Mr. Lady Records (or Mr. Lady Records and Video) was a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

and

video art Video art is an art form which relies on using video technology as a visual and audio medium. Video art emerged during the late 1960s as new consumer video technology such as video tape recorders became available outside corporate broadcasting. V ...

distributor. (Press release of a 2001 art show at the

Weisman Art Museum Weisman Art Museum is an art museum at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Founded in 1934 as University Gallery, the museum was originally housed in an upper floor of the university's Northrop Auditorium. In 1993, the museum ...

) Artists on the label included

Le Tigre Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...

and

The Butchies The Butchies were an all-female punk rock band from Durham, North Carolina, that existed from 1998 to 2005. They reunited from their hiatus to tour with Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls promoting Ray's new album in 2010. The frequent focus of their ...

. ''OutSmart'' magazine noted that Mr. Lady was "

queercore Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock. It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically ...

's strongest label." The label was founded in

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city in north east England **County Durham, a ceremonial county which includes Durham *Durham, North Carolina, a city in North Carolina, United States Durham may also refer to: Places ...

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

by musician

Kaia Wilson Kaia Lynn Wilson (born 1974) is an American musician from Portland, Oregon, best known as a founding member of both Team Dresch, a revered 1990s queercore punk band, and The Butchies, a pop-rock spin-off from her solo work. In addition to sing ...

and artist/

UNC UNC is a three-letter abbreviation that may refer to: Education * University of North Carolina, a multi-campus public university system in the U.S. ** University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a public research university ** PBS North Carolin ...

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

professor

Tammy Rae Carland Tammy Rae Carland (born January 27, 1965), is an American photographer, video artist, zine editor, current provost at California College of the Arts (CCA), and former co-owner of the independent lesbian music label Mr. Lady Records and Videos. He ...

, aiming to redress what they saw as a lack of feminist record labels at the time. As well as a range of recording artists, the label was also heavily involved in other events that promoted feminist thinking and music, such as the

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, was a lesbian feminist women's music festival held annually from 1976 to 2015 in Oceana County, Michigan, on privately owned woodland near Hart Township referred to a ...

– which led to some controversy in 1999 – and various art showcases. Mr. Lady closed down in June

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Founding

Kaia Wilson was a member of lesbian

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

group

, and felt their "

out Out or OUT may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films *Out (1957 film), ''Out'' (1957 film), a documentary short about the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 *Out (1982 film), ''Out'' (1982 film), an American film directed by Eli Hollander *O ...

politics held them back." Without a

record company "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 ...

to specifically represent the work of herself and other "out" female musicians, Wilson and her girlfriend,

, found their opportunities limited. Subsequently, they formed Mr. Lady to redress the "lack of enough women and/or dyke run record labels," which they felt led to an "extremely limited amount of affordable and accessible means for independent artists to distribute their work." Thus, Mr. Lady Records was started with, in Wilson's words, " $35 and a lotta...faith." Wilson stated the name "Mr. Lady" came from a trip to Italy while on tour with

Team Dresch Team Dresch is an American punk rock band originally formed in 1993 in Olympia, Washington. History In 1993, Donna Dresch formed Team Dresch with herself playing guitar and bass, Jody Bleyle on guitar and vocals, Kaia Wilson on guitar and voc ...

: "I saw a store called Mr. Baby, and it freaked me out. Then everyone started calling me Mr. Baby. Then I became Mr. Baby onstage. I had my own theme song and everything. I wore a little eyeliner mustache. From there it changed into Mr. Lady, which just seemed like a good name for a queer label." It also related to ''Ladyman'', Wilson's first solo LP, produced with the aid of

Melissa York Melissa York is a rock drummer noted for her work with iconic lesbian bands such as Team Dresch, The Butchies, and Amy Ray. She lives in Durham, North Carolina. Biography York first began drumming with the New York-based hardcore punk band ...

after they both left lesbian "supergroup"

Artists and releases

Mr. Lady Records released recordings by groups such as

Kathleen Hanna Kathleen Hanna (born November 12, 1968) is an American singer, musician and pioneer of the feminist punk riot grrrl movement, and punk zine writer. She is the lead singer of feminist punk band Bikini Kill and fronted the electropunk band Le Tigre ...

lo-fi Lo-fi (also typeset as lofi or low-fi; short for low fidelity) is a music or production quality in which elements usually regarded as imperfections in the context of a recording or performance are present, sometimes as a deliberate stylistic ch ...

group

(who released their first two records – ''

'' and ''

Feminist Sweepstakes ''Feminist Sweepstakes'' is the second studio album by American electro-punk band Le Tigre. It was released on October 16, 2001, by record label Mr. Lady. ''Feminist Sweepstakes'' is Le Tigre's first album to feature JD Samson as a member of the ...

'' – with Mr. Lady),

group

(of whom

is the lead singer), British group

Electrelane Electrelane is an English indie rock band, formed in Brighton in 1998 by Verity Susman and Emma Gaze. The band consists of Susman, Gaze, Mia Clarke, and Ros Murray. Their music draws from a wide range of influences including Neu!, Stereolab, S ...

Tara Jane O'Neil Tara Jane O'Neil (born November 22, 1972) (surname sometimes written as "ONeil"; sometimes credited as TJO) is an American multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, audio recording engineer, and visual artist based out of Los Angeles, California, Unite ...

spoken-word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation ...

collective

Sister Spit Sister Spit was a lesbian-feminist spoken-word and performance art collective based in San Francisco, signed to Mr. Lady Records. They formed in 1994 and disbanded in 2006. Founding members included Michelle Tea and Sini Anderson, Other members i ...

(

Sini Anderson Sini Anderson (born November 6, 1969) is an American film director, producer, performance artist, choreographer, dancer and poet, from Chicago, Illinois. Anderson is widely known for directing '' The Punk Singer'' (2013), a documentary about riot ...

and

Michelle Tea Michelle Tea (born Michelle Tomasik, 1971) is an American author, poet, and literary arts organizer whose autobiographical works explore queer culture, feminism, race, class, sex work, and other topics. She is originally from Chelsea, Massachuse ...

), and others. In March 2001, '' Calling All Kings & Queens'', a

sampler album A sampler or promotional compilation is a type of compilation album generally offered at a reduced price to showcase an artist or a selection of artists signed to a particular record label. The format became popular in the late 1960s as record labe ...

, was released which featured eighteen tracks from various artists and friends of the label, including

Sleater-Kinney Sleater-Kinney ( ) is an American rock band that formed in Olympia, Washington, in 1994. The band's lineup features Corin Tucker (vocals and guitar) and Carrie Brownstein (guitar and vocals), following the departure of longtime member Janet We ...

and

. It followed 1999's '' New Women's Music Sampler''. No band that signed with Mr. Lady contained a male artist. Carland said "It's not that we're necessarily never going to put out a band with men in it, but it's just kind of organically happened that way. We wanted to focus on putting out music by women. We do consider ourselves a feminist business and part of that involves prioritizing work made by women." Due to their work with Mr. Lady, Wilson and Carland were described as two of the "100 most influential gay people in the world" by

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly The Mining Company, About.com and Dotdash) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, hom ...

in 2002.

Growing popularity

Although initially a vehicle for Wilson to release her own albums, Mr. Lady grew into a label whose musical and political contributions gained national attention. During a review of Tami Hart's debut release with Mr. Lady, online magazine ''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, ...

'' described the label as "one of the bright spots in new music. Whether the groups or singers are

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *Independent media, media free of influence by government or corporate interests *Indie art, fine arts made by artists independent of commer ...

, they are all anti-mainstream hip, political, and good – really good." ''Discorder'' magazine described the label in 2004 as "lead ngthe way when it came to releasing music that was as politically significant as it was danceable." Initially distributing music through

mail order Mail order is the buying of goods or services by mail delivery. The buyer places an order for the desired products with the merchant through some remote methods such as: * Sending an order form in the mail * Placing an order by telephone call ...

, the label signed a deal to distribute records nationally across the US in 2001. The

Independent Weekly ''Indy Week'', formerly known as the ''Independent Weekly'' and originally the ''North Carolina Independent'', is a tabloid-format alternative weekly newspaper published in Durham, North Carolina, United States, and distributed throughout the Re ...

described the label as having "grown from a community that perhaps needed it the most," contrasting the scarcity of a gay/lesbian-oriented label in the

southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

at the time with the many in New York.

Involvement with the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

In 1999, Mr. Lady records (along with one of its artists,

), were involved in issues surrounding the debate as to whether

transgender A transgender (often shortened to trans) person has a gender identity different from that typically associated with the sex they were sex assignment, assigned at birth. The opposite of ''transgender'' is ''cisgender'', which describes perso ...

women should be entitled to attend the

, which had a formal stance against allowing

transsexual A transsexual person is someone who experiences a gender identity that is inconsistent with their assigned sex, and desires to permanently transition to the sex or gender with which they identify, usually seeking medical assistance (incl ...

and

women to attend the festival. In response to a request from

activists Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

to boycott the festival, Mr. Lady released a statement which defended the festival, believing that they did not consider an event for "

womyn ''Womxn'' and ''womyn'' are alternative political spellings of the English word ''woman'', used by some feminists.D. Hatton"Womyn and the 'L': A Study of the Relationship between Communication Apprehension, Gender, and Bulletin Boards"< ...

born womyn" and the

community to be mutually exclusive, but backed the right of the festival to exclude those not born as women. Kaia Wilson confirmed this in a June 1999 statement: " strongly believe that

people are an important part of the queer community and that they face an enormous amount of opposition. ..We know that the MWMF started as a separatist event for womyn born womyn and we personally still feel the continued need for that kind of space and event. ..We don't think that our support of the trans communities and womyn born womyn communities are in direct contradiction to each other." Formally backing the festival's

trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Sociology * Trans, a sociological term which may refer to: ** Transgender, people who identify themselves with a gender that di ...

-exclusion policy led to protests and boycotts aimed towards Mr. Lady acts, Wilson and

in particular. Groups such as Camp Trans, and many participants in the

community, disagreed with Mr. Lady's stance and felt that the group and label exploited

images. The label went defunct in June 2004.

Showcases

Mr. Lady Records has sponsored numerous showcases of feminist and lesbian music, including events at the

at the

University of Minnesota Twin Cities The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the flagship institution of th ...

campus in

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

(working with the

Queer Student Cultural Center The Queer Student Cultural Center is the current incarnation of the coming out, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, genderqueer, intersex, and allied communities organization of the University of Minnesota campuses that has been active since May 19 ...

) and "Mr. Sister", a showcase at the

National Queer Arts Festival National Queer Arts Festival (NQAF) is an annual queer festival in San Francisco organized by the Queer Cultural Center and established in 1998 to coincide with Pride Month. Other organisations which have assisted over the years include the Har ...

in 2003 at the Center for Lesbian Gay Bi Transgender Art & Culture in

Artists formerly on Mr. Lady

Artists formerly on Mr. Lady include: *

Sarah Dougher Sarah Eugenie Dougher (born September 15, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter, author, and teacher. Early life Sarah Eugenie Dougher was born on September 15, 1967 in Eugene, Oregon. Dougher received a PhD in comparative literature from ...

* The Haggard * Tami Hart *

Kiki and Herb Kiki and Herb ( Justin Bond and Kenny Mellman) are an American drag cabaret duo. Bond portrays Kiki DuRane, an aging, alcoholic, female lounge singer. Mellman portrays her gay, male piano accompanist, known only as Herb. Despite Bond and Mell ...

* The Moves On the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

. *

The Need The Need is an American queercore band formed by the singer and drummer Rachel Carns and the guitarist Radio Sloan in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1990s. After issuing a series of seven-inches on labels including Kill Rock Stars and Outpunk, ...

On the

. *

Gretchen Phillips Gretchen Phillips (born 1963) is an American singer-songwriter known for her humorous and topical songs. Phillips has been openly gay throughout her life and her lesbianism has inspired much of her material. Background Phillips grew up in Houst ...

Amy Ray Amy Elizabeth Ray (born April 12, 1964) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the contemporary folk duo Indigo Girls with Emily Saliers. She also pursues a solo career, releasing ten albums under her own name, and founded the independent ...

* Sextional *

Radio Sloan Radio Sloan is a musician from Olympia, Washington. They are best known as a guitarist for The Need, the band they formed with Rachel Carns. In 2022, they formeSky Lionswith longtime friend and vocalist, Outer Stace. Releasing their first album ...

* The Sissies *

Tracy + the Plastics Tracy, Tracey, or Tracie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tracy (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname, also encompassing spelling variations Places United States * Tracy, C ...

* V for Vendetta *

In popular culture

The label's name appears in the lyrics of the

song "

Hot Topic Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...

References

External links

Mr. Lady website
on the

(site has been defunct since January 2005)
Alternative Mr. Lady logo
on

Flickr Flickr ( ) is an image hosting service, image and Online video platform, video hosting service, as well as an online community, founded in Canada and headquartered in the United States. It was created by Ludicorp in 2004 and was previously a co ...

{{Authority control Record labels established in 1996 Record labels disestablished in 2004 American independent record labels Feminism in the United States Lesbian culture in California Lesbian feminist mass media Lesbian history in the United States LGBTQ-related record labels Queercore record labels Lesbian-related music 1996 in LGBTQ history

Founding

Artists and releases

Growing popularity

Involvement with the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival

Showcases

Artists formerly on Mr. Lady

In popular culture

See also

References

External links