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| Y Records | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Parent company | Independent label, later incorporated into Kaz Records, which became part of Castle Communications |
| Founded | 1980 |
| Founder | Dick O’Dell |
| Distributor(s) | Rough Trade Castle Communications |
| Genre | Indie, post-punk |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Y Records was a British independent record label set up in 1980 by Dick O'Dell in the United Kingdom, and distributed by Rough Trade.
Artists included the Slits, Shriekback and a number of groups that were associated with the Bristol indie band scene from the late 1970s: the Pop Group, Glaxo Babies, Maximum Joy and Pigbag.
The label's first release in 1980 ("Where There's a Will There's a Way" / "In the Beginning There Was Rhythm") was a split single by the Pop Group and the Slits, bands which shared a drummer (Bruce Smith) as well as manager (Dick O'Dell). Pigbag's single, "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag") entered the UK Indie Chart in May 1981, and stayed there for 70 weeks in total, peaking at No. 1. [1]
Y Records were eventually incorporated into Kaz Records, part of Castle Communications. O'Dell later joined with William Orbit's progressive house music company, Guerilla Records, which became prominent in British progressive house music in the early 1990s, with acts such as Leftfield, Spooky, React to Rhythm and D.O.P. [2]
The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva and Gina Birch formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London.
Steve Beresford is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, such as the toy piano. He has also played a wide range of music. He is probably best known for free improvisation, but has also written music for film and television and has been involved with a number of pop music groups.
Pigbag were a British post-punk band, best known for their instrumentals, active between 1980 and 1983.
Shriekback are an English rock band formed in 1981 in Kentish Town by Barry Andrews, formerly of XTC and the League of Gentlemen (keyboards/synthesizers/vocals), and Dave Allen, formerly of Gang of Four, with Carl Marsh, formerly of Out on Blue Six (guitars/vocals) soon added to the line-up. The band's early music was a funk-influenced version of new wave and post-punk, later moving towards art rock and always featuring "insidiously weird vocals".
The Pop Group are an English rock band formed in Bristol in 1977 by vocalist Mark Stewart, guitarist John Waddington, bassist Simon Underwood, guitarist/saxophonist Gareth Sager, and drummer Bruce Smith. Their work in the late 1970s crossed diverse musical influences including punk, dub, funk, and free jazz with radical politics, helping to pioneer post-punk music.
Mark Ramos Nishita, known professionally as Money Mark, is an American producer and musician, best known for his collaborations with the Beastie Boys from 1992 until 2011.
Cut is the debut studio album by English punk band the Slits, released on 7 September 1979. It was recorded at Ridge Farm Studios in Rusper and produced by Dennis Bovell. The album was praised by later acts such as Kurt Cobain and Massive Attack.
Shelleyan Orphan were a British alternative music group that peaked during the 1980s and early 1990s. They played a style of pop influenced by chamber music, and which featured dual male-female vocals.
Jam Science is the third studio album by English pop group Shriekback. It was released in two versions in 1984 and was reissued on CD in a two-disc special release from the band themselves in 2014, the second disc being a live show at Hatfield.
Glaxo Babies are a Bristol-based post-punk band, formed in late 1977. There were three distinct phases in the band's life and after initially breaking up in 1980, they reformed in 1985, only to finally break up again in 1990. The band reformed once again in 2015 for the Un-Peeled 2015 event with Steve Street on bass and Tony Wrafter's son Oscar on vocals.
Maximum Joy are an English post-punk band from Bristol, England, formed in 1981 and reunited in 2015.
The Band of Holy Joy are an English band formed in New Cross, London, and initially active between 1984 and 1993, releasing several albums. In 1992, they abbreviated their name to Holy Joy. They reformed in 2002, under their original name, releasing a new album called Love Never Fails. They concentrated on other musical projects during 2003 to 2006. The band began performing live again in 2007 and since 2017 have released a number of albums on Tiny Global Productions, including Funambulist We Love You, Neon Primitives, Dreams Take Flight, and their latest critically acclaimed release Fated Beautiful Mistakes in 2023.
The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the United Kingdom, set up by a number of small independent record labels to handle their distribution to record shops. Pooling their resources in this way allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains.
Sudden Sway were an English band from Peterborough, formed in 1980. They recorded two sessions for John Peel and released three albums before splitting up in the early 1990s.
Bootleg Retrospective is a compilation album by the Slits. The album is officially untitled. It is also referred to as Y, Y3LP, Y3Lp—The Official Bootleg, , and, in Greil Marcus' book "Lipstick Traces," A Boring Life, or Once Upon A Time In A Living Room.
"Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" is an instrumental performed by British dance-punk band Pigbag. The instrumental was written by Chris Hamlin and James Johnstone before Pigbag was formed and produced by Dave Hunt and Dick O'Dell. In the United States, the instrumental was released as an import on the Rough Trade label, where it made it to number 56 on the US dance chart. A 1982 re-release of "Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag" went to number three in the United Kingdom. Several covers of the instrumental have been released, including popular versions by Perfecto Allstarz and Thunderpuss.
We Are Time is a compilation album by English post-punk band The Pop Group. It was released on 13 June 1980 through the record labels Rough Trade and Y.
"In the Beginning There Was Rhythm / Where There's a Will..." is a split-single by English post-punk artists The Pop Group and The Slits. It was released on 7 March 1980 through Rough Trade Records and Y Records.
