Raw Energy Records | |
---|---|
Founded | 1989 |
Founder | Graeme Boyce |
Status | reinvigorated for the modern era. |
Distributor(s) | A&M Records (Canada) & Black Mark (Global) |
Genre | punk, ska |
Country of origin | Canada |
Location | Toronto, Ontario |
Raw Energy Records was a Canadian independent record label, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The music label was established in the late 1980s by founder entrepreneur and music journalist Graeme Boyce, [1] initially to distribute the debut EP by King Apparatus, Loud Party. [1] Prior to launching Raw Energy, Boyce was a staff writer for RPM . [1]
The label subsequently released King Apparatus' full-length debut album in 1990; after selling over 5,000 copies of the album in just a handful of record stores in downtown Toronto, the label secured a national distribution deal with A&M Records. [1] The company expanded over the years, and launched new divisions to manage growth, such as Raw Energy Promotions and Raw Energy Radio.
Canadian artists who released Raw Energy albums included King Apparatus, King Cobb Steelie, Dinner Is Ruined, Random Killing, Trunk, Marilyn's Vitamins, Five Knuckle Chuckle, Three Impotent Males, Out of Hand, Cut Off, Double Standard, DNS, and Sectorseven. Raw Energy also released product from two U.S. acts, The Toasters and Rosie O'Shea. Grouped into the alternative genre, augmenting its roster of punk and ska, the label released a rap album from Top Secret and a noise album from Space City USA.
Band | Release Title | Format(s) | Date |
---|---|---|---|
All Good Children | All Good Children | Cass/CD | 1992 |
The Toasters | New York Fever | Cass/CD | 1992 |
Various/Compilation | On The Road | Cass/CD | 1993 |
King Apparatus | Marbles | Cass/CD | 1993 |
King Apparatus | Hospital Waiting Room | CD/EP | 1993 |
Haze | Book of Shadows | Cass/CD | 1993 |
King Cobb Steelie | King Cobb Steelie | Cass/CD | 1993 |
King Cobb Steelie | You Said A Mouthful | CD/EP | 1993 |
Top Secret | It Ain’t Over | Cass/CD | 1993 |
Dinner Is Ruined | Love Songs… | Cass/CD | 1993 |
Various/Compilation | Dead On The Road | Cass/CD | 1993 |
Mundane | Seed | Cass/CD | 1993 |
Random Killing | Thoughts of Aggression | Cass/CD | 1994 |
Throbbin’ Hoods | Ambush | Cass/CD | 1994 |
Satanatras | Eight Ate Hate | Cass/CD | 1994 |
Rosie O’Shea | Practicing Silence | Cass/CD | 1994 |
Trigger Happy | Killatron 2000 | Cass/CD | 1994 |
Various/Compilation | On The Road in NYC | CD | 1994 |
Center Za Dehumanizacijo | On The Red Screen | 7” Vinyl | 1994 |
Five Knuckle Chuckle | Charliee Horse | CD | 1995 |
Trunk | Beaned Up Polkas | CD | 1996 |
Throbbin’ Hoods | Hot Live Action | CD | 1996 |
Three Impotent Males | Three Impotent Males | CD | 1996 |
Random Killing | Urine The 90s Now | CD | 1996 |
Marilyn’s Vitamins | In These Shoes | CD | 1996 |
The Tirekickers | Smedication | CD | 1996 |
Space City USA | Chromed | CD | 1997 |
Jersey | No Turning Back | CD | 1997 |
Out Of Hand | Canadian Gothic | CD | 1997 |
Random Killing | Stranded | CD | 1997 |
Five Knuckle Chuckle | All Hammed Up | CD | 1997 |
Toe To Toe | Tao | CD | 1997 |
Various/Compilation | On The Road Again | CD | 1997 |
Trunk | Throwin’ The Horns | CD | 1998 |
Marilyn’s Vitamins | Politics On The Dance Floor | CD | 1998 |
Cutoff | Makin’ Breakfast | CD | 1998 |
Various/Compilation | Twentybandcomp | CD | 1998 |
Jersey/Outspan | In Friends We Trust | CD/EP | 1998 |
Marilyn’s Vitamins | Squeegee Girl | 7” Vinyl | 1998 |
Double Standard | Dig That Trash | CD | 1999 |
Various/Compilation | On The Road With a Snowboard | CD | 1999 |
Sector Seven | Along The Way | CD | 1999 |
DNS | Idle Time | CD | 1999 |
No Connection | Toe Tappin’ Fun | CD | 1999 |
Racer | Analytical Observations Of Unnecessity | CD | 1999 |
Out Of Hand | Reserection | CD | 1999 |
Various/Compilation | On The Road To Amsterdam | Promotional CD | 1999 |
Raw Energy | |
---|---|
Compilation album by Various Artists | |
Released | 1993 |
Genre | Alternative rock |
Label | Raw Energy Records |
In 1993, Raw Energy released its first compilation, simply titled Raw Energy. Because of the cartoon drawing used on the cover, it quickly took on the name On the Road within the hardcore community. Raw Energy played on this to release a series of "On the Road" compilations, featuring unsigned and emerging Canadian punk, hardcore and alternative rock bands du jour. Some would end up signing with Raw Energy.
The series of "On the Road" compilations includes:
Other compilations include Twentybandcomp, co-released with Shock Records in Australia.
Eric's Trip is a Canadian indie rock band from Moncton, New Brunswick. Eric's Trip achieved prominence as the first Canadian band to be signed to Seattle's flagship grunge label Sub Pop in the early 1990s. The band had a minor hit in alternative circles with the single "View Master", from the 1994 album Forever Again.
King Cobb Steelie is a Canadian indie rock band formed in 1991 from Guelph, Ontario, and later based in Toronto. The band's most successful single was 1997's "Rational", from the album Junior Relaxer. Their music fuses elements of punk, grunge, funk, jazz and dance. The core of the band is singer/songwriter Kevan Byrne and bassist Kevin Lynn. A variety of other collaborators, including Sam Cino, Al Okada, Gary Dutch, Geoff Walton, Steve Clarkson, Mike Armstrong, Nathan Lawr, Don Pyle and Michelle McAdorey, have contributed to individual albums.
The Dinner Is Ruined is a Canadian indie rock band. the band plays an experimental and improvisational brand of blues rock. The band members are Dale Morningstar, Dave Clark and Dr. Johnny Pee.
Change of Heart was a Canadian alternative rock band, active from 1982 to 1997. They had one Top 40 hit, "There You Go" in 1992, as well as several hits on Canada's modern rock charts, including "Trigger" and "Little Kingdoms".
The Inbreds were a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1992. Originally from Kingston, Ontario, the band relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia in 1996 and remained based there until breaking up in 1998. The band was a duo, consisting of vocalist/bassist Mike O'Neill and drummer Dave Ullrich.
Don Pyle is a Canadian record producer and musician, who has been a member of a number of bands. Pyle is openly gay.
Antisect are a punk rock band based in London, England. Their roots are in hardcore/anarcho punk and metal.
Armed and Hammered is a hardcore punk band from Toronto, Ontario, spawned from Bunchofuckingoofs scene of the early 1980s.
Fearless Records is an American independent record label that was founded in 1994. Fearless is based in Culver City, California, and is best known for its early pop punk moments captured in the Fearless Flush Sampler and Punk Bites releases, as well as additional releases by bands such as Bigwig and Dynamite Boy; and later Sugarcult; Plain White T's; The Aquabats; Amely; and post-hardcore releases by At the Drive-In and Anatomy of a Ghost. However, the label has experimented with different styles in recent years. Acts such as Blessthefall, The Word Alive, Ice Nine Kills, Mayday Parade, Pierce The Veil, Starset, The Pretty Reckless, Underoath and The Color Morale have showcased post-hardcore, metalcore, hard rock and alternative rock bands that have emerged in recent years. Fearless Records' releases were distributed in the US by RED Distribution, but after Concord Music Group's purchase of the label in 2015, it is now distributed by Universal Music Group worldwide.
Rusty is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band earned a 1996 Juno Award nomination in the category Best Alternative Album for Fluke.
King Apparatus was a Canadian third wave ska band, active in the early 1990s. Formed in 1987 in London, Ontario and later based in Toronto, the band's lineup varied over its lifetime, including vocalist Chris Murray, guitarists Sam Tallo, Paul Ruston, J. C. Orr and Paul McCulloch, bassist Mitch Girio, organists Mark LeBourdais and Aleks Dmitrovic, conga player Greg Clancy, saxophonist Bruno Hedman, and drummers Brian Christopher, Dave Kennedy and Mike Southern. Their style was strongly influenced by late 1970s 2-Tone ska, although it introduced a heavier guitar attack than traditional ska.
The Zero Boys are an American hardcore punk quartet from Indianapolis, Indiana fronted by Paul Mahern that debuted in 1980. Other members include bassist Scott Kellogg, drummer Mark Cutsinger and guitarist Dave Lawson. The band was known as one of the few popular hardcore bands from the Midwest, as the scene was mostly dominated by bands from the coasts.
King Cobb Steelie is the self-titled debut album by King Cobb Steelie, released in 1993 on Raw Energy Records.
Subb was a Canadian ska punk band formed in November 1992 in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec. Since their beginning in the early 1990s, the band released four full-length albums, one EP and one split CD on the labels Stomp Records and Underworld Records. Though they experienced several lineup changes over the years, founding members Mart Charron and Stef Gauthier remained in the group. The band's musical style initially blended elements of punk rock, ska, and hardcore into a genre popularly known as ska punk or "ska-core," which characterized their first two albums. In 2002 they shifted gears, moving away from this sound and producing an album with a heavy pop punk influence. After a brief hiatus in 2003, the band moved back towards their ska, punk and hardcore elements.
Mayday is the fourth studio album by Canadian alternative rock band King Cobb Steelie, released in 2000 on Outside Music.
Bunchofuckingoofs, or the BFGs, was an infamous Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto's Kensington Market neighbourhood, formed in November 1983. From July 1983 to July 1988, they ran a 24/7 boozecan at their Baldwin Street address known on the street as "Fort Goof". For another three and half years they continued their antics at the 26A Oxford Street warehouse. They lived communally and, while they were known for smashing TVs on stage and opening bottles of beer with chainsaws, they described themselves as anti-drug crusaders, community activists and the neighbourhood police force.
The first punk rock bands in Canada emerged during the late 1970s, in the wake of the US bands Ramones, The New York Dolls, and Blondie, and the UK band Sex Pistols. The Viletones, the Diodes and the Demics were among the pioneers, together with the Skulls from Vancouver, and Hamilton's Teenage Head, whose records and live shows earned them the nickname "Canada's Ramones". Vibrant local punk scenes sprung up in Toronto and Vancouver and other Canadian cities.
Canadian hardcore punk originated in the early 1980s. It was harder, faster, and heavier than the Canadian punk rock that preceded it. Hardcore punk is a punk rock music genre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. The origin of the term "hardcore punk" is uncertain. The Vancouver-based band D.O.A. may have helped to popularize the term with the title of their 1981 album, Hardcore '81. Hardcore historian Steven Blush said that the term "hardcore" is also a reference to the sense of being "fed up" with the existing punk and new wave music. Blush also states that the term refers to "an extreme: the absolute most Punk."An article in Drowned in Sound argues that 1980s-era "hardcore is the true spirit of punk", because "after all the poseurs and fashionistas fucked off to the next trend of skinny pink ties with New Romantic haircuts, singing wimpy lyrics", the punk scene consisted only of people "completely dedicated to the DIY ethics". One definition of the genre is "a form of exceptionally harsh punk rock."
Violence Violence is the debut full-length album from American hardcore punk band Ceremony. The vinyl release of the album contains the original 13 song track list, while the CD version includes the band's previous effort, 2005's Ruined EP.
Project Twinkle is the second album by Canadian alternative rock band King Cobb Steelie, released in 1994. Produced by Bill Laswell, the album moved away from the funk-rock of their 1993 album King Cobb Steelie toward a more groove-oriented sound.