Cherry Red Records

Cherry Red
Founded 1978
Founder Iain McNay
Richard Jones
Genre Punk rock, alternative rock
Country of origin United Kingdom
Location London, England
Official website cherryred.co.uk

Cherry Red is a London-based independent record label formed in 1978. Since the late 1980s, the company has also reissued out-of-print albums from other labels, and is owner of the subsidiary labels Cherry Pop Records and BBR (Big Break Records).[1]

History

Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company (similarly named after the song "Cherry Red" by The Groundhogs) founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the Malvern Winter Gardens. In the wake of the independent record boom that followed the advent of punk rock, founders Iain McNay (who remains company chairman) and Richard Jones released the label's first single, "Bad Hearts" by local punk band The Tights, in June 1978.

Cherry Red's early roster included releases by Morgan Fisher under various pseudonyms, using a small studio installed in his Notting Hill flat, as well as material licensed from The Hollywood Brats, Destroy All Monsters and The Runaways. The latter was the label's biggest seller until McNay invested $10,000 in the recording of the debut studio album by San Franciscan political punk band Dead Kennedys. Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1979) and its attendant singles sold well worldwide. New A&R head Mike Alway had promoted the Snoopy's venue in Richmond, London and been involved with the Scissor Fits, and signed groups including The Monochrome Set, Everything But The Girl, Eyeless in Gaza, Felt, and Five Or Six. McNay's view aimed for Cherry Red to be a label that offered a space for artists who would otherwise not fit the image of some of the more succinctly defined and stylised independents. "Cherry Red Records was always about musical individuality, diversity, character, commitment and passion," he stated in 2008.[2] They also marketed other smaller independent record labels, like Bristol's Heartbeat Records, who recorded the Glaxo Babies.

Cherry Red's role as one of the keynote labels of the early '80s independent scene was confirmed by the success of a budget compilation album compiled by Alway and released at Christmas 1982. Retailing for 99p, Pillows & Prayers topped the independent charts for several weeks.

Cherry Red continued to sign contemporary artists but increasingly moved into the reissue market from the late 1980s onwards. It has a number of subsidiary labels dealing in genre-specific releases, curating many "critically unloved" musical genres, in partial continuation of McNay's earlier advocacy of the unfashionable.

The company has also signed agreements with a number of specialist reissue labels, which operate with a degree of autonomy using Cherry Red's logistical and financial support. Mark Stratford's RPM Records label focuses on pop music from the 1960s to the advent of punk. Esoteric Recordings, headed by Mark Powell, specialises in progressive rock and folk catalogue. Mark Brennan heads 7T's Records, which reissues albums by that decade's glam/glitter generation. (Brennan originally helped Cherry Red form one of its first subsidiary labels, Anagram, covering punk, Psychobilly and Goth, which remains active). él Records continues under the auspices of Mike Alway (but purely as a re-release label), alongside other labels including Poker, Giant Steps, Mortarhate, Now Sounds, and Ork. The Cherry Red label group continues to house reissues, but is also active in the release of new studio material by established artists such as The Fall, Suzi Quatro, Marc Almond, Red Box, Van Der Graaf Generator, Jah Wobble & Keith Levene, Squackett (a collaboration between Steve Hackett and Chris Squire), Hussey-Regan (a collaboration between Wayne Hussey and Julianne Regan), Hazel O'Connor, The Christians and Ken Hensley.

Still headed by McNay, a fan and director of AFC Wimbledon, alongside managing director Adam Velasco, Cherry Red also has interests in football-related releases, with the most complete catalogue of soccer-related songs extant. In 2007, the company launched a streaming television service, cherry red TV, publishes an in-house magazine and an 'in-house' publishing division, 'Cherry Red Songs'. In June 2008 the Pillows & Prayers box set won the Best Catalogue Release category at that year's Mojo Honours.[3] At the 2013 Association of Independent Music Awards Cherry Red won the Special Catalogue Release award for Scared To Get Happy - a box set that explored indie pop from 1980-1989.[4] In early 2015 Cherry Red Records and PWL reissued the first four Kylie Minogue albums, Kylie, Enjoy Yourself, Rhythm Of Love and Let's Get To It, as deluxe CD/DVD and LP boxsets.[5]

Cherry Red artists

Original label

Reissue label

See also

References

  1. ↑ Birke, Sarah (2008-05-12). "Label Profile: Cherry Red". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  2. ↑ I'll Give You My Heart, I'll Give You My Heart box set sleevenotes, 2008.
  3. ↑ "MOJO Award Winners". BBC 6. 16 June 2008. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  4. ↑ "AIM Independent Music Awards: 2013 - The Association of Independent Music". Musicindie.com. 2013-09-03. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  5. ↑ "PWL - Pete Waterman Entertainment | Step Back In Time - The PWL Kylie Minogue Reissue Campaign". Pwl-empire.com. 2014-06-20. Retrieved 2016-01-21.
  6. ↑
  7. ↑ "Kylie Minogue / box sets & reissues". Superdeluxeedition. Retrieved 2016-01-21.

External links

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