Spiderleg Records was an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

founded by UK

anarcho-punk Anarcho-punk (also known as anarchist punk or peace punk) is ideological subgenre of punk rock that promotes anarchism. Some use the term broadly to refer to any punk music with anarchist lyrical content, which may figure in crust punk, hardcor ...

band Flux of Pink Indians in 1981. The band set up the label after releasing their first EP on the

Crass Records Crass Records was an independent record label that was set up by the anarchist punk band Crass. Overview and history Prior to the formation of Crass, Penny Rimbaud and Gee Vaucher had published their creative works via their own Dial Ho ...

label, which taught them the skills necessary to run such a project and provided them with the seed cash. In turn, the band not only used the label to release their own material, but gave opportunities to like-minded punk bands to put out records, including The Subhumans, who in a similar fashion set up the Bluurg label. Others that released records on Spiderleg included The System, Amebix and

Antisect Antisect are a punk rock band based in London, England. Their roots are in hardcore/ anarcho punk and metal. Formed in Daventry in 1982, their debut album, ''In Darkness There Is No Choice'', was released in 1983. 1985's follow-up EP ''Out fr ...

. The first record to be put out was a re-recording of older material made when the band were known as The Epileptics (they changed the name to EPI-X following complaints from the British Epilepsy Association and eventually emerged as Flux of Pink Indians having reverted to The Epileptics and then The Licks). This was an EP entitled ''1970s Have Been Made in Hong Kong'', which had originally been released by the small

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated popu ...

based label Stortbeat. However, the band fell into dispute with Stortbeat when the label allegedly re-released the single without paying the band owed

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...

. The re-recording is also notable for featuring

Penny Rimbaud Penny Lapsang Rimbaud (born Jeremy John Ratter, 1943) is a writer, poet, philosopher, painter, musician and activist. He was a member of the performance art groups EXIT and Ceres Confusion, and in 1972 was co-founder of the Stonehenge Free Fes ...

Crass Crass were an English art collective and punk rock band formed in Epping, Essex in 1977, who promoted anarchism as a political ideology, a lifestylism, way of life, and a resistance movement. Crass popularised the anarcho-punk movement of the ...

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair of matching drumsticks ...

as the original Epileptics drummer was not available. The label had considerable indie chart success, with several hits on the

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the re ...

, including a number one album with Flux of Pink Indians' '' Strive To Survive Causing The Least Suffering Possible'', which also reached number 79 on the

UK Album Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

.Strong, Martin C. (1999) "The Great Alternative & Indie Discography", Canongate,

Derek Birkett One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

player of Flux of Pink Indians, later set up the highly successful label One Little Indian Records, now known as

One Little Independent Records One Little Independent Records (formerly One Little Indian Records) is an English independent record label. It was set up in 1985 by members of various anarcho-punk bands, and managed by former Flux of Pink Indians bassist Derek Birkett. In th ...

, whose releases have included material by

Björk Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...

The Shamen The Shamen ( ) were a Scottish psychedelic band, formed in 1985 in Aberdeen, who became a chart-topping British electronic dance music act by the early 1990s. The founding members were Colin Angus, Derek McKenzie and Keith McKenzie. Peter St ...

, Skunk Anansie, Queen Adreena and

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enoug ...

, amongst others.

Releases

chart positions shown from the UK Indie Chart * SDL 1 - The Epileptics: ''1970s Have Been Made in Hong Kong'' EP (#21) * SDL 2 - The Epileptics: ''Last Bus to Debden'' live 7" (#17) * SDL 3 - The Subhumans: '' Demolition War'' EP (#13) * SDL 4 - The System: ''Warfare'' EP (#18) * SDL 5 - The Subhumans: '' Reasons for Existence'' EP (#11) * SDL 6 - Amebix: '' Who's the Enemy'' EP (#33) * SDL 7 - The Subhumans: '' Religious Wars'' EP (#7) * SDL 8 - Flux of Pink Indians: '' Strive to Survive Causing Least Suffering Possible'' LP (#1) * SDL 9 - The Subhumans: ''

The Day the Country Died ''The Day the Country Died'' is the debut studio album by English anarcho-punk band Subhumans. It was recorded in five days in June 1982 and was released in January 1983 through Spiderleg Records. The album was later re-released via Bluurg, t ...

'' LP (#3) * SDL 10 - Amebix: ''Winter'' 7" (#18) * SDL 11 - The System: ''The System Is Murder'' 7" (#16) * SDL 12 -

Kronstadt Uprising The Kronstadt rebellion ( rus, Кронштадтское восстание, Kronshtadtskoye vosstaniye) was a 1921 insurrection of Soviet sailors and civilians against the Bolshevik government in the Russian SFSR port city of Kronstadt. Locat ...

: ''The Unknown Revolution'' EP * SDL 13 - Flux of Pink Indians: '' The Fucking Cunts Treat Us Like Pricks'' double LP (#2) * SDL 14 - Amebix: '' No Sanctuary'' 12 inch EP (#9) * SDL 15 - Antisect: ''In Darkness There Is No Choice'' LP (#3) * SDL 16 - Flux of Pink Indians: ''Taking a Liberty'' EP (#5)

References

External links

Spiderleg Records at the anarcho-punk archive
{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom British independent record labels Record labels established in 1981

Releases

See also

References

Further reading

External links