Crooked Beat Records

Last updated
Crooked Beat Records
Crooked Beat Records Logo.jpg
Founded2014 (2014)
FounderBill Daly
Genre Punk, indie rock
Country of originU.S.
LocationAlexandria, Virginia
Official website CrookedBeat.com

Crooked Beat Records, based in Alexandria, Virginia, is an independent record label which puts out music by artists from the Washington, DC area. [1] [2] The Crooked Beat label is affiliated with a record store of the same name. [3] Crooked Beat has produced five seven-inch records and six albums, including tributes to The Clash [4] and Jonathan Richman. Records released by Crooked Beat Records are distributed nationally for Record Store Day.

Contents

Label

Crooked Beat Records and the affiliated store are owned and operated by Bill Daly. Daly previously operated a record label called Crisis Discs in Raleigh, North Carolina, during the 1990s. [2] Daly is also a member of the band Insurgence DC, previously known as Insurgence. Insurgence DC has recorded for both Crisis Discs and Crooked Beat Records.

The first releases from Crooked Beat Records were issued in 2014, and included seven-inch records by Insurgence DC and Möbius Strip. [1] [2] Three additional seven-inch records were released for Record Store Day 2015. [5] Crooked Beat Records produced single LPs in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020; and a double LP in 2018.

The first LP released by Crooked Beat Records, "A Bang on the Ear," included music by Insurgence DC, Möbius Strip, and Don Zientara. The record was released for Record Store Day 2016. [6]

In 2017, Crooked Beat Records issued "Recutting the Crap, Volume One," released for Record Store Day 2017. [7] [8] "Recutting the Crap, Volume One," is a tribute to The Clash, with various US artists performing songs from the Clash album "Cut the Crap," as well as two songs from the B-side of the single This Is England. The record features bands from the DC metropolitan area, and from around the U.S. [9] The Violets, a band from Athens, Georgia, reformed after 25 years of inactivity to record a song for "Recutting the Crap, Volume One." [9] The Violets had been active from 1988 to 1992, and had previously recorded "I Hate The Grateful Dead" for Bill Daly's first label, Crisis Discs. [10] [11] Other artists contributing to "Recutting the Crap, Volume One" included Don Zientara; Too Much Joy, Insurgence DC, Geisha Hit Squad, and The Scotch Bonnets. [12]

For Record Store Day 2018, Crooked Beat Records issued "Recutting the Crap, Volume Two." [13] [14] "Recutting the Crap, Volume Two," like Volume One, features various U.S. artists performing newly recorded versions of songs from The Clash's "Cut The Crap" sessions. Crooked Beat Records also included a bonus record entitled "The Future Was Unwritten," with various artists covering Joe Strummer/Mick Jones compositions written after The Clash broke up.

For Record Store Day 2019, Crooked Beat Records issued "Broken In The Theater of the Absurd," the first full length album by Insurgence DC in 20  years. [15] "Broken In The Theater of the Absurd" includes new 2018 mixes of "Poison Profits" and "Dishonor," originally issued in 2015 on Crooked Beat CB014, and "True To Life," originally issued in 2014 on Crooked Beat CB011. [16]

For the third 2020 Record Store Day Drop on October 24, 2020, Crooked Beat Records issued "Athens, GA 1988-1992," a collection of songs by The Violets. [17] This release includes "I Hate The Grateful Dead," previously released by Crisis Discs. The Violets also previously contributed to the prior Crooked Beat releases "Recutting the Crap," Volumes One and Two.

For the second 2021 Record Store Day Drop on July 17, 2021, Crooked Beat Records released "Songs from The Astral Plane, Volume One: A Tribute to Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers." [18] The album included contributions from The Violets, The Scotch Bonnets, Wonderlick, and the North Carolina band Finger. [19] The track from Finger was the band's first new recording in over twenty-five years.

Tim Hinely of Blurt Online praised Crooked Beat's first release, "True To Life / Man in Black" by Insurgence DC, citing its "rabble-rousing anthemism." [20] The music website "Divide And Conquer" described Indiobravo's debut release for Crooked Beat, "Breakdown / Crawl Back," as sounding "live, raw and unprocessed." [21]

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette described "Recutting The Crap, Volume One" as "a collector's delight of various artists' versions of songs from The Clash." [22] Steve Shafer of "Duff Guide to Ska" favorably reviewed "Recutting The Crap, Volume One," saying that "The Scotch Bonnets' terrific, stripped-down reggae take on...'Are You Red...Y' alone is worth the cost of this LP." [23] In a subsequent review, Shafer described "Recutting The Crap, Volume Two," as "largely succeed[ing] in redeeming Strummer's Clash II legacy." Shafer described Insurgence DC's version of "This Is England" as "a truly great Clash song made even better here." [4]

On July 31, 2021, the Jonathan Richman tribute album "Songs from The Astral Plane, Vol. 1" entered the Billboard Compilation Album charts at #23. [24]

On June 29, 2019, Crooked Beat Records participated in a "D.C. Music Preservation Pop-Up" held as part of the 2019 Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Crooked Beat was one of a number of independent record labels from the Washington, D.C. area to appear at a Smithsonian-sponsored Local Record Market. [25]

Store

Daly founded a record store called Crooked Beat Records in 1997 in Raleigh, N.C. In 2004, Crooked Beat Records moved to 18th Street in the Adams Morgan section of Washington, D.C. [1] From 2004 until 2006, the Adams Morgan store was operated by Bill Daly and Neal Becton as a shared retail space. In 2006, Becton left and opened Som Records, a competing record store still operating in Washington D.C. [26] Crooked Beat Records remained in Washington for twelve years, until moving to Alexandria, Virginia, in 2016. Before moving to Alexandria, Crooked Beat Records was named one of the best record stores in the Washington, D.C., area in 2015. [27] Since moving to Alexandria, the business organization Visit Alexandria [28] named Crooked Beat Records in a list of "11 Shops That Are Worth The Trip In Old Town Alexandria." [29]

In 1997, when Crooked Beat Records opened in Raleigh, N.C., approximately 30% of sales came from vinyl records. By 2011, vinyl records accounted for "99 percent of total sales," according to Daly. In 2011, Crooked Beat Records ceased sales of CDs, except for albums by local artists. [30] Crooked Beat Records specializes in sales of both new and used vinyl. [29]

Discography

Singles and EPs

YearCatalog No.ArtistTitle
2014CB011Insurgence DC"True to Life / Man in Black" [20]
2014CB012Möbius Strip"Palabras Podridas" [31]
2015CB013Indiobravo [32] "Breakdown / Crawl Back" [21]
2015CB014Insurgence DC"Poison Profits / Dishonor" [33]
2015CB015The Everymen"Spaceship Opening (A Very Short Tribute To Eric's Trip)" [34]

Albums

YearCatalog No.ArtistTitle
2016CB016Insurgence DC
Möbius Strip
Don Zientara 		A Bang on the Ear [6]
2017CB017Various ArtistsRecutting the Crap, Volume One [7]
2018CB018 / CB018.5Various ArtistsRecutting the Crap, Volume Two [13]
  • Cat. No. CB018: Recutting the Crap, Volume Two
  • Cat. No. CB018.5: The Future Was Unwritten
2019CB019Insurgence DCBroken In The Theater of the Absurd [15]
2020CB020The VioletsAthens, GA 1988-1992 [17]
2021CB021Various ArtistsSongs from the Astral Plane, Volume One: A Tribute to Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers [18]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggae</span> Music genre

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat. It was developed in Jamaica in the 1960s when Stranger Cole, Prince Buster, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, and Duke Reid formed sound systems to play American rhythm and blues and then began recording their own songs. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods and with many skinheads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Specials</span> British ska band from Coventry

The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Jerry Dammers on keyboards, Lynval Golding and Roddy Radiation on guitars, Horace Panter on bass, John Bradbury on drums, and Dick Cuthell and Rico Rodriguez on horns. Their music combines the danceable rhythms of ska and rocksteady with the energy and attitude of punk. Lyrically, their work presented overt political and social commentary.

Ska punk is a fusion genre that mixes ska music and punk rock music together. Ska-core is a subgenre of ska punk that mixes ska with hardcore punk. Early ska punk mixed both 2 tone and ska with hardcore punk. Ska punk tends to feature brass instruments, especially horns such as trumpets, trombones and woodwind instruments like saxophones, making the genre distinct from other forms of punk rock. It is closely tied to third wave ska which reached its zenith in the mid-1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Dammers</span> Musical artist

Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials and later The Spatial AKA Orchestra. Through his foundation of the record label Two Tone, his work blending political lyrics and punk with Jamaican music, and his incorporation of 60's retro clothing, Dammers is a pivotal figure of the ska revival. He has also been acknowledged in his work for racial unity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neville Staple</span> Musical artist

Neville Eugenton Staple, sometimes credited as Neville Staples, is a Jamaican-born English singer, known for his work with the 2 Tone ska band the Specials, as well as with his own group, the Neville Staple Band. He also performed with Ranking Roger in the supergroup Special Beat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Beat (British band)</span> British band

The Beat are a British band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1978. Their music fuses Latin, ska, pop, soul, reggae and punk rock.

<i>Sandinista!</i> 1980 studio album by The Clash

Sandinista! is the fourth studio album by the English punk rock band the Clash. It was released on 12 December 1980 as a triple album containing 36 tracks, with 6 songs on each side. It crosses various genres including funk, reggae, jazz, gospel, rockabilly, folk, dub, rhythm and blues, calypso, disco, and rap. For the first time, the band's traditional songwriting credits of Strummer and Jones were replaced by a generic credit to the Clash. The band agreed to a decrease in album royalties in order to release the 3-LP at a low price.

<i>Cut the Crap</i> 1985 studio album by the Clash

Cut the Crap is the sixth and final studio album by English punk band the Clash, released on 4 November 1985 by CBS Records. It was recorded in early 1985 at Weryton Studios, Munich, following a turbulent period: co-founder, lead guitarist and co-principal songwriter Mick Jones and drummer Topper Headon had been dismissed by lead vocalist Joe Strummer and bassist Paul Simonon. Jones and Headon were replaced by three unknowns: guitarists Vince White and Nick Sheppard and drummer Pete Howard. During the tense recording sessions, Clash manager Bernie Rhodes and Strummer fought each other for control over the band's songwriting and musical direction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Too Much Joy</span> American band

Too Much Joy is an American alternative rock music group, that formed in the early 1980s in Scarsdale, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Pietasters</span> American band

The Pietasters are an American eight-piece ska/soul band from Washington, D.C., with additional members from Maryland and Virginia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Clash discography</span>

The discography of the British punk rock band the Clash consists of six studio albums, two extended plays, two live albums and 31 singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duffmuttu</span>

Duffmuttu is an art form prevalent in the Malabar region of the states of Kerala and Karnataka in south India. It derives its name from the duff, a percussion instrument made of wood and ox skin. The word duff is of Arabic origin and is also called a thappitta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crooked I</span> American rapper from California

Dominick Antron Wickliffe, better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a former member of the hip hop supergroup Slaughterhouse with other members Joe Budden, Joell Ortiz and Royce da 5'9". He is CEO of his own record labels, Dynasty Entertainment and C.O.B. Digital as well as Senior Vice President of Treacherous Records. Before starting his own label, he was also signed to Virgin Records and Death Row Records. He is currently one half of the rap duo Crook and Joell with his former Slaughterhouse bandmate, Joell Ortiz. Together, they released three studio albums.

The Press are an American Oi! band. Formed in New York City in 1984, the outspoken anti-fascist band were early members of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice. Vocalist André Schlesinger also supported the views of the British Socialist Workers Party, and this was reflected in some of the band's lyrics. Their songs appeared on several compilation albums, as well as a posthumous CD collection of their recordings called The Complete Press: 1984-1994, released in 2007 by Insurgence Records, re-released on vinyl in 2017. Their song "21 Guitar Salute" has been covered by Dropkick Murphys and Hawkins Thugs; in 2000 The Franks recorded a version of The Press' "It's Not What I Want." In 2019 The Press’ song "Revolution Now" was recorded by another New York-based band, The Take.

William C. Hancock Jr. was an American singer, guitarist, bassist and multi-instrumental recording artist. He has made numerous recordings, primarily in the rockabilly genre but also has a large body of recorded work in rock 'n' roll, blues, jazz, rhythm & blues, and country music. He performed live primarily in the Washington, D.C., area, but also played regularly at European roots music festivals.

Don Zientara is an American record producer and musician. He owns and runs Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, located just outside Washington D.C., and is most widely known for his production work with Fugazi, Minor Threat and various other Dischord Records artists.

Robert John Shafer, Jr. is a Grammy Award-winning American conductor, classical composer, educator and church musician. He has served as artistic director of the City Choir of Washington since its launch in September 2007.

Kris Kemist is a British record producer and founder of the UK based independent label Reality Shock Records who has worked with vocalists such as Errol Dunkley, Fred Locks, Macka B, Earl Sixteen and Tippa Irie amongst others; releasing eight albums and 22 vinyl records to date.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Interrupters (band)</span> American ska punk band

The Interrupters are an American ska punk band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 2011. The band comprises lead vocalist Aimee Interrupter, drummer Jesse Bivona, bassist Justin Bivona, and guitarist Kevin Bivona. They have released four studio albums. The latest, In the Wild, was released in 2022, along with the album's lead single, "Raised by Wolves".

References

  1. 1 2 3 Jenkins, Mark (April 16, 2014). "Crooked Beat in D.C. prepares for annual Record Store Day". The Washington Post. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Schweitzer, Ally (March 18, 2014). "Crooked Beat Record Store Makes The Jump To Record Label". Bandwidth. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  3. ↑ Sexton, David (February 19, 2017). "Six months after leaving Adams Morgan, Crooked Beat Records has found a home in Alexandria". The Diamondback. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  4. 1 2 Shafer, Steve (April 26, 2018). "Duff Review: V/A "Recutting the Crap, Volume 2" and "The Future Was Unwritten" (RSD 2018 Release)". Duff Guide to Ska. Retrieved 2018-04-27.
  5. ↑ Small, Katie (April 16, 2015). "Do Local Labels Benefit From Record Store Day?". D.C. Music Download. Retrieved 2018-02-22.  Crooked Beat will be putting out three more seven-inches 
  6. 1 2 "Various Artists-Crooked Beat Records Presents: A Bang On The Ear". Record Store Day . Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Various Artists-Recutting The Crap". Record Store Day . Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  8. ↑ Nelson, Hope (April 20, 2017). "Crooked Beat Brings Its Record Collection to Old Town Alexandria". Connection Newspapers. Retrieved 2018-03-09.
  9. 1 2 Ward, Ernie (April 23, 2017). "My Band's First Recording in 25 Years!". Dr. Ernie Ward. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  10. ↑ Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads , p. PT181, at Google Books
  11. ↑ "I Hate The Grateful Dead". The Grateful Dead Family Discography. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  12. ↑ "The Scotch Bonnets: About". The Scotch Bonnets. Retrieved February 25, 2018.  They also had a song released on Recutting The Crap, a Crooked Beat Records' LP that reinterprets The Clash's swan song, Cut The Crap. 
  13. 1 2 "Various Artists-Recutting The Crap Vol 2". Record Store Day . Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  14. ↑ "Recutting The Crap: A Tribute To The Clash, Vol. 2 (SAMPLER)". Soundcloud. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Broken In The Theater of the Absurd". Record Store Day . Retrieved April 12, 2019.
  16. ↑ Broken In The Theater of the Absurd (Media notes). Alexandria, VA: Crooked Beat Records. 2019.
  17. 1 2 "Athens, GA 1988-1992". Record Store Day . Retrieved October 7, 2020.
  18. 1 2 "Songs from The Astral Plane, Vol. 1: A Tribute to Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers". Record Store Day . Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  19. ↑ "Finger". Trouser Press . Retrieved July 18, 2021.
  20. 1 2 Hinely, Tim (June 5, 2014). "The Singles Scene VIII". Blurt Online. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  21. 1 2 Rogen, Ted (June 24, 2015). "Indiobravo-Breakdown / Crawl Back". Divide And Conquer. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  22. ↑ Mervis, Scott (April 20, 2017). "Record Store Day turns 10 on Saturday!". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  23. ↑ Shafer, Steve (December 21, 2017). "The Duff Guide to Ska Year in Ska Reviews 2017, Part 1!". Duff Guide to Ska. Retrieved 2018-02-25.
  24. ↑ "Songs from The Astral Plane enters Billboard Chart". Facebook. Retrieved July 31, 2019.
  25. ↑ "D.C. Music Preservation Pop-Up". Smithsonian. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  26. ↑ Richards, Chris (July 9, 2006). "Som Records". Washington Post. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  27. ↑ Porter, Kevin Don (April 13, 2015). "Best Record Stores in Washington, D.C." CBS DC. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  28. ↑ "About Us". Visit Alexandria. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  29. 1 2 Stanton, Sara (March 29, 2018). "11 Shops That Are Worth The Trip In Old Town Alexandria". Visit Alexandria. Retrieved April 2, 2018.
  30. ↑ Kuntz, Mike (June 2, 2011). "Crooked Beat Records Is Done Selling CDs". Washington City Paper. Retrieved April 23, 2018.
  31. ↑ "Palabras Podridas by Möbius Strip". Möbius Strip. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  32. ↑ "Indiobravo". Bandcamp. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  33. ↑ "Insurgence DC-Poison Profits / Dishonor". Record Store Day . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  34. ↑ "The Everymen-Spaceship Opening (A Very Short Tribute to Eric's Trip)". Record Store Day . Retrieved April 28, 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.