Waterfront Records was an Australian

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 ...

based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, 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 another

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

label

Phantom Records Phantom Records was an Australian record store and independent record label established in 1978 on Pitt Street in Sydney. Phantom Records was one of Australia's first indie labels, and the store was known for its guerilla marketing strategies. ...

. The first release for Waterfront was the ''Careless Talk Costs Lives'' EP by JFK & The Cuban Crisis that was originally submitted to, but rejected by, the Phantom label. Stavrakis heard the recordings and when Phantom passed on it he decided to release it himself. Stavrakis was later joined by Chris Dunn who was instrumental in discovering a number of the acts that appeared on the Waterfront label. Over the next 15 years Waterfront put out over 170 releases. Acts like

Tumbleweed A tumbleweed is a structural part of the above-ground anatomy of a number of species of plants. It is a diaspore that, once mature and dry, detaches from its root or stem and rolls due to the force of the wind. In most such species, the tumbl ...

and

Ratcat Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic Punk rock, punk-style guitar rock won them fan ...

who would later have success on the mainstream charts released their first records on Waterfront. Waterfront also licensed some recordings from the

Sub Pop Sub Pop is an independent record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana (band), Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the gru ...

label that saw them handling the Australian releases for artist like

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

Henry Rollins Henry Lawrence Garfield (born February 13, 1961), known professionally as Henry Rollins, is an American singer, writer, spoken word artist, actor, comedian, and presenter. After performing in the short-lived hardcore punk band State of Alert in 1 ...

, L7 and Tad. The label later spawned a retail shop also called Waterfront that occupied various locations in the Sydney CBD with the three directors each managing different aspects of the business: Stavrakis (label/retail), Chris Dunn (label/retail) and Frank Cotterell (retail/bookkeeping). Stocking local and imported records they gravitated towards a more punk rock aesthetic and were integral in the growth of that scene locally. The shop also regularly hosted live in-store performances. The Waterfront retail store closed down in March 2000. In February 2003 the Waterfront Records name and logo was appropriated in the creation of an online retail store with backing by MGM Distribution and the assistance of former Waterfront Record director Cotterell. Stavrakis and Dunn were never consulted and have not ever been involved in the current entity that is using the name Waterfront Records. At that time the intention was purely to run an online retail service (not a record label). The "real" Waterfront Records label releases can be identified by the DAMP catalogue number prefix.

Artists released on Waterfront

The Eastern Dark The Eastern Dark is an Australian rock band who formed in the 1980s as an offshoot from another Australian band, The Celibate Rifles. History The band was formed in 1984 when then Celibate Rifles bassist James Darroch decided to leave and form ...

* The Happy Hate Me Nots * The Hard Ons * The Hellmenn * John Kennedy's Love Gone Wrong * The Lonely Hearts *

Massappeal Massappeal were an Australian hardcore punk band founded in early 1985 by mainstays Brett Curotta (guitar) and Randy Reimann (vocals). They released four studio albums, ''Nobody Likes a Thinker'' (1986), ''Jazz'' (1989), ''The Mechanic'' (1992) ...

Mr Floppy Mr Floppy were an Australian alternative rock, punk rock and oi! band formed in 1989 by Tim Aylward on guitar (ex-The Swarm), Mick Kuarol on guitar, Paul Johnson on bass guitar and vocals and Joseph Kennedy (ex-Pray TV) on drums. They issued thr ...

* Nunbait *

The Proton Energy Pills The Proton Energy Pills were an Australian punk rock band formed in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales in 1986. The band released two vinyl singles and a vinyl EP in its time and is considered a very seminal and influential group as its mem ...

* Shindiggers *

Splatterheads Splatterheads were an Australian punk rock band, which formed in 1987. They issued three albums, ''Ink of a Mad Man's Pen'' (1989), ''Bot, the Album'' (1993) and ''Joined at the Head'' (1996), before disbanding in 1996. They re-united in 2010 ...

* The Spunk Bubbles *

The Stupids The Stupids are a fictional family which appear in a series of children's books written by Harry Allard and James Marshall. The Stupids draw their humor from the fact that they are incompetent to the point of confusing the most simple concept ...

The Trilobites The Trilobites were an Australian power pop band formed in Sydney in June 1984. The original members of the Trilobites were Mike Dalton on vocals, Scott Leighton on bass guitar, Martin Martini & Paul Skates on guitars and Paul Styman on drums. Th ...

* The Tripps *

* Ups and Downs *

Thrust Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...

Vicious Circle A vicious circle (or cycle) is a complex chain of events that reinforces itself through a feedback loop, with detrimental results. It is a system with no tendency toward equilibrium (social, economic, ecological, etc.), at least in the shor ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Record labels established in 1982 Australian independent record labels Alternative rock record labels 1982 establishments in Australia Record labels based in Sydney

History

Artists released on Waterfront

See also

References

External links