Easton, Bristol, and run by Gene Walsh. It specialized in Dominican music and Jamaican reggae bands such as Joshua Moses and Buggs Durrant, but also released records from a variety of other genres including Dub, Disco and Ska. In 1980 they released the single “I Was Wrong / Stuck in a Boat” (SRP0007) by The Rimshots, five middle class white kids from Bristols’ northern suburbs playing 2-Tone styled ska.[19]
The label was set up by drummer Thomas Brooman (along with Bob Hooton) to release a single by his Bristol Big Band, The Spics.[20][21] It subsequently released 3 further singles by Gardez Darkx, Joe Public (another Brooman band) and Color Tapes before reinventing itself in 1980 as a combination magazine/record called The Bristol Recorder, which ran for 3 issues.
| Cat No. | Artist | Title | Date | Configuration | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HURT 001 | The Spics | You and Me/Bus Stop | 1981 | 7” single | |
| HURT 002 | Gardez Darkx | Bliss/Winter Scene | 1979 | 7” single | |
| HURT 003 | Joe Public | Hermans Back/Travelling With Raymond/Like It | 1979 | 7” single | |
| HURT 004 | Color Tapes | Cold Anger/Leaves of China | 1979 | 7” single | |
| BR 001 | Various | Bristol Recorder 1 | 1980 | LP/Magazine | |
| BR 002 | Various | Bristol Recorder 2 | 1981 | LP/Magazine | |
| BR 003 | Various | Bristol Recorder 3 | 1981 | LP/Magazine |