Ruthless Records was the name of a

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

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 ...

record label 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 trademarks, coordinates the prod ...

. Founded in

1981 Events January * January 1 ** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union. ** Palau becomes a self-governing territory. * January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major off ...

by the

Effigies An effigy is an often life-size sculptural representation of a specific person, or a prototypical figure. The term is mostly used for the makeshift dummies used for symbolic punishment in political protests and for the figures burned in certai ...

, it was not a real business, but a name used by Chicago and Minneapolis punk bands from 1981 to 1990:

Big Black Big Black was an American punk rock band from Evanston, Illinois, active from 1981 to 1987. Founded by singer and guitarist Steve Albini, the band's initial lineup also included guitarist Santiago Durango and bassist Jeff Pezzati, both of ...

, the

, End Result,

Naked Raygun Naked Raygun was one of the first, one of the longest running, and one of the most recognized Chicago punk bands. They are considered by many to be the most important band in the history of Chicago punk rock and credited with creating “the Chi ...

, Rifle Sport and

Urge Overkill Urge Overkill is an American alternative rock band, formed in Chicago, Illinois, United States, consisting of Nathan Kaatrud, who took the stage name Nash Kato (vocals/guitar), and Eddie "King" Roeser (vocals/guitar/bass guitar). They are widely ...

The Effigies The Effigies were an American punk band from Chicago, Illinois, United States. The band played its first show in 1980 and was active initially for approximately a decade, undergoing multiple personnel changes with frontman John Kezdy the only cons ...

operated the label from its creation in 1981 until 1984, when they found the label to be distracting from their priorities with the band. They handed the label over to Big Black founder

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal en ...

, who ran the label until it dissolved in

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

. Ruthless Records was an independent label run as a cooperative by Jon Babbin (later founder of Criminal IQ Records),

and

fame. After the release of The Effigies' ''Haunted Town'' EP, frontman John Kezdy was dissatisfied with the way Autumn Records handled their expenses and decided to start the label with Babbin. Naked Raygun and Big Black came on board shortly after and all three acts worked together to get their initial records released. It wasn't really a company or anything of that sort, just a way for these bands to get their records out. The bands themselves were pretty much responsible for the creation and costs of their own records; Ruthless was just a central name/address to give the appearance of a record company to join like-minded bands. The latter half of Ruthless' existence (from about 1985 on) was run almost exclusively by Steve Albini and most of the releases were by bands outside Chicago. The label ended around 1990.

Roster

*Appliances SFB *

*Black Spot *

Brick Layer Cake A brick is a type of block used to build walls, pavements and other elements in masonry construction. Properly, the term ''brick'' denotes a block composed of dried clay, but is now also used informally to denote other chemically cured cons ...

*Circle Seven *Dark Arts *Dig Dat Hole *

*End Result *

*Primos *Rifle Sport *

Label discography

* Effigies – "Bodybag"/"Security" 7", 1982 * Big Black – ''

Lungs The lungs are the primary organs of the respiratory system in humans and most other animals, including some snails and a small number of fish. In mammals and most other vertebrates, two lungs are located near the backbone on either side of ...

'' EP, (RRBB02, December 1982) * Effigies – ''We're Da Machine'' EP, (E1003, 1983) * Circle Seven – ''Suburban Hope'' 12" (1000, 1983) * Naked Raygun – ''

Basement Screams ''Basement Screams'' is the debut EP by American punk rock band Naked Raygun, released on Ruthless Records in 1983. Quarterstick Records reissued the EP in 1999, and added the street version of "I Lie" and the 222 S. Morgan St. sessions as bonu ...

'' 12", (03, 1983) * Naked Raygun – ''Flammable Solid'' 7", (311057, 1983) * Big Black – ''

Bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous trac ...

'' EP, (RRBB07, December 1983) * Big Black – Live Cassette, (Recorded at 950, November 1983) * Effigies – ''For Ever Grounded'' LP, (1984) * Effigies – ''Haunted Town'' 12", (1984 Re-release) * Effigies – ''Fly on a Wire'' LP, (1985) * End Result – ''Ward'' EP, (1985) * Rifle Sport – "Plan 39"/"Dub" (RRRS-013, 1985) * Rifle Sport – " Complex EP" (RRRS-014, 1985) *

– ''Strange, I'' 12" (1986) * Dark Arts – ''Long Way From Brigadoon'' 12" (1986) * Appliances sfb – "Them"/"Green Door" (1987) * Rifle Sport – '' White (Made in France)'' LP (1987) * Black Spot – ''Burn'' LP (1989) * Rifle Sport – '' Live at the Entry, Dead at the Exit'' LP/CD (1989) *

– ''Eye For An Eye, Tooth For A Tooth'' 12" (1990) * Rifle Sport – ''

Primo Primo may refer to: People *DJ Premier (born 1966), hip-hop producer, sometimes goes by nickname Primo *Primo Carnera (1906–1967), Italian boxer, World Heavyweight champion 1933–1934 *Primo Cassarino (born 1956), enforcer for the Gambino cri ...

'' (Big Money-Ruthless BMI-011, 1991) * Rifle Sport – "Little Drummer Boy"/"Shanghaied" (Big Money-Ruthless BMI-012, 1991)

References

External links

Official Effigies site

Ruthless Records
on

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

American record labels Record labels established in 1981 Record labels disestablished in 1990 Punk record labels Companies based in Chicago {{US-record-label-stub

Roster

Label discography

See also

References

External links