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The English city of Bristol has, since the mid-1970s, had a fertile music culture, resulting in not only influential musicians and bands, but also its own sound, Bristol sound or trip hop. Along with the music, a number of local record labels also developed, some receiving national and international attention, others with a smaller audience appeal. In the 1970s, there was a DIY culture of record production and the independent record label came to prominence. One of the most successful at that time was Virgin Records started in 1972. Chiswick Records, Stiff Records, Rough Trade Records and Factory Records followed. By the later part of the decade, Virgin had become a part of the music business establishment, and new independent record labels began appearing in virtually every British town and city: Bristol was no exception.
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One of the first Bristol punk bands, The Cortinas released its first single on Miles Copeland's Step Forward Records in 1977, eventually moving on to CBS before disbanding. Copeland also released, in 1977, The Pigs' "Youthanasia EP" on his newly formed New Bristol Records. [1] The explosion in punk/new wave bands forming in the area did not attract interest from the major London-based record labels, so local labels sprung up to release recordings from these groups. Amongst the first, and initially more successful, were Heartbeat Records, Fried Egg Records, Recreational Records and Riot City Records (a Heartbeat subsidiary). Others with more modest success were Wavelength Records (although its subsidiary Bristol Recorder, did achieve some popularity), Circle Records and Sheep Worrying. Some bands set up their own labels: Black Roots (Nubian Records) and Essential Bop (Monopause Records). Yet other labels, although not based in Bristol, had a strong representation of bands from the area: Y Records, Rialto Records and Naïve Records.
After the initial burst of activity in the post-punk/new wave era, most of the labels folded (although Heartbeat, or one of its subsidiaries, still brings out the occasional release). Riot City came under the influence of EMI after it signed Vice Squad, and last released a record in 1988. Meanwhile, The Blue Aeroplanes released their first LP on Party Records in 1984, and there was some short-lived output from Children of the Revolution Records (COR), [2] until a new generation of record labels was spawned from the trip hop movement. Exceptions to this were the rock label Sugar Shack Records, the indie pop of Sarah Records and the C86 sounds of The Subway Organization.
There are still a number of record labels operating in Bristol, but it is ironic that one of the most prolific is Bristol Archive Records, which specializes in unreleased tracks and re-releasing recordings (mainly for download) from the punk/new wave era of Bristol record labels, 1977–1981, and later.
Listed below are a number of Bristol (and surrounding areas, including North Somerset, Bath & North East Somerset, Western Wiltshire, and South Gloucestershire) record labels that, due to their short lifespan, few releases or poor distribution, may have received limited national or international attention:.
