Phantom Records was an Australian record store and
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 ...
established in
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd government).
* January 6 – ...
by
Dare Jennings and Jules R.B. Normington. Phantom Records was one of Australia's first
indie labels, and the store was known for its guerilla marketing strategies.
History
Phantom Records opened on 17 October 1978 as a
record store
A record shop or record store is a retail outlet that sells recorded music. In the late 19th century and the early 20th century, record shops only sold gramophone records, but over the 20th century, record shops sold the new formats that were ...
on
Pitt Street
Pitt Street is a major street in the Sydney central business district in New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sec ...
in
Sydney. The store was opened by Jennings in partnership with former White Light Records staff Lee Taylor and John Foy. It began with ex-White Light stock and was fronted by a large window, emblazoned with the slogan "Phantom Records - The Big Beat in the Heart of the Vinyl Jungle". During its first months, Jules R. B. Normington, former manager of the import vinyl store Revolver Records and Australian punk band
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman is an Australian punk rock band formed by Deniz Tek and Rob Younger in Sydney in 1974. The group influenced the work of many successful, mainstream bands, and are now considered instrumental in Australia's musical growth.
Hi ...
, worked for the store from
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
, sending rare
60's punk/
psychedelic
Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science ...
/
garage/
surf/
mod/
R&B/
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...
records to Sydney.
Normington returned to Australia on 9 July 1979 to join Jennings as a managing partner of the store, and Phantom became a specialist store in "punk, soul, surf, psychedelic, sixties garage and nothing else". The store also employed
Steve Stavrakis, later the founder of
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney that released recordings by Australian bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
History
Waterfront records was started in 1982 by Steven Stavrakis who at the time was an employee of ...
. In late 1979, Normington and Jennings decided to launch a Phantom record label. Around the same time, John Foy was expanding the store's T-shirt printing business with posters. He named his poster range Skull Printworks. After spending most of 1980 in the US, Foy returned to Phantom T-shirts and continued with Skull Printworks, producing posters for a number of Phantom Records releases. Foy eventually left Phantom to join Red Eye Records, where he established his own independent label of the same name.
On 30 April 1980, the Phantom label released its first single, "Face with No Name" by The Passengers, with "Cool in the Tube" by Surfside 6 following seven days later. Phantom Records went on to release the debut records of bands including the
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner (songwriter, lead singer and guitarist) and later joined by Richard Grossman (bass), Mark Kingsmill (drums), and Brad Shepherd (guitar, vocals, ...
,
Sunnyboys
Sunnyboys are an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in 1979. Fronted by singer-songwriter, guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene". Their first two albums, '' Sunnyboy ...
,
Flaming Hands,
Stephen Cummings,
Machinations
Machinations are an Australian synthpop band which formed in 1980. They reached the top 20 on the Kent Music Report albums chart with '' Big Music'' in 1985. Their top 30 hits on the related singles chart are "Pressure Sway", "No Say ...
,
The Kelpies
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
, and an early EP by
The Cockroaches
The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul (lead vocals), John (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Anthony (lead guitar, vocals)—and Tony Henry on drums ...
.
Record covers from the label's releases often featured artwork by local artists such as Libby Blainey, John Foy, Paul Worstead, and Gerard Rouen. Normington and Jennings had plans to license releases from international artists, but only released one single by
Stiv Bators
Steven John Bator (October 22, 1949 – June 4, 1990), known professionally as Stiv Bator and later as Stiv Bators, was an American punk rock vocalist and guitarist from Girard, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands Dead Boys and The Lords ...
and
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys are an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, United States. The band was among the first wave of punk, and regarded by many as one of the rowdiest and most violent groups of the era. They were formed by vocalist Stiv Ba ...
. All other releases on Phantom were by Australian artists. Although the shop's stock was primarily based on Normington's tastes, artists were only signed to the label when both Normington and Jennings agreed they would buy their records themselves. Phantom inspired other labels such as
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney that released recordings by Australian bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
History
Waterfront records was started in 1982 by Steven Stavrakis who at the time was an employee of ...
and
Citadel Records
Citadel Records is an independent record label from Sydney, Australia. It was established in the early 1980s by John Needham. Bands released through Citadel include Died Pretty, Deniz Tek, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, The Trilobites, Porcelai ...
catering to the emerging local scene.
The label's momentum slowed in the mid 1980s. During this period, Jennings began to focus on his 100% Mambo clothing company and gradually reduced his role with Phantom, and Normington was focused on the range of records and magazines available in the store.
In 1987, Normington renewed his interest in the label, with releases by
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an Australian indie pop and jangle pop band from Sydney, who formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly regarded outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were ...
,
The Sparklers,
The Deadly Hume,
The Mark of Cain
The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physical ...
,
Even As We Speak and
Vanilla Chainsaws. In the late 1980s, Normington formed a small new label called Messiah Complex devoted to "crushing and fierce garage-punk and grunge 45's only", which released records by Big Chief,
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, consisting of singer-guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of t ...
,
Mudrac,
Sugar Shack
A sugar shack (french: cabane à sucre), also known as sap house, sugar house, sugar shanty or sugar cabin is a commercial establishment, primarily found in Eastern Canada and northern New England. Sugar shacks are small cabins or groups of cab ...
, and Sydney punk band Downtime.
After several years, with Jennings leaving the company altogether, Sebastian Chase, formerly of
rooArt Records
rooArt
was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy. The label's roster included several well-known Australian bands and artists such as Crow, Ratcat, Screaming Jets, You Am I, Wendy Matthew ...
, became a partner in Phantom Records. In 1991, Chase had left rooArt after a split with partner
Chris Murphy
Christopher Scott Murphy (born August 3, 1973) is an American lawyer, author, and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Connecticut since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served in the United States ...
and approached Phantom. Normington and Chase signed bands including
Def FX
Def FX was an Australian band created by Sean Lowry (keyboards) in 1990 and included Fiona Horne on lead vocals, Blake Gardiner on guitar and Martyn Basha on bass - the band had no drummer. They released four albums, ''Light Speed Collision'' (D ...
and
The Whitlams
The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis (bassist), Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than main ...
, and formed a subsidiary label called
Freakzone, which released the first several releases by funk band
SWOOP.
Eventually, Phantom was divided into three companies: the shop, the record labels, and a music collectibles arm.
Normington increasingly focused on Phantom Collectibles. Every three or four months, he published auction catalogues under the title: "Plunder The Vaults". Finally, the label declined in activity due to business differences between Chase and Normington, and the shop closed in April 1998. In 1999, Normington formed
Laughing Outlaw Records with writer
Stuart Coupe
Stuart Coupe (born 11 September 1956) is an Australian music journalist, author, band manager, promoter, publicist and music label founder. He is best known for his work as a rock writer with Roadrunner (Australian music magazine), RAM (Rock Aus ...
as a partner. Normington left Phantom in 2000 to run a music collectables business, cutting his ties with Laughing Outlaw two years later.
Artists
First phase (Jennings and Normington)
*
The Passengers
* Surfside 6
*
Flaming Hands
*
Sunnyboys
Sunnyboys are an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in 1979. Fronted by singer-songwriter, guitarist Jeremy Oxley, the band "breathed some freshness and vitality into the divergent Sydney scene". Their first two albums, '' Sunnyboy ...
*
Stiv Bators and The Dead Boys
*
The Visitors
*
Shy Impostors
*
Le Hoodoo Gurus
*
Machinations
Machinations are an Australian synthpop band which formed in 1980. They reached the top 20 on the Kent Music Report albums chart with '' Big Music'' in 1985. Their top 30 hits on the related singles chart are "Pressure Sway", "No Say ...
*
The Dagoes
*
The Cockroaches
The Cockroaches were an Australian pub rock band active throughout the 1980s. The band was founded in 1979 by the Field brothers—Paul (lead vocals), John (rhythm guitar, vocals), and Anthony (lead guitar, vocals)—and Tony Henry on drums ...
*
The Kelpies
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
*
Sardine v
"Sardine" and "pilchard" are common names for various species of small, Oily fish, oily forage fish in the herring family Clupeidae. The term "sardine" was first used in English during the early 15th century, a folk etymology says it comes fr ...
*
The Rockmelons
Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/ dance/ R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. They had two Australian top five hit singles in ...
*
The Sparklers
Second phase (Normington only)
*
Shrinking Violets
*
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an Australian indie pop and jangle pop band from Sydney, who formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly regarded outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were ...
*
Even As We Speak
*
Vanilla Chainsaws
*
The Mark of Cain
The curse of Cain and the mark of Cain are phrases that originated in the story of Cain and Abel in the Book of Genesis. In the stories, if someone harmed Cain, the damage would come back sevenfold. Some interpretations view this as a physical ...
*
One Million Pieces
*
Crow
A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term " raven" is not pinned scientifica ...
*
Strange Alchemy
*
The Godbotherers
*
Whole World
*
Fear Of Falling
The fear of falling (FOF), also referred to as basophobia (or basiphobia), is a natural fear and is typical of most humans and mammals, in varying degrees of extremity. It differs from acrophobia (the fear of heights), although the two fears ar ...
Third phase (Normington and Chase)
*
Def FX
Def FX was an Australian band created by Sean Lowry (keyboards) in 1990 and included Fiona Horne on lead vocals, Blake Gardiner on guitar and Martyn Basha on bass - the band had no drummer. They released four albums, ''Light Speed Collision'' (D ...
*
Nitocris
Nitocris ( el, Νίτωκρις) possibly was the last pharaoh of ancient Egypt's Sixth Dynasty. Her name is found in Herodotus' ''Histories'' (430BC) and in writings by the 3rd-century BC Manetho, but her historicity has been questioned. If she ...
*
The Violets
*
The Whitlams
The Whitlams are an Australian indie rock band formed in late 1992. The original line-up was Tim Freedman on keyboards and lead vocals, Andy Lewis (bassist), Andy Lewis on double bass and Stevie Plunder on guitar and lead vocals. Other than main ...
*
Downtime
The term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable.
The unavailability is the proportion of a time-span that a system is unavailable or offline.
This is usually a result of the system failing to function because of an ...
*
Parkside Killers
Parkside may refer to:
Australia
*Parkside, Queensland, a suburb in the City of Mount Isa
*Parkside, South Australia
Canada
*Parkside, Saskatchewan, a village in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan
New Zealand
*Parkside, New Zealand, a ...
*
Purple Avengers
Purple Avengers was an Australian indie rock band from Brisbane formed in 1990.
Overview
Purple Avengers first formed at the beginning of the 1990s having been four school friends from Brisbane, Australia. The band released two albums, with the ...
See also
*
List of record labels
File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg
File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg
File:Bingola1011b.jpg
Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...
References
External links
AMO Label Profile - Phantom RecordsDiscogs Profile
{{Authority control
Australian independent record labels
1979 establishments in Australia
Record labels established in 1979
Rock record labels