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 ...
, based in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
, Canada. The music label was established in the late 1980s by founder entrepreneur and music journalist Graeme Boyce,"Toronto Label Taps Raw Energy". ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', May 7, 1994. initially to distribute the debut EP by
, ''Loud Party''. Prior to launching Raw Energy, Boyce was a staff writer for '' RPM''.
The label subsequently released King Apparatus' full-length debut album in 1990; after selling over 5,000 copies of the album in just a handful of record stores in downtown Toronto, the label secured a national distribution deal with
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 ...
. The company expanded over the years, and launched new divisions to manage growth, such as Raw Energy Promotions and Raw Energy Radio.
Canadian artists who released Raw Energy albums included King Apparatus,
Marilyn's Vitamins
Marilyn's Vitamins were a Canadian punk rock band formed in 1995 from Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, playing their last show December 28, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario. In those near-five years they released two albums on Raw Energy and 7"s on Ducta ...
, Five Knuckle Chuckle, Three Impotent Males, Out of Hand, Cut Off, Double Standard, DNS, and Sectorseven. Raw Energy also released product from two U.S. acts, The Toasters and Rosie O'Shea. Grouped into the alternative genre, augmenting its roster of punk and ska, the label released a rap album from Top Secret and a noise album from Space City USA.
Discography
Compilation albums
In 1993, Raw Energy released its first compilation, simply titled ''Raw Energy''. Because of the cartoon drawing used on the cover, it quickly took on the name ''On the Road'' within the hardcore community. Raw Energy played on this to release a series of "On the Road" compilations, featuring unsigned and emerging Canadian punk, hardcore and alternative rock bands du jour. Some would end up signing with Raw Energy.
The series of "On the Road" compilations includes:
* ''Raw Energy'' (aka On the Road, 1993)
* ''On the Road Again'' (1994)
* ''Dead on the Road: Songs Without Keyboards'' (1994)
* ''On the Road to New York City'' (1994)
* ''On the Road to Amsterdam'' (1999)
* ''On the Road... with a Snowboard'' (1999)
Other compilations include ''Twentybandcomp'', co-released with Shock Records in Australia.
Track listing
#
The Dinner Is Ruined
The Dinner Is Ruined is a Canadian indie rock band. the band plays an experimental and improvisational brand of blues rock. The band members are Dale Morningstar, Dave Clark and Dr. Johnny Pee.
History
The Dinner Is Ruined was formed in 1991 b ...
, "Stuck Pig"
#
Groovy Religion
''Groovy'' (or, less commonly, ''groovie'' or ''groovey'') is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context.
History
The ...
, "Wanda"
#
hHead
hHead were a Canadian alternative rock band, formed in 1991 in Ajax.
The band was originally formed by Noah Mintz and Brendan Canning as an acoustic duo,"hHead music simple, melancholy; Disc reminiscent of 'Seattle sound'". ''Ottawa Citizen'', Oc ...
Deadbeat Backbone
Deadbeat, deadbeats or dead-beat may refer to:
*Deadbeat escapement, a type of escapement used in pendulum clocks
* Dead-beat control, a problem in discrete control theory of finding an optimal input sequence that will bring the system output to a ...
List of record labels
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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 ...