Crypt Records is an independent

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

founded by American-born Tim Warren in 1983. The label has been headquartered variously in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and in several locations in the United States. Crypt is perhaps best known for issuing the ten-volume '' Back from the Grave'' series of 1960s

garage punk A garage is a covered structure built for the purpose of parking, storing, protecting, maintaining, and/or repairing vehicles. Specific applications include: *Garage (residential), a building or part of a building for storing one or more vehicl ...

compilations, although its other reissues and releases include surf,

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western musi ...

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

exotica Exotica is a musical genre that was popular during the 1950s to mid-1960s with Americans who came of age during World War II. The term was coined by Simon "Si" Waronker, Liberty Records co-founder and board chairman, named after the 1957 Mart ...

, original

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

, and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

History

Establishment

Crypt Records was launched in August 1983 by the New York-born Tim Warren (b. 1960), who had spent his boyhood with his family in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

.Matti Bildt
"Crypt Records: Rock n Roll Isn't Dead, It's Just a Little Sleepy,"
''Ox Fanzine,'' whole no. 103 (Aug.-Sept. 2013) n German The family moved back to the United States in 1974, when Warren was 14. Warren spent his first four years as a young adult working in a record store in

Amherst, Massachusetts Amherst () is a city in Hampshire County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Connecticut River valley. Amherst has a council–manager form of government, and is considered a city under Massachusetts state law. Amherst is one of several Massach ...

before moving to

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

to work in a gas station — a job which allowed him to save a modest amount of money. In October 1980 Warren returned to his New York City birthplace to take a job in another record store. It was at this time that Warren first became interested in

and other underground music of the 1960s. The label's first release was '' Back from the Grave'', a compilation LP dedicated to raw 1960s garage rock.Tim Warren, "Letter to the Editor," ''Punk Planet'' hicago whole no. 6 (March–April 1995), pg. 10. Over the next three years there would be a total of 17 releases, focusing on rare 1960s garage and 1950s

music. In the fall of 1986 the label moved towards the reissue of contemporary

with a reissue of 1970s band

DMZ A demilitarized zone (DMZ or DZ) is an area in which treaties or agreements between states, military powers or contending groups forbid military installations, activities, or personnel. A DZ often lies along an established frontier or boundary ...

. A mix of releases followed including pioneering bands from the 1950s and 1960s as well as modern punk groups.

Move to Germany

Warren moved to

in January 1990, where he immediately began booking European tours for various bands on the Crypt label. The label rented a seven-room space in the spring of 1991, in which it opened up a retail record store in addition to continuing its manufacturing operations. Although home to the commercially successful New Bomb Turks, the label found itself in financial difficulties owing to slow payments from dishonest distributors. With punk exploding in popularity in the United States, plans were made for a resumption of manufacturing operations there. Still hampered by cash flow problems resulting from distributor non-payment, a manufacturing and distribution deal was signed with

major label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and t ...

-affiliated

Matador Records Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts. History Matador was created in 1989 by Chris Lombardi in his New York City ap ...

in August 1994. In 1997 the building housing Crypt Records was sold to a new owner, leading to an escalation in rent which forced the shop's closure.

21st century

In January 1999 Warren decided to return to the United States, briefly settling in the small town of

Truckee, California Truckee is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Nevada County, California, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 16,180, reflecting an increase of 2,316 from the 13,864 counted in the 2 ...

. He moved across country in June 2000 to Frenchtown, New Jersey, bringing his label in tow. A Crypt presence was maintained in Germany, with a new shop opened at an alternate location in Hamburg in September 2005. The label remained in financial difficulties, hindered in particular by the bankruptcy of Crypt's European distributor. Warren was unhappy in the United States and found himself spending an inordinate amount on the repair and maintenance of a New Jersey home he had purchased. He managed to sell the house in 2007 and returned to New York, briefly opening a record store in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

called "Cool and Crazy." This New York chapter also proved to be a short one and a return was made to Germany, this time to Berlin. The label continues in existence in 2015 and is best known for its series of ''Back from the Grave'' compilation albums.

Artists

*Los Ass-Draggers *Atomic Suplex * Bantam Rooster *The Beguiled * Cheater Slicks *

Country Teasers Country Teasers were an art punk band formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 1993. Frontman Ben Wallers also performs solo as The Rebel. He plays live shows with a Gameboy backing-track or accompanied by Country Teasers bassist Sophie Politowicz on ...

* The Devil Dogs *The Dirtys *

Fireworks Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large numbe ...

* The Gories * The Grave Diggers * Guitar Wolf * Thee Headcoats * Jon Spencer Blues Explosion *The Lazy Cowgirls * The Little Killers *

Lyres Yoke lutes, commonly called lyres, are a class of string instruments, subfamily of lutes, indicated with the codes 321.21 and 321.22 in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification. Description Yoke lutes are defined as instruments with one or more ...

* Thee Mighty Caesars *Ralph Nielsen & The Chancellors * New Bomb Turks * Nine Pound Hammer * Oblivians * The Pagans *Piece Kor *The Pleasure Fuckers *The Raunch Hands *The Revelators *

Teengenerate Teengenerate were a Japanese punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1 ...

* Wylde Mammoths

Footnotes

External links

Crypt Records official website
* {{Authority control German independent record labels Garage rock record labels Rhythm and blues record labels Record labels established in 1983 Music in Hamburg Companies based in Hamburg