Posh Boy Records is a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, California-based

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, ...

owned by the American-born, British-educated Robbie "Posh Boy" Fields, a sometime

high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...

substitute teacher A substitute teacher is a person who teaches a school class when the regular teacher is absent or unavailable; e.g., because of illness, personal leave, maternal leave and so on. "Substitute teacher" (usually abbreviated as sub) is the most c ...

and former

copy boy A copy boy is a typically young and junior worker on a newspaper. The job involves taking typed stories from one section of a newspaper to another. According to Bruce Guthrie, the former editor-in-chief of the ''Herald Sun'' who began work there ...

at the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' who took an interest in the emerging

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 ...

scene in Orange County, California during the late 1970s. The label's releases enjoyed substantial airplay on

Rodney Bingenheimer Rodney Bingenheimer (born December 15, 1946) is an American radio disc jockey who is best known as the host of ''Rodney on the ROQ'', a radio program that ran on the Los Angeles rock station KROQ-FM from 1976 to 2017. In the early 1970s, he als ...

's show on

KROQ-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The sta ...

, and some of them, notably the Fields-produced version of "Amoeba" by the

Adolescents Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

and the Stephen Hague-produced

electronic rock Electronic rock (also known as electro rock and synth rock) is a music genre that involves a combination of rock music and electronic music, featuring instruments typically found within both genres. It originates from the late 1960s when rock b ...

track "Are You Ready for the Sex Girls" by the Sparks offshoot the Gleaming Spires, made it into regular programming on the station.

Social Distortion Social Distortion is an American punk rock band formed in 1978 in Fullerton, California. It consists of Mike Ness (vocals, guitar), Jonny Wickersham (guitar), Brent Harding (bass), David Hidalgo Jr. (drums), and David Kalish (keyboards). Emerg ...

was one of many bands whose first recordings were issued by Posh Boy. One of the label's most successful releases was

Agent Orange Agent Orange is a chemical herbicide and defoliant, one of the tactical uses of Rainbow Herbicides. It was used by the U.S. military as part of its herbicidal warfare program, Operation Ranch Hand, during the Vietnam War from 1962 to 1971. T ...

's debut, ''

Living in Darkness ''Living in Darkness'' is the debut studio album by American punk rock band Agent Orange, released in 1981 on Posh Boy Records. The album showcased the band's innovative mixture of punk, surf rock and skate punk, and was also listed on Phoenix ...

'', containing "Bloodstains", an

extreme sport Action sports, adventure sports or extreme sports are physical activity, activities perceived as involving a high degree of risk of injury or death. These activities often involve speed, height, a high level of physical exertion and highly speci ...

s anthem covered by many

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

groups (the most notable being

the Offspring The Offspring is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Garden Grove, California, in 1984. Originally formed under the name Manic Subsidal, the band currently consists of lead vocalist and guitarist Dexter Holland, Bryan "Dexter" Holland, ...

in 2000 on the ''

Ready to Rumble ''Ready to Rumble'' is a 2000 American buddy comedy wrestling film directed by Brian Robbins and written by Steven Brill, which is based on Turner Broadcasting System's now defunct professional wrestling promotion, World Championship Wrestlin ...

'' film soundtrack). Since 1999, expatriate and now known as Posh Boy Music, the label continued releasing music into the 2020s, the last vinyl release being a 7" by the Willowz of

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, United States, part of the Greater Los Angeles area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the tenth-most ...

, California in 2003. Subsequently, the label transitioned to being digital only with over 700 recordings released digitally, and to sublicense vinyl, compact disc and audio cassette rights to other labels, notably Radiation Records (Italy). More recently, the label entered into a licensing agreement with

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

for use of its extensive back catalog. '' Stranger Things 2'' has used music by Posh Boy acts Channel 3 and Ill Repute. Channel 3 were also featured in the inaugural season of '' White Famous'' on Showtime. During the COVID lockdown, post 2020, the label pivoted to concentrate on non punk music with an emphasis on chamber music working with such leading musicians as composer Gene Pritsker, Some Nicholson, the painter David Nicholson, classical guitarist Warren Nicholson, violist Paul Cortese, singer Chanda Rule amongst others. Recent pop music signings include Scottish band The Moon Kids., Phil Proietti and Keysha Veen who scored a bona fide hit on

SiriusXM Sirius XM Holdings Inc. is an American broadcasting corporation headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, that provides satellite radio and online radio services operating in the United States. The company was formed by the 2008 merge ...

's Velvet Channel with "You Saved My World". Alternative releases include Channel 3, Professor and the Madman, Santa Barbara's The Tearaways and 1980s' comedy icon

Nigel Planer Nigel George Planer (born 22 February 1953) is a British actor, writer and musician. His television credits include playing Neil in the sitcom '' The Young Ones'' and Ralph Filthy in the sitcom '' Filthy Rich & Catflap'', as well as narrating th ...

Early Releases

The label released the following records:

References

External links

* {{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United States Punk record labels