Chiswick Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 1975 |
Founder | Ted Carroll Roger Armstrong |
Defunct | 1983 |
Distributor(s) | EMI |
Genre | |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Location | London, England |
Chiswick Records was a British independent record label. Established in 1975, Chiswick was the "first true 'indie' label to be established in Britain for nearly a decade". [1] The label has been described as "significant" in the "punk era". [2] It released some of the earliest records recorded by The Hammersmith Gorillas, The Count Bishops, Motörhead, [3] , Joe Strummer’s The 101ers, The Damned, Skrewdriver, Billy Bragg, Kirsty MacColl, and Shane MacGowan.
The label was started by Ted Carroll and Roger Armstrong in 1975 as a subsidiary of Rock On Records. Shortly after Trevor Churchill joined, it was incorporated into Swift Records Ltd. Two years later it entered into a licensing deal with EMI. Subsidiary Ace Records was started in 1978, and Chiswick Records closed in 1983; its back catalogue is still owned by Ace Records Ltd. [4]
The label released a number of sampler compilation albums showcasing their bands. These included Submarine Tracks & Fool's Gold (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume One) (1977) and Long Shots, Dead Certs And Odds On Favourites (Chiswick Chartbusters Volume Two) (1978).
Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007.
Pub rock is a rock music genre that was developed in the early to mid-1970s in the United Kingdom. A back-to-basics movement which incorporated roots rock, pub rock was a reaction against the expensively-recorded and produced progressive rock and flashy glam rock scenes of the time. Although short-lived, pub rock was live rock played in small traditional venues like pubs and clubs. Since major labels showed no interest in pub rock groups, pub rockers sought out independent record labels such as Stiff Records. Indie labels used relatively inexpensive recording processes, so they had a much lower break-even point for a record than a major label.
Strange Fruit Records was an independent record label in the United Kingdom.
Robert David "Lu" Edmonds is an English rock and folk musician. He is currently, as of 2018, a vocalist and saz and cümbüş player in the Mekons and the lead guitarist for Public Image Limited. Edmonds reportedly plays electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboards, bouzouki, saz, cümbüs, oud, and drums, among other instruments.
Reaching to the Converted is an album by Billy Bragg released in August 1999. It is a collection of B-sides and rarities that spans Billy's entire career. It includes variations on old favorites, such as "Greetings to the New Brunette" and "Walk Away Renee". None of the tracks on the album were reissued as extras for Bragg's box sets, Volume 1 and Volume 2.
Motörhead is the debut studio album by British rock band Motörhead. It was released on 21 August 1977 via Chiswick Records, one of the first for the label. It is officially regarded as the band's debut album, though an album was recorded in 1975 for United Artists which was shelved, and was only released in 1979 after the band had established themselves commercially. This would be the first album to feature what would become the "classic" Motörhead lineup of Lemmy Kilmister, "Fast" Eddie Clarke and Philthy Animal Taylor and their only release under Chiswick, as they were signed to the larger Bronze Records by early 1978.
Skrewdriver were an English punk rock band formed by Ian Stuart Donaldson in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, in 1976. Originally a punk band, Skrewdriver changed into a white supremacist rock band after reuniting in the 1980s. Their original line-up split in January 1979 and Donaldson reformed the band with different musicians in 1982.
Don't Try This at Home is the sixth full-length album by urban folk artist Billy Bragg.
Ace Records Ltd. is a British record label founded in 1978. Initially the company only gained permission from the similarly named label based in Mississippi to use the name in the UK, but eventually also acquired the rights to publish their recordings. When Chiswick Records' pop side was licensed to EMI in 1984, Ace switched to more licensing and reissuing work. In the 1980s it also gained the licensing for Modern Records, and its follow-up company Kent Records, whilst in the 1990s, the company bought the labels including all original master tapes.
Radio Stars were an English new wave group formed in early 1977. They released two albums and had one UK Top 40 single.
Big Beat Records is a British record label and import distributor owned by Ace Records, specialising in garage rock.
"Sexuality" is the ninth track on Billy Bragg's 1991 album, Don't Try This at Home. The song was released as a single which reached No. 27 on the UK charts and #2 on the U.S. alternative charts.
What's Words Worth? is the second live album by the band Motörhead, recorded on 18 February 1978, but not released until 5 March 1983 on Big Beat Records, some five years later. It is a collection of songs they played in the mid-late 70s; pretty much none of this material has been part of their live set since the early-mid 80s.
Johnny Moped are an English punk rock group formed in South London in the mid-1970s, who once had Chrissie Hynde and Captain Sensible as members.
Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers is an EP by the band Motörhead, released on 27 November 1980. The EP consists of four tracks recorded during sessions for their first album Motörhead, in 1977 at Escape Studios, Kent, England, but were previously unreleased. The EP was released by Big Beat Records, a subsidiary of Chiswick Records, who the band were signed to when the tracks were recorded in 1977. The release was not authorized by the band, though they did not oppose it.
Marc Zermati was a French producer and promoter of punk rock music, and businessman.
Submarine Tracks & Fool's Gold is a compilation album of various artists made up of acts on Chiswick Records.
Kirsty Anna MacColl was a British singer and songwriter, daughter of folk singer Ewan MacColl. She recorded several pop hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "There's a Guy Works Down the Chip Shop Swears He's Elvis" and cover versions of Billy Bragg's "A New England" and The Kinks' "Days." Her song "They Don't Know" was covered with great success by Tracey Ullman. MacColl also sang on recordings produced by her then-husband Steve Lillywhite, most notably "Fairytale of New York" by The Pogues. Her death in 2000 has led to the Justice for Kirsty campaign.
The Count Bishops were a British rock band, formed in 1975 in London and which broke up in 1980. The Count Bishops had limited commercial success, but forged an important stylistic and chronological link between the root rhythm and blues band Dr. Feelgood and the proto punk sound of Eddie and the Hot Rods; together forming the foundation of the pub-rock scene, which influenced the emergence of punk rock. The group made history in England by releasing the first record from independent label Chiswick Records. They splintered following the death of guitarist Zenon DeFleur on 18 March 1979.
The British independent record label Stiff Records has released 259 singles and 65 albums on general release in the United Kingdom with a prefix catalogue number of BUY and SEEZ respectively. Just under a quarter of all BUY singles releases charted in the UK Singles Chart and 22 of these have gone on to receive either a silver or gold disc from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). Over one third of all SEEZ albums releases charted in the UK Albums Chart and 13 of these have gone on to receive either a silver, gold or platinum disc from the BPI. This list excludes non-BUY singles catalogue numbers such as DAMNED 1, DEV 1 and NY 7. It also excludes non-SEEZ album catalogue numbers such as FIST 1, GET 1, and LENE 1.
Chiswick Records has finalised a two-and-a-half year pressing and distribution agreement with Anchor, just in time to handle this week's release of a limited edition 12-inch single from Motorhead.