David Nichols takes a dreamy stroll down
through the world of independent record labels of yore.
A cautionary tale for collectors before we
begin: when Penguin books started in the late 1930s, my grandfather decided he
would collect them all.
The best indie labels (like Arizona’s 555
or London’s Fortuna Pop!) are the ones where the records released are all about
the personal taste of the person who runs the label. The second tier of great
indie labels are organisations like K, from Olympia or Swarf Finger from
Bristol, where almost all the artists are from the same geographical region –
it’s not just cottage industry, it’s also delightfully anti-global. The worst
indie labels are the very common ones where dufus X decides he’s going to run a
record label so that he can hang out with the bands he likes as an equal, only,
he (yes, it is always he) never quite gets around to actually producing
anything tangible (‘Yeah, you’re my 21st release, as soon as I get
the first twenty out’). But we’re not here to talk about me.
Here are some great indie labels, direct to
you from the top of my head:
Postcard: ‘The Sound of Young Scotland’
circa 1979, created by Alan Horne to push his favourite band Orange Juice but
also managing to launch a few other careers as well. Aztec Camera released two
sumptuous singles on the label, and Josef K – dirgey, poppy and dark – fleshed
out the roster, along with The Go-Betweens’ third single, ‘I Need Two Heads’.
It all went belly-up within a year or so, although Horne occasionally revives
it to put out new records by the same people, and reissue classics from the
original bands.
Magic moment: The Orange Juice single ‘Poor
Old Soul’ – a funky Captain Cocoa-esque masterpiece.
Lost classic: A record that wasn’t even
released on Postcard, by a Scottish group called Article 58. Their single
‘Events to Come’ must have been slated for a Postcard release – it sounds so
much like one – either that, or it’s homage. But it was issued on Edinburgh’s
Rational Records in ’81.
Chapter: Guy Blackman’s wonderful label is,
we must all assume, dead and gone. Like the best labels, Guy was basically
releasing his own and his friends’ music, yet his taste in friends was
impeccable. Starting with cassette compilations of Perth bands, by the end of
its existence – was it really only last year? – the Chapter canon was looking
pretty diverse and mighty for it.
Magic Moment: Don’t make me choose!
Probably the compilation, Double Figures.
Lost classic: Guy planned a compilation of
60s Australian female rock groups, which will probably now never see the light
of day.
Good Vibrations: A Belfast label from the
late 70s, dedicated to documenting Ireland’s best punk/powerpop groups. Their
most famous record was of course the eternal classic ‘Teenage Kicks’, launching
The Undertones on the world.
Magic Moment: Well, let’s face it, ‘Teenage
Kicks’, though all the records cast their own spell. Rudi (a group featuring
Gordy Blair, who played with Dave Graney in the 90s) and Ruefrex, for instance.
Lost classic: The Xdreamysts’ ‘Right Way
Home’. Not only did this group have the best beards in punk, they also drew on
Irish folk and Saintsy rock to make, uh, a really good record.
Next Best Way: Alastair Galbraith managed
to release two great CDs (so far) on his own label before he ran out of puff
(i.e. cash). Named in tribute to the great, and defunct, Expressway label, Next
Best Way aimed to continue the tradition of beautiful NZ indie music from
out-of-the-way places and people. The first release was Galbraith’s own
‘Talisman’, the second a compilation, ‘Runner’. Galbraith’s preference for
cardboard sleeves over jewel cases cost him sales in the US, and the whole
thing went into abeyance.
Magic Moment: Both of them
Lost classic: Yeah, both of them
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