History
The label was founded in March 2004. While the music business was struggling with a crisis, producer Hayo Lewerentz (e. g. Boytronic, U96) wanted to give talented electro pop acts a chance by making their music available, and therefore founded Major Records.
Boytronic is a German music group that plays electropop. It was founded in 1983 by Holger Wobker and Peter Sawatzki in Hamburg, Germany as Kapitän Sehnsucht. The original Boytronic released two synthpop albums: The Working Model (1983) and The Continental (1985). The record company, claiming rights to the band name, put together a completely different line-up in 1986. It was headed by Hayo Lewerentz and continued to record under the Boytronic name until the mid-90's. In 2002, Boytronic was revived by Wobker from the original group and Panarinfo from the second incarnation. They released the albums "Autotunes", "Maxi" and remastered editions of "The Working Model" (Reverse) and "The Continental" (Replace) with bonus tracks. The albums was released on Hayo Lewerentz label Major Records.
U96 is a German dance-music project formed by the DJ and producer Alex Christensen and a team of producers named Matiz. In 2018 project was rebooted, without Christensen and Hoinkis.
In July 2004, Major Records released the double album Maxi by Boytronic, a best-of including new tracks and remixes. Concurrently, they released the album Words Once Said by Celluloide from France.
Celluloide is a French electronic pop band.
In 2005, the company signed further bands and projects and thus broadened their profile. The group Ultrafox, formed by two members of the Sneaker Pimps and two German vocalists, released their album Ice Skating on Major Records, the Irish duo Eden their CD Desolate Shores, and Leeloo Kobayashi (former Propaganda member Andreas Thein) his album Playthings.
Ultrafox is an electropop band formed by German twins Claudia and Connie Holzer. Liam Howe and Joe Wilson of Sneaker Pimps were also involved in the band's creation. The band was formed in 2001, and their only album, Ice Skating, was released in June 2004. Since then, Howe and Wilson have stopped playing with the band due to other commitments, and David Westlake, also of Sneaker Pimps, has been working with them.
Sneaker Pimps are a British trip hop band formed in Hartlepool, England, in 1994. They are best known for their first album, Becoming X (1996), and the singles "6 Underground" and "Spin Spin Sugar". They took their name from an article the Beastie Boys published in their Grand Royal magazine about a man they hired to track down classic sneakers.
Propaganda are a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish.
In 2006, Major Records kicked off the compilation series elektrisch!, in collaboration with the online music magazine re-flexion. Popular bands in Synth- and Electropop such as Alphaville, Erasure or Goldfrapp, as well as newcomers contribute with exclusive or rare songs and remixes. elektrisch! 1 was released in March 2006, elektrisch! 2 in February 2007.
Alphaville is a German synth-pop band which gained popularity in the 1980s. The founding members were lead singer Marian Gold, Bernhard Lloyd, and Frank Mertens. They achieved chart success with the singles "Forever Young", "Big in Japan", "Sounds Like a Melody", "The Jet Set" and "Dance with Me".
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of singer and songwriter Andy Bell and songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke. They formed in London in 1985 as part of the club scene. Their debut single was "Who Needs Love Like That". With their fourth single, "Sometimes", the duo established themselves on the UK Singles Chart, becoming one of the most successful artists of the late 1980s to mid-1990s.
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo from London, formed in 1999. The duo consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory (synthesizer).
In spring 2006, the label signed Chris Corner aka IAMX, head of the Sneaker Pimps. They released his second solo album, The Alternative, as well as the debut Kiss + Swallow as a re-release. Also, pop trio X-Perience from Berlin, who had some hits during the 90s, joined Major Records for their comeback album Lost in Paradise, including a duet with Midge Ure called Personal Heaven.
Christopher Anthony Corner is an English record producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, singer and video artist. He was a founding member of the band Sneaker Pimps, and is now active with his solo project IAMX.
Kiss + Swallow is the debut album by IAMX and was released on 13 July 2004. It mostly consists of tracks that were recorded for the unreleased fourth studio album by Sneaker Pimps, which is dubbed "SP4" by the fans.
James "Midge" Ure is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his given name.
In 2007, Major Records signed the British band Ladytron. They released their album Witching Hour as a new, extended edition with a bonus CD. Also in 2007, Major Records released the debut album Eins by Purwien, the new band of Second Decay frontman Christian Purwien.
Looking for newcomers, the label discovered Indiepop band Yuno from Hamburg, whose first album Satellite was released in 2007, as well as the Gothic Pop/Rock band Pearls of Dew, who came up with their debut album Alpha the same year.
Also in 2007, label boss Hayo Lewerentz founded the subsidiary Major Digital, by which the artists’ songs are released as downloads only.
New signings include British bands Mechanical Cabaret, Scarlet Soho, and The Promise from Hamburg.
Planned physical releases in 2008:
- ELEKTRISCH Vol. 3 (Compilation including Moby, Kim Wilde, Ladytron, Yazoo, Apoptygma Berzerk, Covenant, and IAMX)
- LADYTRON "Velocifero" (Album)
- MECHANICAL CABARET - tba
- SCARLET SOHO - tba
- OBSCENITY TRIAL - "That night"
Metropolis Records was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1993. The label releases material in the electro-industrial, synthpop, future pop, darkwave, and gothic music genres, although it is open to releasing any genre of dark alternative music, whether electronic-based or post-punk.
"6 Underground" is a song by the English band Sneaker Pimps, from their 1996 studio album Becoming X.
Kelli Dayton, also known as Kelli Ali is a British vocalist most recognized for being lead singer for the trip hop group Sneaker Pimps.
Bloodsport is the third and final studio album by English electronic band Sneaker Pimps. It was released on 22 January 2002, through record label Tommy Boy.
Kiss + Swallow is the debut album by IAMX and was released on 13 July 2004. It mostly consists of tracks that were recorded for the unreleased fourth studio album by Sneaker Pimps, which is dubbed "SP4" by the fans.
Witching Hour is the third studio album by English electronic music band Ladytron. It was released on 3 October 2005 by Island Records. The album was promoted by four singles: "Sugar", "Destroy Everything You Touch", "Weekend" and "Soft Power".
Sohodolls are an English electronic music band from London. The group was formed in 2003 and, following various line-up changes, consists of Maya von Doll (vocals), Toni Sailor (guitar), Weston Doll (keyboards), Matt Lord and Paul Stone (drums).
The Alternative is the second album by English musical artist IAMX, released on 28 April 2006 in Europe and a year later in the UK and Ireland. It was re-issued on Metropolis Records in the US on 6 May 2008. It is the second IAMX album to contain tracks intended for the aborted Sneaker Pimps album SP4. 2008 US editions differ significantly from the original 2006 version. Many of the songs were significantly re-recorded or remixed, most noticeably "The Negative Sex" and "Spit It Out", as well as "The Alternative", "Nightlife" and "Song of Imaginary Beings". "This Will Make You Love Again" is among a handful of songs to have been edited to include vocals by Janine Gezang. The re-released versions also include a string version of "Spit It Out" as a hidden track. The original album and the reissues also carry alternate covers.
Joe Wilson is a British record producer and musician, best known for his work with Sneaker Pimps. He has exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts in London and The CCA in Glasgow. as well as producing music for films for Channel 4 and the BBC. He also has worked with Simon Faithfull on the film 13.
"Long Hard Road Out of Hell" is a song by American rock band Marilyn Manson and British trip hop band Sneaker Pimps, released as a single from the soundtrack to the 1997 motion picture Spawn. An arena rock and gothic rock song, "Long Hard Road Out of Hell" was written by Marilyn Manson and Twiggy Ramirez and produced by Manson and Sean Beavan. Its lyrics are about self-loathing and its title is derived from John Milton's Paradise Lost (1667). After the track was written, the Sneaker Pimps' Kelli Ali was recruited to perform background vocals on it, as the Spawn soundtrack featured collaborations between hard rock artists and electronic music artists. The Sneaker Pimps were dissatisfied with the final track and wanted a remix of it to be released as a single instead; conversely, Manson deemed it a personal favorite.
Jim Abbiss is a British music producer, best known for his work on records including the Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, Kasabian's Kasabian and Empire, Ladytron's Witching Hour, Sneaker Pimps' debut Becoming X, and two of Adele's albums, 19 and 21.
Lost in Paradise is the 4th album by German band X-Perience.
The album includes ten new tracks and three remakes of their greatest hits, "A Neverending Dream", "Circles of Love" and "Magic Fields". "Return to Paradise" was the first single, released in October 2006. The second single was "Personal Heaven", a duet with Midge Ure. With the last single "I Feel Like You", singer Claudia Uhle decided to leave the band.
Liam Coverdale Howe is a London-based record producer, musician and songwriter. Since forming 90s cult band Sneaker Pimps in 1996, he has had much success producing the likes of Lana Del Rey, Marina and the Diamonds, FKA Twigs, Ellie Goulding, and Tom Vek.
