The Ultimate Record Labels Quiz | Writers, Producers & Record Labels

Answer: Factory Records

On May 19, 1978, Manchunian TV presenter Tony Wilson decided to start a club night, called Factory. Among the artists who played at these nights were bands like Joy Division and Durutti Column. In September of the same year a double 7" was released, called "A Factory Sampler", featuring some of the bands that played at the club. And so began the story of this infamous record label. For more info see the movie "24 Hour Party People" (2002), directed by Michael Winterbottom.

Answer: Sire Records

Sire records was founded in 1966 by Seymour Stein and Richard Gotteher. In the mid-70s they were one of the first labels to see the potential of the New York City punk bands. On their 1998 album "The Boy With The Arab Strap" Scottish band Belle & Sebastian recorded a song called "Seymour Stein", though it isn't about the man himself per se.

In 2005 Seymour Stein was inducted in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.

Answer: Dischord

Dischord Records was founded by Ian MacKaye, member of Teen Idles, Minor Threat, Embrace and Fugazi. Their first release was a 7" by Teen Idles, released in December 1980. The label was first started because no one would be interested in releasing a single by a hardcore band, that by that time no longer even existed.

When they found out it wasn't all that difficult to put out a record, the ball began rolling. The second release was a 7" by S.O.A. (State Of Alert), Henry Garfield's first band. Later he became famous as the singer for Black Flag, and then as Henry Rollins of course. Dischord is still going, a stronghold for no-nonsense attitude; not generating huge costs and keeping the prices of their records as low as possible.

Answer: Rough Trade

In 2001, Rough Trade released a four CD box compilation to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their shops. On it were bands who either got signed to Rough Trade records or got distributed through them. The compilation sort of claimed none of those artists would've made it without Rough Trade, which is perhaps a bit far fetched. Anyway, it's a great compilation, featuring acts such as Pere Ubu, Buzzcocks, the Congos, Cabaret Voltaire, the Normal, Stiff Little Fingers, Throbbing Gristle, the Subway Sect, Television Personalities, the Raincoats, Crass, Joy Division, Go-Betweens, Swell Maps, Young Marble Giants, the Fall, the Birthday Party, And the Native Hipsters, Scritti Politti, Robert Wyatt, Foetus, the Smiths, Cocteau Twins, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Talking Heads, Sonic Youth, Tackhead, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Sugarcubes, Pixies, Mudhoney, Spaceman 3, Lemonheads, Coil, Stereolab, Huggy Bear, Mazzy Star, Chemical Brothers, the Chills, Lambchop, Gescom, Plastikman, Gak, Cornershop, Studio Pressure, Boards of Canada, Echoboy, Jeb Loy Nichols, Clinic, Le Tigre, I Am Kloot, Lemon Jelly, Peaches, Ryan Adams and finally Tindersticks.

Answer: SST

In 1979, Black Flag guitarist, Greg Ginn, started SST (Solid State Transformers) records, to release his own bands' records. It had originally been an electronics company, but Ginn saw more future in rock music. Black Flag's "Nervous Breakdown" 7" was the first release on the label.
In 1991, Negativland released a single on SST with the title "U2" written large and the word Negativland in a smaller typeface on the cover sleeve, with a picture of the U2 spy plane on it. The songs were parodies of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For", including samples of the original song and a rant from DJ Casey Kasem, calling the band a 'bad word'. Island Records sued Negativland claiming that the "U2" violated trademark protection, and for violation of copyright protection. Island won and the record was taken out of the shops. The entire episode cost Negativland a ton of money, with SST records suing the band for the legal costs of the case.
The following year the magazine Mondo 2000 was contacted to conduct an interview with The Edge. The magazine let two members of Negativland conduct the interview. They questioned The Edge about sampling and the legality of using copyrighted material without permission. Halfway through the interview they revealed their identities and The Edge tried to wriggle himself out of it by claiming most of the legal action took place without U2's knowledge. For the full interview, see: http://www.negativland.com/edge.html

Answer: Mute Records

Mute Records was started in 1978 by Daniel Miller, a.k.a. The Normal, to release his groundbreaking 7" "T.V.O.D. / Warm Leatherette"; which was his only personal release by the way. Afterwards he started to concentrate on releasing other people's music. Though he did occasionally do some work with his friend Fad Gadget, a.k.a. Frank Tovey. Tovey sadly passed away on April 3, 2002.

Answer: 4AD

4AD was started in 1980, by one Ivo Watts-Russell. He was also the driving force behind 'supergroup' This Mortal Coil. He assembled members from Dead Can Dance, Colourbox, Cocteau Twins, Breeders, Throwing Muses and even Howard Devoto and Colin Newman, to record mainly covers of his favourite songs.

Their versions of Tim Buckley's "Song to the Siren" and Chris Bell's "You and Your Sister" are probably better known that the originals these days.

Answer: Rick Rubin

Rubin and Russell Simmons started the Def Jam Records label in 1984. In the beginning they concentrated on hip hop, but soon Rubin's more rockist tastes and production work for bands like The Cult, started to drive the two partners apart. In 1989 Rubin left to start Def American Records, to which he signed bands like Slayer and Black Crowes.

In 1993 Def American became American Recordings. In 1994 Rubin produced and released Johnny Cash's comeback record, "American Recordings". It was such a hit that three more records were produced in the series, which put Cash back into the limelight, before passing away on September 12, 2003.

Answer: Strange Fruit

At the end of august 2005 it was decided by the BBC to declare the 13th of October "John Peel day". Radio 1 controller Andy Parfitt said: "Peel Day is about celebrating John's legacy and his unrivalled passion for music. It'll be a day of gigs taking place up and down the country, something we feel will be a fitting tribute to John." Among the bands that were given a chance early in their career by John Peel and who recorded a session for him that was subsequently released on Strange Fruit are bands like The Damned, the Undertones, the Slits, Buzzcocks, Wire, The Fall, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Gang Of Four, Joy Division, the Cure, Gary Numan, Echo & the Bunnymen, the Birthday Party, the Associates, New Order, the Smiths, the Wedding Present, Billy Bragg, Laibach, Napalm Death, Extreme Noise Terror, A Guy Called Gerald, New Fast Automatic Daffodils, The Orb, Happy Mondays, Meat Beat Manifesto, PJ Harvey, Stereolab and many more.

These are of course all post-punk acts (maybe not their sound, but definitely their place in history), but before they were officially called 'Peel Sessions' he also did sessions with older bands like Soft Machine, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Syd Barrett, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Bonzo Dog Band and Can. John Peel died on October 26, 2004.

He will be sorely missed.

Answer: Warp Records

Warp was started in Sheffield, UK, in 1989. Their fifth release, a 12" by electro-duo LFO, was their first top 20 hit. One member of LFO, Mark Bell, has worked with Björk, on her "Homogenic" (1997) album. In 1998 Warp celebrated their birthday by releasing three fabulous compilations: "Warp 10+1: Influences" (featuring early techno classics), "Warp 10+2: The Classics 1989 - 1992" (featuring classic early IDM tracks; IDM stands for 'intelligent dance music', a sub-genre for which Warp was very important in its development) and "Warp 10+3: the Remixes" (where acts like Stereolab, Spiritualised and Push Button Objects create new shapes and features with tracks by Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and Seefeel ao.)