I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by

Miles Copeland III Miles Axe Copeland III (born May 2, 1944) is an American music and entertainment executive and former manager of The Police. Copeland later managed Sting's musical and acting career. In 1979, Copeland founded the I.R.S. Records label, producin ...

Jay Boberg Jay Robert Boberg (born in 1958) is an American music, entertainment and viticulture executive. He co-founded the independent record label I.R.S. Records in 1979, and later served as the president of Universal/MCA Music Publishing and the presiden ...

, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by

college rock College rock was the alternative rock music played on student-run university and college campus radio stations located in the United States and Canada in the 1980s. The stations' playlists were often created by students who avoided the mainstream ...

, new wave and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

artists, including

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternati ...

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboar ...

Wall of Voodoo Wall of Voodoo was an American rock band from Los Angeles, California, United States. Though largely an underground act for the majority of its existence, the band came to prominence when its 1982 single "Mexican Radio" became a hit on MTV an ...

and

Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) was a British pop rock band formed in Birmingham, England, in 1984, by bassist David Steele, guitarist Andy Cox (both formerly of The Beat), and singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled 1985 ...

. Currently the label is distributed by parent company

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

History

Miles Copeland III, the son of CIA agent Miles Copeland Jr., played many roles in the U.K. punk rock and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

industry of the middle to late 1970s: agent, manager, producer, magazine publisher, record company and label owner. His brother Ian was the head of a talent agency, Frontier Booking International (F.B.I.), while his brother Stewart played drums for

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Polic ...

, a band that Copeland managed. The Police's first album was released on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

in 1978 with a hit single, " Roxanne", that Copeland called a turning point in his life. Building on success with the Police, Copeland convinced Jerry Moss, co-owner of A&M, to establish the I.R.S. division in 1979. I.R.S. stood for International Record Syndicate. From 1983 to 1987, I.R.S. Records sponsored a monthly MTV show called '' I.R.S. Records Presents The Cutting Edge'', hosted by Peter Zaremba of The Fleshtones. The series concentrated on bands that recorded for the label. The show concept would later evolve into the alternative rock program '' 120 Minutes'', which was launched in 1986 and co-existed with ''Cutting Edge'' for about a year and a half. I.R.S. releases were distributed by A&M until 1985, then by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...

until 1990, and by

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

until the label folded in 1996. In 1985, Copeland brokered a deal to switch the label's distributor to MCA Records. Under the agreement, A&M continued to release the label's pre-1985 catalog, much of which still can be found under the A&M banner. Copeland sold the I.R.S. music publishing to Rondor Music in 1995. The label folded in May 1996, with its last release being '' All Set'' by Buzzcocks, issued two weeks before the closure. Shortly after, Copeland formed Ark 21 Records. In 2011, EMI revived the label; as of 2012, the new label had

Chiddy Bang Chidera Anamege, now known by his stage name Chiddy Bang, is an American rapper from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Prior to its breakup, Chiddy Bang was an American hip hop duo consisting of Anamege, under the stage name Chiddy, and Noah Beresin, ...

and

Foxy Shazam Foxy Shazam is an American rock band from Cincinnati, Ohio formed in 2004. , the band's lineup consists of lead vocalist Eric Nally, pianist Sky White, trumpeter and backing vocalist Alex Nauth, bassist Trigger Warning, guitarist Devin Williams ...

on its roster. In October 2013, shortly after the integration of EMI into its successor,

, the label was revived again as I.R.S. Nashville, with Striking Matches, Marc Scibilia and

Cowboy Jack Clement Jack Henderson Clement (April 5, 1931 – August 8, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter, and record and film producer. Biography Early life Raised and educated in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, Clement was performing at an early age, ...

on its roster before being shut down once again in 2015.

Faulty Products labels

Faulty Products was the UK holding company for I.R.S. Records of the UK record labels set up by Copeland. It included Illegal Records, Deptford Fun City Records and others. Faulty Products was also an American independent record label and distribution company for other indie labels between 1980 and 1982. Faulty handled artists that did not go through I.R.S.'s distribution deal with A&M. Illegal Records was set up by Miles Copeland with his younger brother Stewart and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan. The label released The Police's debut single, " Fall Out". Deptford Fun City Records was set up by Miles Copeland in the late 1970s as an outlet for Deptford, England bands such as

Alternative TV Alternative TV (sometimes known as ATV) are an English band formed in London in 1977. Author Steve Taylor writes: "Alternative TV pioneered reggae rhythms in punk and then moved on to redefine the musical rules". History Alternative TV were fo ...

and Squeeze. I.R.S. No Speak, also known as No Speak Records, was set up as an all-instrumental imprint of I.R.S. in January 1988. It released albums by Stewart Copeland, Wishbone Ash, and William Orbit. Tribal America was a label run by Rob DiStefano that was distributed by I.R.S. from 1991 until IRS folded in 1996. It concentrated on house music, a type of electronic dance music. The most prominent releases on its roster were by the production team Murk and also the song " So Get Up" an iconic vocal poem by Californian rapper Ithaka, backed by the

Progressive house Progressive house is a subgenre of house music. The progressive house style emerged in the early 1990s. It initially developed in the United Kingdom as a natural progression of American and European house music of the late 1980s.Gerard, Morgan; ...

sounds of USL from Lisbon, Portugal. DiStefano went on to found Twisted America Records.

Roster

I.R.S.'s roster of musicians included

The Alarm The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh languag ...

, Bangles,

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

, Buzzcocks, J. J. Cale, Candi & The Backbeat, Candyman,

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, the most successful all-female rock band of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a solo artist. Raised in ...

Chrome Molly Chrome Molly are an English hard rock band from Leicester. They formed in 1982, releasing four albums before splitting up in 1991. They re-formed in 2009. History The band formed in 1982, and after an early demo settled on a line-up of singe ...

Concrete Blonde Concrete Blonde was an American alternative rock band from Hollywood, California. They were initially active from 1982 to 1995, and reunited twice: first from 2001 to 2004, and again from 2010 to 2012. They were best known for their album ''Bloo ...

Stewart Copeland Stewart Armstrong Copeland (born July 16, 1952) is a Scottish-American musician and composer. He is best known for his work as the drummer of the English rock band the Police from 1977 to 1986, and again from 2007 to 2008. Before playing with th ...

The Cramps The Cramps were an American rock band formed in 1976 and active until 2006. Their lineup rotated frequently during their existence, with the husband-and-wife duo of singer Lux Interior and guitarist Poison Ivy the only ever-present members. ...

, Marillion,

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

, The Damned,

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing p ...

, The English Beat, The Fall,

, The Fleshtones, General Public, The Genitorturers,

, hHead, Henry Badowski, Jools Holland, Klark Kent, Let's Active,

The Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were an English/American supergroup with a line-up originally consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex- the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex- the Da ...

, Magazine, Mekong Delta, Gary Numan,

Nuclear Assault Nuclear Assault was an American thrash metal band formed in New York City in 1984. Part of the mid-to-late 1980s thrash metal movement, they were one of the main bands of the genre to emerge from the East Coast along with Overkill, Whiplash, ...

Oingo Boingo Oingo Boingo () was an American new wave band formed by songwriter Danny Elfman in 1979. The band emerged from a surrealist musical theatre troupe, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, that Elfman had led and written material for in the ...

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

, Scott Merritt,

Shampoo Shampoo () is a hair care product, typically in the form of a Viscosity, viscous liquid, that is used for cleaning hair. Less commonly, shampoo is available in solid bar format. Shampoo is used by applying it to wet hair, massaging the product ...

, Stan Ridgway,

Skafish Skafish is an American, Chicago-based punk band, fronted by Jim Skafish, cousin of Chicago area DJ Bobby Skafish. The band was formed in 1976 and had their first performance that November. In 1977, ''Billboard'' magazine printed a review of t ...

The Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock band who emerged via the punk rock scene. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 19 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have origin ...

, Sahotas,

Timbuk 3 Timbuk 3 was an American rock band which released six original studio albums between 1986 and 1995. They are best known for their Top 20 single "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades". The band's music has been featured on more than 20 c ...

Torch Song A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affect ...

, William Orbit and YEN.

Sales certifications

I.R.S. Records released three albums that have been certified as platinum or multi-platinum, for sales of over 1 million units, by the Recording Industry Association of America: '' Beauty and the Beat'' by

(1981), ''

Document A document is a written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of non-fictional, as well as fictional, content. The word originates from the Latin ''Documentum'', which denotes a "teaching" o ...

'' by

(1987) and '' The Raw & the Cooked'' by

(1989). Seven additional albums have also been certified gold for sales of at least 500,000 copies: '' Murmur'' (1983), '' Reckoning'' (1984), ''

Fables of the Reconstruction ''Fables of the Reconstruction'', also known as ''Reconstruction of the Fables'', is the third studio album by American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on I.R.S. Records on June 10, 1985. The Joe Boyd-produced album was the first recorde ...

'' (1985) and ''

Lifes Rich Pageant ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' is the fourth studio album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released on July 28, 1986. R.E.M. chose Don Gehman to produce the album, which was recorded at John Mellencamp's Belmont Mall Studios in Belmont, Indi ...

'' (1986), all by R.E.M., ''

Vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

'' by The Go-Go's (1982), ''

Belinda Belinda is a feminine given name of unknown origin, apparently coined from Italian ''bella'', meaning "beautiful". Alternatively it may be derived from the Old High German name ''Betlinde'', which possibly meant "bright serpent" or "bright linde ...

'' by

(1986) and ''

Bloodletting Bloodletting (or blood-letting) is the withdrawal of blood from a patient to prevent or cure illness and disease. Bloodletting, whether by a physician or by leeches, was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily flu ...

'' by

(1990).

I.R.S. compilation albums

''On the Charts'' was a 1994 compilation album that chronicled I.R.S. Records from 1979 to 1994.

US releases

# "

Our Lips Are Sealed "Our Lips Are Sealed" is a song co-written by Jane Wiedlin, guitarist of the Go-Go's, and Terry Hall, singer of the Specials and Fun Boy Three. It was first recorded by the Go-Go's as the opening track on their album '' Beauty and the Beat'' ...

" – The Go-Go's # " My Face" - Henry Badowski # " Mexican Radio" dit– Wall of Voodoo # "

Only a Lad ''Only a Lad'' is the full-length debut album by American new wave band Oingo Boingo, released in 1981, following their self-titled EP. Composition Music The album's musical arrangements, by vocalist Danny Elfman and guitarist Steve Bartek, comp ...

" – Oingo Boingo # " The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" – Timbuk3 # "

Save It for Later "Save It for Later" is a 1982 song written and recorded by British ska band the Beat (known in the United States and Canada as the English Beat). The song was released as a single from the band's third and final studio album, ''Special Beat Servi ...

" – The English Beat # " She Drives Me Crazy" –

# "

Mad About You ''Mad About You'' is an American television sitcom starring Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt as a married couple in New York City. It initially aired on NBC from September 23, 1992, to May 24, 1999, winning numerous awards including four Golden Glob ...

" ingle Mix–

# " Tenderness" – General Public # " The One I Love" – R.E.M. # " Joey" –

# "Rain in the Summertime" dit– The Alarm # " Dizz Knee Land" –

UK releases

# "Our Lips Are Sealed" – The Go-Go's # "Mexican Radio" dit– Wall of Voodoo # "

68 Guns "Sixty Eight Guns" is a song by Welsh rock band the Alarm that was released as a single in August 1983 and later appeared on the group's debut album ''Declaration'' in February 1984. It was written by Alarm members Mike Peters and Eddie MacDonal ...

" – The Alarm # "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades" – Timbuk3 # "

Spirit in the Sky "Spirit in the Sky" is a song by American singer-songwriter Norman Greenbaum, originally written and recorded by Greenbaum and released in late 1969 from the album of the same name. The single became a gold record, selling two million copies f ...

" –

Doctor and the Medics Doctor and the Medics is a British glam rock band formed in London in 1981. The group was most successful during the 1980s and is best known for their cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Spirit in the Sky" which reached No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart. The ...

# "Heartbreaker (At the End of Lonely Street)" –

Dread Zeppelin Dread Zeppelin is an American reggae rock band. Formed in 1989 in Sierra Madre, California, the band combines hard rock and reggae styles with humor. They are best known for performing the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style as sung by a L ...

# "

Camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the b ...

" – Stan Ridgway # "Mad About You" ingle Mix– Belinda Carlisle # " Hey, Matthew" –

Karel Fialka Karel Francis Fialka is an Indian-born British singer, songwriter, musician and record producer, best known for his 1987 single, " Hey Matthew". Career He was born Karel Francis Fialka in Bengal, India, to a Scottish mother and Czech father. F ...

# "The One I Love" – R.E.M. # "Joey" – Concrete Blonde # " Holy Cow" – Jools Holland # "Sass" - Salvation # "Dizz Knee Land" – Dada

References

External links

I.R.S. Nashville

{{DEFAULTSORT:IRS Records I.R.S. Records, American record labels Record labels established in 1979 Record labels disestablished in 1996 Record labels established in 2011 Record labels disestablished in 2015 Re-established companies New wave record labels Rock record labels Labels distributed by Universal Music Group 1979 establishments in the United States 1996 disestablishments in the United States 2011 establishments in the United States 2015 disestablishments in the United States A&M Records MCA Records Capitol Records