Recreational Records was a British record label set up in 1981 by the

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

record shop and distributor Revolver Records. Originally formed as an

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 ...

with its own distribution as part of the Cartel.

Revolver Records and the Cartel

Revolver Records (not to be confused with

Revolver Music Revolver Music was a British record label. It was created by Paul Birch in 1979 as a guitar music label. Its sister labels are FM Records and Heavy Metal Records. History Revolver is best known for signing the Manchester band, The Stone Roses ...

) was a long established record store based at The Triangle, Clifton, Bristol, and in the 1970s was a hangout of Mark Stewart,

Nick Sheppard Nick Sheppard (born 28 November 1960) is an English guitarist. He played lead guitar for the Clash from 1983 until the band's breakup in 1986. Life and career Sheppard was educated at Bristol Grammar School, one of Bristol's private schools, ...

, and other local musicians. It also had a distribution arm, which allowed it to distribute its own records (under the Recreational label) and those of other Indie labels ( Monopause Records, etc.) via its participation in the Cartel. The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the United Kingdom, set up by a number of small

s to handle their distribution to record shops. By pooling their resources it allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains. The association of regional distributors included some of the most notable labels of the 1980s UK

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

and

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 ...

scene: Backs (Norwich), Fast Forward (Edinburgh),

Native Native may refer to: People * '' Jus sanguinis'', nationality by blood * '' Jus soli'', nationality by location of birth * Indigenous peoples, peoples with a set of specific rights based on their historical ties to a particular territory ** Nat ...

(Sheffield), Nine Mile (Leamington Spa), Probe (Liverpool),

Revolver A revolver is a repeating handgun with at least one barrel and a revolving cylinder containing multiple chambers (each holding a single cartridge) for firing. Because most revolver models hold six cartridges before needing to be reloaded, ...

(Bristol),

Red Rhino Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

(York) and

Rough Trade Rough Trade may refer to: *Rough Trade (shops), London record stores *Rough Trade Records, a record label from the stores *Rough Trade Books, a publishing house from the label *Rough Trade (band), a Canadian new wave rock band * "Rough Trade" (''Am ...

(London).

Artists

* Animal Magic: Were "a brassy Bristol sextet led by vocalist Howard Purse, they swiftly developed from a punk to a hardcore dancefloor sensibility." *

Electric Guitars Electric Guitars were an English band formed early in 1980 by Neil Davenport (vocals, lyrics) and Richard Hall (bass, vocals) who were both studying English at Bristol University. The band soon increased to a five-man line-up, with Andy Sander ...

: Their first single was on Fried Egg Records and they had tracks on the first

Bristol Recorder The English city of Bristol has, since the mid-1970s, had a fertile music culture, resulting in not only influential musicians and bands, but also its own sound, Bristol sound or trip hop. Along with the music, a number of local record labels al ...

, before their Recreational single. They later went on to join

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

and release a further two singles. * Ivory Coasters: Afro beat/Highlife band that at one time included Prince Nico Mbarga. They also released the 12" single 'Roscoe/Kinzengi Nzengi/1Z4IC', on Politone (PT001) in 1981. * Mouth: After their single on Recreational, this funk band went on to release records on the Y label, including the track 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea', on the 1982 'Birth of the Y' compilation LP. * Scream And Dance: Tribal funk band. ‘In Rhythm’ was remixed by DJ Marcelle/Another Nice Mess and released on a German double LP, ‘Meets Her Soulmates At Faust Studio Deejay Laboratory’ in 2008. *

Talisman A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed perm ...

: A multi-racial Reggae Band who provided the labels very first single and

UK Indie Chart The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the ...

hit (#17). Dole Age also became Single of the Week and the Record Sleeve of the Year in the NME. In 1982 as well as playing the

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, they were the opening act for

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

concert at Ashton Gate, Bristol. * The X-Certs: Started off as a Punk Band in 1978 and recorded several tracks for

Heartbeat Records Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music. Founded by reggae music enthusiasts Bill Nowlin and Duncan Brown, the label's first release was a vinyl LP reissue of ...

, had two tracks on Bristol Recorder 2, and were including reggae by the time of their 1981 Recreational single. This was to be their last recording as they split up in early 1981.

Releases

The Recreational catalogue listed singles with the Sport prefix (some had 7" and 12" versions), apart from

The X-Certs The X-Certs were an English band formed in 1978, which originally started as a punk band. They released the track "Blue Movies" on the Heartbeat Records 1979 EP ''4 Alternatives'', and subsequently had "Anthem" included on the label's seminal ...

7" single Together/Untogether, which is listed as Play 1.

Singles

Reissues on other labels

Bristol Archive Records The English city of Bristol has, since the mid-1970s, had a fertile music culture, resulting in not only influential musicians and bands, but also its own sound, Bristol sound or trip hop. Along with the music, a number of local record labels al ...

are currently providing Recreational back catalogue tracks for download, through the usual outlets (Amazon, iTunes, etc.).

References

External links

Recreational Records at Discogs.com
* Electric Guitars at Allmusicbr>Electric Guitars discography at Discogs.comThe X-Certs website
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1981 British independent record labels Indie rock record labels Music in Bristol