Independence Days: The Story of UK Independent Record Labels

by Alex Ogg

Collating more than 150 interviews, Independence Days traces the story of the UK independent record label boom from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, a period which saw a new generation of independent spirits take up the baton and revolutionize the course of popular music. The era's most celebrated labels are covered, including Rough Trade, Beggars Banquet/4AD, Factory, Cherry Red and Mute, as well as releases by such notable acts as the Smiths, Joy Division, the Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello, Gary Numan, Teardrop Explodes, and Nick Cave. Interviewees include Rough Trade founder Geoff Travis, Mute Records founder Daniel Miller, 4AD founder Ivo Watts-Russell, Zoo Records cofounder Bill Drummond, Crass cofounder Penny Rimbaud, Beggars Group founder Martin Mills, Cherry Red cofounder Iain McNay, Good Vibrations founder Terri Hooley, DJ Charlie Gillett, I.R.S. Records founder Miles Copeland, and Sire Records cofounder Seymour Stein.

Genres: Music

600 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Gunnar Hjalmarsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a blue eyed fan of the british indepentant record scene this was an interesting and entertaining read on the subject.

[DJ Yossarian]

This book looks absolutely brilliant. It does lack an index, which is frustrating because one of its strengths is the sheer amount of information in it. One day, when I'm king of the world and have tons of free time because as part of the ruling elite I'll just sit around on my ass all day, I will find good indexing software and compile the damn thing myself. Until then, maybe someone else can have a whack at it (or if the publisher reprints it or updates it they could add an index then).