ZTT Records
Encyclopedia
ZTT Records is a record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 founded in 1983 by NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

journalist Paul Morley
Paul Morley
Paul Morley is an English journalist, who wrote for the New Musical Express from 1977 to 1983, during one of its most successful periods, and has since written for a wide range of publications...

, record producer Trevor Horn
Trevor Horn
Trevor Charles Horn CBE is an English pop music record producer, songwriter, musician and singer. He was born in Houghton-le-Spring in north-east England....

, and businesswoman Jill Sinclair. The label's name was also printed as "Zang Tumb Tuum" and "Zang Tuum Tumb" on various releases.

History of the label

ZTT is an initialism of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti
Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti was an Italian poet and editor, the founder of the Futurist movement, and a fascist ideologue.-Childhood and adolescence:...

's sound poem "Zang Tumb Tumb
Zang Tumb Tumb
"Zang Tumb Tumb" is a sound poem and concrete poem written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, an Italian futurist. It appeared in excerpts in journals between 1912 and 1914, when it was published as an artist's book in Milan. It is an account of the Battle of Adrianople, which he witnessed as a reporter...

". The word "Tuuuum" is also featured on the cover of the original publication of the poem in book form.

The majority of the creative team at ZTT had first assembled when Horn produced the acclaimed album The Lexicon of Love
The Lexicon of Love
The Lexicon of Love is the critically acclaimed chart-topping debut album by British pop band ABC, released in 1982. It is a concept album in which the singer experiences heartache as he tries and fails to have a meaningful relationship....

for British pop band ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...

.

A precursor to ZTT was the short-lived Perfect label, spun off from the newly founded Perfect Songs publishing subsidiary of Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair's company. Perfect Recordings only released the Buggles
The Buggles
The Buggles were an English New Wave band consisting of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes . They are remembered chiefly for their 1979 debut single "Video Killed the Radio Star" that was #1 on the singles chart in 16 countries. Its music video was the first to be shown on MTV in the U.S...

' Adventures in Modern Recording
Adventures in Modern Recording
Adventures in Modern Recording is the second and last studio album by the British synthpop duo The Buggles released in 1981 on Carrere Records. Made one year after their stint as members of Yes, the album contains nine tracks, including a stripped-down version of Yes's "Into the Lens", here...

and the singles derived from it.

ZTT enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s with the composer Andrew Poppy
Andrew Poppy
Andrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.-Biography:From 1974 to 1979 he studied music at Royal Holloway College and Goldsmiths College University of London, studying piano with Susan Bradshaw and earning a B.M...

, bands such as Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is 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....

, Art of Noise, and the chart-topping Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood
Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...

. In 1987 and 1989 respectively, Propaganda and Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson
Holly Johnson is an English artist, writer and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and former bassist for Big in Japan.- Big in Japan :...

 went to court to be released from their contracts. Propaganda's case was settled out of court; Johnson won his outright. In the Holly Johnson case, the court chastised Horn for production cost over-runs. It has since become common knowledge that Horn's perfectionism
Perfectionism (psychology)
Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that a state of completeness and flawlessness can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable...

 can be expensive. (The sleevenotes of the Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys
Pet Shop Boys are an English electronic dance music duo, consisting of Neil Tennant, who provides main vocals, keyboards and occasional guitar, and Chris Lowe on keyboards....

Discography compilation make good natured references to Horn's methods).

In the 1990s, ZTT became a successful dance label once again, with major names on their roster including Seal and 808 State
808 State
808 State are a British electronic music outfit, formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their common state of mind...

.

Over the years, the label has continued to dip into its well of 1980s material by constantly reissuing material by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda and Art of Noise in various formats - from remix albums, to straight reissues.

ZTT Records is now owned by the SPZ Group, which stands for Sarm Perfect ZTT: Sarm Studios, Perfect Songs
Perfect Songs
Perfect Songs is an independent music publishing company with a catalogue containing many memorable songs of the past 25 years.It is part of the SPZ Group of companies which also includes Sarm Studios , ZTT Records, Stiff Records and Music Bank hire .Songs featured in their catalogue include Relax...

 publishing and ZTT records. From the beginning, the majority of ZTT releases were published by Perfect Songs and recorded at Sarm Studios.

Acts on the ZTT label

1980s 1990s 2000s

  • Art of Noise
  • Propaganda
    Propaganda (band)
    Propaganda is 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....

  • Frankie Goes to Hollywood
    Frankie Goes to Hollywood
    Frankie Goes to Hollywood were a British dance-pop band popular in the mid-1980s. The group was fronted by Holly Johnson , with Paul Rutherford , Peter Gill , Mark O'Toole , and Brian Nash .The group's debut single "Relax" was banned by the BBC in 1984 while at number six in the charts and...

  • Andrew Poppy
    Andrew Poppy
    Andrew Poppy is an English composer, pianist, and record producer.-Biography:From 1974 to 1979 he studied music at Royal Holloway College and Goldsmiths College University of London, studying piano with Susan Bradshaw and earning a B.M...

  • Das Psych-Oh Rangers
  • Roy Orbison
    Roy Orbison
    Roy Kelton Orbison was an American singer-songwriter, well known for his distinctive, powerful voice, complex compositions, and dark emotional ballads. Orbison grew up in Texas and began singing in a rockabilly/country & western band in high school until he was signed by Sun Records in Memphis...

  • Grace Jones
    Grace Jones
    Grace Jones is a Jamaican-American singer, model and actress.Jones secured a record deal with Island Records in 1977, which resulted in a string of dance-club hits. In the late 1970s, she adapted the emerging electronic music style and adopted a severe, androgynous look with square-cut hair and...

  • Nasty Rox Inc
  • Act
    Act (band)
    Act were a short-lived synthpop group signed to ZTT Records in the late 1980s, and comprising Thomas Leer and ex-Propaganda vocalist Claudia Brücken. Besides electro-pop and disco the group were also influenced by psychedelic rock and musical theatre...

  • 808 State
    808 State
    808 State are a British electronic music outfit, formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine and their common state of mind...

  • Hoodlum priest
  • Anne Pigalle
    Anne Pigalle
    Anne Pigalle is a singer and multimedia artist .-Biography:She grew up in Paris, moved to London, and has performed all over the world, including Europe, Japan, America, Mexico, Timbuktu in Africa.In 1985, she released the album Everything Could Be So Perfect with Trevor Horn on ZTT Records, and...

  • Seal
  • Adamski
    Adamski
    Adamski is an English dance music producer, prominent at the time of acid house for his tracks "N-R-G" and "Killer" .-Career:...

  • Max (as (lo)max)
  • Sun Electric
    Sun Electric
    Sun Electric is the name of an electronic music group from Berlin. Their first release was the single "O'Locco" on the Wau! Mr. Modo label in 1990, and they have considerable body of work released via the R&S / Apollo labels throughout the following decade. Sun Electric have been active and...

  • Afrika Bambaataa & The Soulsonic Force†
  • Solid State Logic
  • Glam Metal Detectives
  • Mantra
  • Kirsty MacColl
    Kirsty MacColl
    Kirsty Anna MacColl was an English singer-songwriter.MacColl scored several pop hits from the early 1980s to the early 1990s...

  • Tara
    Tara Newley
    Tara Newley is a singer and the daughter of actress Joan Collins and singer Anthony Newley. Born Tara Cynara Newley in New York City, United States she studied at Boston University. A sister to Sacha Newley, she returned to London when her parents' seven year marriage ended in 1970 and her mother...

  • All Saints
    All Saints (band)
    All Saints were a British/Canadian girl group. Founded in 1993 as All Saints 1.9.7.5, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton...

     (as All Saints 1.9.7.5.)
  • Tom Jones
    Tom Jones (singer)
    Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...

  • The Flood
  • Sexus
    Romo
    Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and clubbing movement, of Glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred around the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia, as well as concerts by the chief associated bands.The Romo...

  • The Frames
    The Frames
    The Frames are an Irish band based in Dublin. Founded in 1990 by Glen Hansard, the band has been influential in the Dublin rock music scene. The group has released six albums...

  • Rehab
  • The Heights of Abraham
    The Heights of Abraham
    The Heights of Abraham is an electronica collaboration based in Sheffield and Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire in North-East England. Formed in the mid 1990s by Steve Cobby, Sim Lister and Jake Harries, they play electronica, ambient techno, and chill out....

  • MC Tunes
    MC Tunes
    MC Tunes is a British rapper from the suburb of Moss Side in Manchester. His name was legally changed to Lockett in 1981. Tunes was one of the big promoters of the Madchester-era during the 1980s and 1990s.-808 State:Tunes first worked with 808 State on the 1990 album, The North At Its Heights...

  • Lisa Stansfield
    Lisa Stansfield
    Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...

  • David Jordan
    David Jordan (singer)
    David Jordan is an English singer-songwriter.Born to a mother from Montserrat and a father from Calcutta, Jordan has been writing pop-rock songs since he was 11 . Growing up his music idol was Prince...



  • † as one-time UK distributor for Tommy Boy Records
    Tommy Boy Records
    Tommy Boy Entertainment is an independent record label started in 1981 by Tom Silverman.-History:...


    Action Series

    As part of ZTT internal cataloguing of releases they maintained two series; the Action Series and the Incidental Series. The Action Series was issued mainly to singles and albums by a majority of the labels artists. However to confuse matters the series also contains a booklet and a concert.

    The Action series was discontinued by ZTT in 1988.
    • AS1: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Relax
    • AS2: Propaganda - Dr. Mabuse
    • AS3: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Two Tribes
      Two Tribes
      "Two Tribes" is the second single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records in May 1984 . The song was later included on the album Welcome to the Pleasuredome....

      /War
    • AS4: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
      Welcome to the Pleasuredome
      Welcome to the Pleasuredome was the debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, first released in the UK in October 1984 by ZTT/Island Records. Originally issued as a vinyl double album, it was assured of a UK chart entry at number one due to reported advance sales of over one million...

    • AS5: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - The Power of Love
      The Power of Love (Frankie Goes to Hollywood song)
      Holly Johnson, former singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, recorded his own version of "The Power of Love" which was released on his 1999 album Soulstream and was released as a single which made #56 in the UK. The single stayed in the charts for 2 weeks...

    • AS6: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - And Suddenly There Came A Bang! (Booklet)
    • AS7: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Welcome to the Pleasuredome
      Welcome to the Pleasuredome (song)
      "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" is the title track to the 1984 debut album by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The lyrics of the song were inspired by the poem Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge....

       (single)
    • AS8: Propaganda - Duel
    • AS9: Roy Orbison - Wild Hearts
    • AS10: The Value Of Entertainment (concert)
    • AS11: Art of Noise - Who's Afraid of the Art of Noise
    • AS12: Propaganda - p:Machinery
    • AS13: Propaganda - A Secret Wish
      A Secret Wish
      - Original 1985 vinyl album release :A – WITHIN# "Dream Within A Dream" – 8:04# "The Murder Of Love" – 5:12# "Jewel" – 3:10# "Duel" – 4:43B – WITHOUT# "p:Machinery" [album mix]" – 3:50# "Sorry For Laughing" – 3:25# "Dr...

    • AS14: Various - The Shape Of The Universe
    • AS15: Glenn Gregory & Claudia Brucken - When Your Heart Runs Out Of Time
    • AS16: Grace Jones - Slave To The Rhythm (A Biography)
    • AS17: Andrew Poppy - The Beating Of Wings
    • AS18: Various - Zang Tuum Tumb Sampled
    • AS19: Anne Pigalle - Everything Could Be So Perfect...
    • AS20: Propaganda - Wishful Thinking
    • AS21: Propaganda - p:Machinery (Reactivated)
    • AS22: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Rage Hard
      Rage Hard
      "Rage Hard" is the fifth single by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. It was released in August 1986.-Background:Having topped the charts around the world with Welcome to the Pleasuredome and its accompanying singles, Frankie Goes to Hollywood took off to Amsterdam to record the follow-up album, Liverpool...

    • AS23: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Liverpool
    • AS24: Das Psycho Rangers - Starve God There's Choice
    • AS25: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Warriors of the Wasteland
      Warriors Of The Wasteland
      "Warriors of the Wasteland" is the sixth single from Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in 1986. It was taken from the album Liverpool.Having already referenced literary heavyweights like Coleridge in "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" and Thomas in "Rage Hard)", for "Warriors of the Wasteland" Holly...

    • AS26: Frankie Goes to Hollywood - Watching the Wildlife
      Watching The Wildlife
      "Watching the Wildlife" is the seventh and last single by British pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Released in early 1987, it is taken from the album Liverpool....

    • AS27: Andrew Poppy - Alphabed (A Mystery Dance)
    • AS28: Act (band)
      Act (band)
      Act were a short-lived synthpop group signed to ZTT Records in the late 1980s, and comprising Thomas Leer and ex-Propaganda vocalist Claudia Brücken. Besides electro-pop and disco the group were also influenced by psychedelic rock and musical theatre...

       - Snobbery and Decay
      Snobbery And Decay
      "Snobbery and Decay" is the first single by Act. It was released by ZTT Records in a number of formats on and reached #60 in the UK Singles Chart....


    Incidental Series

    The Incidental Series seemed to follow even less logic, and indeed individual releases and even actors in videos and voiceovers received their own IS number. In fact, even oddities like the day Relax was banned and Holly Johnson's walking stick had Incidental Series numbers.

    The series was further complicated by having some singles released with an ZTIS catalogue number. The Incidental Series seemed to mirror the FAC numbering system used by Factory Records
    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...

    , where a cat was called FAC 191.
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