Taang! Records

Taang! Records is an independent record label with a roster of hardcore punk, punk rock, Oi!, power pop, ska, indie rock, psychedelic, and ambient artists and bands founded by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusetts in 1984.

History

Taang! Records started as a singles-only label, recording acts in Boston's early hardcore punk scene including acts such as Gang Green, Last Rights, Negative FX, Stranglehold, Last Stand, and Kilslug. The name is an acronym for the phrase "Teen Agers Are No Good!"^[1][2] The label gained prominence with the rise of Boston hardcore in the punk culture of the 1980s which had strong ties to the straight edge scene in nearby Washington D.C. The company chose to release only singles because of their low cost,^[3] the strong popularity of the 45 rpm format in the punk and indie underground scene, and the strong network of independent distribution, zines, retail outlets, and college radio stations that had already developed around the format. By the early 1990s, the label developed close ties to the punk scene in Southern California and moved its headquarters to San Diego, where it remains. Today, the Taang! catalogue includes over 200 releases^[4] in multiple formats, with international distribution.

1984 to 1993

Curtis Casella, a Boston native, started TAANG! to promote the burgeoning Boston hardcore punk scene. " in the early.80's, frustrated with the scene in Boston with all the greatest bands in the USA I felt that there should a place they could call home. No one else was doing it. Washington, DC had Dischord, UK. had No Future Clay & Secret and Crass, LA had SST, Boston needed Taang!"^[2] The label's first full-length release was Negative FX's self-titled album, which was recorded in 1982.

In 1986, Taang! Released five vinyl titles: Burning in Water by Moving Targets, Back on the Map by Slapshot, Another Wasted Night by Gang Green, the 7-inch Mine Caroline by The Oysters, and a bonus 7-inch by The Lemonheads. Gang Green's Another Wasted Night spawned three videos that received MTV play, and their non-stop tour propelled sales of their release to upwards of 30,000 units. The label achieved wide airplay on college radio stations with releases from The Lemonheads and Bullet LaVolta, and expanded its repertoire to include acts with a more diverse sound such as Poison Idea, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Swirlies and Spacemen 3.^[4]

In 1992, Taang! produced an archival release of early material from San Diego hardcore band Battalion of Saints. Casella, who had been dividing his time between Los Angeles and Boston, moved the label's headquarters to Mission Beach, San Diego and simultaneously opened a retail outlet in Hollywood. Shortly after moving to San Diego, Taang! issued two releases by local ska band Buck-O-Nine (the album Barfly and the EP Water In My Head), which was spurred on by a national tour in support of the ska band The Specials.

1994 to 2000

In the mid- to late 1990s, there were no new signings, as the label focused mainly on archival releases by bands such as: Cock Sparrer - four releases, The Adicts - three releases, The Business - four releases, The Exploited - two releases, The Boys - two releases, Last Resort, The Ruts, Slaughter and The Dogs, and Stiff Little Fingers two releases, a total of twenty-three releases over five years.

2001 to 2006

While operating in California, the label continued its focus on Boston-based bands. Full catalogue releases were produced for the Proletariat, Bruisers & The F.U.s. Bands such as Gang Green, Slapshot and Poison Idea, which had previously left Taang! for other labels returned, each producing new releases for the label.

2007 to 2012

In 2007, the label started to sign more new bands, including Everybody Out!, featuring Rick Barton of Dropkick Murphys, Bill Close from The Freeze and Sweeney Todd from The Dead Pets as well as Southern California's Evacuate, led by Mike Virus of Cheap Sex and The Virus, who released their debut in 2009. Taang! also released a DVD from Cheap Sex from San Diego.

An addition to the label in this period was Negative Approach. Marking the label's 200th release was their work Friends of No One, a lost six-song recording from 1984 that was discovered in 2009 in a basement in Detroit. Taang!'s next released Nothing Will Stand In Our Way, a full album by the band, which focused on its earliest recordings (a total of 53 songs). In 2011 the label released works by two legendary bands from the San Francisco Bay area – Attitude Adjustment and Part Time Christians. Both releases contained the bands' complete recorded works and were released digitally as well as on vinyl editions. Attitude Adjustment released a new recording entitled No Way Back in 2012.

2013 to present

In 2013, the label announced plans to release a series of more than fifty vinyl records from its catalogue over the span of 10 years. The FIRST 10 Titles include: Second Coming from BATTALION OF SAINTS , Cruising For A Bruising from BRUISERS , Brotherhood from D.Y.S., Mob Mentality from DROPKICK MURPHY'S , Kill For Christ from F.U.'S, Another Wasted Night from GANGGREEN, Is This My World from JERRYS KIDS, </ref> More Noise & Other Disturbances from MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES, Olde Tyme Hardcore from SLAPSHOT, and SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS Do It Dog Style

In April 2014, the label released The First 10 Singles 1984-88, 7" Vinyl Box Set to celebrate the Boston-based punk label's 30th anniversary.^[5] Included in the boxset were ten seven-inch discs. Each disc included a full re-creation of the original jacket except for the Oysters which was redone for this box set There was also a 24-song CD that combined all of the musical selections. This vinyl boxset was limited to 2,000 numbered copies. The bands featured were Gang Green, Last Rights, Stranglehold, Noonday, Underground, Last Stand, Negative FX, Oysters, Lemonheads, Moving Targets, and Slapshot. There were plans to release the singles box set as a double LP version in 2015.^[6]

2016 The Label will continue its VINYL ONSLAUGHT with 5 of its CLASSICS all packaged with unreleased POSTERS and pressed from original masters .

NEGATIVE FX TAANG! #5 KILSLUG "Answer The Call" TAANG! #8 MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES "Devils Night Out"TAANG! #44 SLAPSHOT Step On It TAANG! #28 SWIRLIES :Blondertongueaudiobaton" TAANG! #67

2017 In summer 2017 the label announces. The band KILLER OF SHEEP from Pittsburgh it will be the bands 214th release titled SCORNED. there will also be a 7 in with guest vocals Paul Berra from SHEER TERROR & Jerry A from POISON IDEA

GANGGREEN & THE FREEZE will be recording for a split album .each band is covering a track or 2 from each other as well as paying tribute to a cover song . The FREEZE have chosen NERVOUS EATERS No More Idols & DEAD BOYS Calling On You While GANGGREEN Have chosen J. GEILS as well as a Song to be named

2018-2022 The label will be releasing the following titles on vinyl ,

A FIST FUL O HITS Compilation ANTI HEROS American Pie ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT American Paranoia & More W DVD BATTALION OF SAINTS Singles Compilation BOSTON HARDCORE 89-91 Compilation BRUISERS Singles Collection DOUBLE ALBUM DICKIES Locked Loaded FORCED REALITY FREEZE Broken Bones DOUBLE ALBUM FREEZE Land Of The Lost FREEZE Rabid Reaction FREEZE Live At Mill Hill GANGREEN Pre-School / Cantones RAMONES GANGGREEN Best OF GANGGREEN HARD ONS Dickcheese JERRY"S KIDS Kill Kill Kill KILSLUG Singles LA PESTE The Entire HISTORY LAST RIGHTS Complete History LEMONHEADS Hate Your Friends LEMONHEADS Creator LEMONHEADS Lick LEMONHEADS Laughing All The way to The Cleaners LYRES Some Lyres MENACE Screwed Up MIGHTY MIGHTY BOSSTONES 5 Song EP 10 inch / MISSION OF BURMA Peking Spring MISSION OF BURMA Forget NEGATIVE APPROACH Tied Down The UNRELEASED VERSION NEGATIVE APPROACH Ready To Fight DOUBLE ALBUM NEWTOWN NEUROTICS Singles Collection SLAPSHOT Sudden Death Overtime SLAPSHOT 16 Valve Hate SLAPSHOT Hatrick Singles Compilation SLAPSHOT Bloody Bloody Belgium LIVE LP CD SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS Singles Compilation DOUBLE ALBUM SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS Scraping The Barrel CD DVD SLOPPY SECONDS First 7 inches SLOPPY SECONDS Knock Yer Block Off STARS & STRIPES Shaved For Battle SWIRLIES What To Do ABout Them EP VARIOUS TAANG! Singles BOX SET as a DOUBLE ALBUM VARIOUS -Do Onto Others A Compiation VARIOUS - TAANG! THE BEST OF TAANG! 3 LP SET

7 inches

LA PESTE Better Off Dead 7in LYRES Dont Give It Up Now 7in RED ROCKERS 7 inch SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS 7inch Cranked Up Really High SLAUGHTER & THE DOGS 7inch Where Have All The Boot Boys Gone 7in

Artists

See also

• List of record labels

References

External links

• Official website
• Taang! Records at Discog.com