Sarah Records
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
active between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...
.
The label was formed in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
in 1987
1987 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1987.See also:Record labels established in 1987-January-February:*January 3 – Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
by Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes, and grew out of the fanzine
Fanzine
A fanzine is a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon for the pleasure of others who share their interest...
scene at the time, Haynes having previously edited Are You Scared To Get Happy?
Are You Scared To Get Happy?
Are You Scared To Get Happy? was an influential music fanzine published from Bristol, United Kingdom between 1985 and 1987 by Matt Haynes, later the co-founder of Sarah Records...
, and Wadd Kvatch. Both these fanzines had given away flexidiscs - indeed, AYSTGH had been part of the Sha-la-la organisation, a record label set up solely to produce flexidiscs. Several Sarah releases were fanzines and flexi-discs, as it was felt this summed up the aesthetic of the label better than 12" singles and albums.
Sarah Records was usually seen as being grounded in the C86
C86 (music)
C86 is a cassette compilation released by the British music magazine NME in 1986, featuring new bands licensed from independent labels of the time. As a phrase, C86 quickly evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by "jangly" guitars and fey melodies, although other...
jangly indie
Indie (music)
In music, independent music, often shortened to indie music or "indie" is a term used to describe independence from major commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, and an autonomous, Do-It-Yourself approach to recording and publishing....
-pop sensibility, though the late Seventies DIY scene and independent yet stylish and imaginative labels such as Postcard Records
Postcard Records
Postcard Records is a Glasgow-based independent record label founded by Alan Horne in 1979, as a vehicle for Orange Juice and Josef K releases. The label's motto was "The Sound of Young Scotland", a parody/tribute to the Motown motto; its logo featured a cartoon cat beating a drum...
, Factory
Factory Records
Factory Records was a Manchester based British independent record label, started in 1978 by Tony Wilson and Alan Erasmus, which featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Joy Division, New Order, A Certain Ratio, The Durutti Column, Happy Mondays, Northside and James and...
and Creation
Creation Records
Creation Records was a British independent record label headed by Alan McGee. Along with Dick Green and Joe Foster, McGee founded Creation in 1983. The label lasted until its demise in 1999. The name came from the 1960s band The Creation , whom McGee greatly admired. McGee, Green and Foster were...
, plus the mid-Eighties fanzine culture, were bigger influences. It ceased operation with the release of There and Back Again Lane, the hundredth release in the main catalogue sequence - a booklet telling the story of the label, along with a CD of representative tracks. Half-page adverts entitled "A Day For Destroying Things" in both NME and Melody Maker marked the release. "We don't do encores", the advert announced, and the label has stuck by this sentiment, with no further releases. Bands on the label included Heavenly
Heavenly (British band)
Heavenly were a 1990s twee pop band, originally forming in Oxford, England in 1989. Amelia Fletcher , Mathew Fletcher , Peter Momtchiloff and Robert Pursey had all been members of Talulah Gosh, a key member of the C86 scene.-History:Heavenly debuted with the 7" single "I Fell in Love Last...
, East River Pipe
East River Pipe
East River Pipe is the name under which Fred Cornog records. Cornog was born in Norfolk, Virginia, and raised in Summit, New Jersey. After high school, Cornog worked a series of menial jobs before succumbing to alcoholism, depression, drug abuse and eventual homelessness, ending up in the...
, The Orchids
The Orchids
The Orchids are a Scottish twee pop band that achieved success with Sarah Records. Formed near Glasgow in 1986, the Orchids released a series of underground singles on the influential Sarah Records . The group's line-up comprised James Hackett , John Scally , Chris Quinn , Matthew Drummond and...
, The Hit Parade
The Hit Parade
The Hit Parade is a British pop music group, based in London, England. Named after the NBC US television programme, Your Hit Parade, which was broadcast across America in the 1950s as a showcase of the best of chart music, The Hit Parade was formed in 1984, by three schoolfriends Raymond Watts,...
, Even As We Speak
Even As We Speak
Even As We Speak is an indie band from Sydney, Australia. The lineup changed over the years and with founding members Matthew Love , Mary Wyer and Rob Irwin joined later by Anita Raynor , Paul Clarke and Julian Knowles...
, Boyracer
Boyracer
-History:Boyracer was founded by vocalist/guitarist Stewart Anderson in 1990 and released their first single in 1991. Richard Adams left the group in 1993, after which the group released its first EP, Naked. They then arranged to release further recordings via Sarah Records including two more EPs...
, Brighter, Blueboy
Blueboy (band)
Blueboy were an indie pop band formed in Reading, Berkshire who were signed to Sarah Records and later Shinkansen Recordings. Core members Keith Girdler and Paul Stewart also recorded as Arabesque and Beaumont.-History:...
, The Field Mice
The Field Mice
The Field Mice were an indie pop band on the indie label Sarah Records. Initially a duo from South London suburb of Mitcham comprising Robert Wratten and Michael Hiscock, their first EP, Emma's House, was released in November 1988, and reached number 20 in the UK Independent Chart...
, Another Sunny Day
Another Sunny Day
Another Sunny Day were a London-based indie pop band on Sarah Records, best known for the somewhat Smiths-esque single "You Should All Be Murdered" and for the single whose title perhaps best epitomises the Sarah Records output "I'm in Love with a Girl Who Doesn't Know I Exist".-History:The band...
, Shelley
Orlando (band)
Orlando was the most successful and visible band to emerge from the extremely brief Romo movement of the mid-'90s. Formed from the ashes of Sarah Records band Shelley, Orlando were led by lyricist/guitarist Dickon Edwards, and singer/songwriter Tim Chipping...
and St. Christopher
St. Christopher (band)
St. Christopher are a British indie pop band formed in York in 1984, who released several records on Sarah Records in the late 1980s, and have continued to release records since.-History:...
.
Haynes subsequently established Shinkansen Recordings, where many Sarah artists went on to record; he now edits a zine
Zine
A zine is most commonly a small circulation publication of original or appropriated texts and images. More broadly, the term encompasses any self-published work of minority interest usually reproduced via photocopier....
, Smoke, dedicated to writing and art inspired by London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
See also
- Sarah Records catalogueSarah Records catalogueThe Sarah Records' catalogue consists of around a hundred items, each of which has a catalogue number. The items from Sarah 001 to Sarah 100 are mostly 7 inch singles...
- List of record labels
- List of independent UK record labels