Zoom Records was a short-lived

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, ...

established in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

, Scotland. It was founded and funded by the successful music shop owner Bruce Findlay in the summer of 1977. After the first four single releases it secured a licensing deal with

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. Findlay closed the label in 1980, to dedicate his time to managing one of the most successful bands who began there,

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

History

Findlay was well known in the British

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. He became the buyer for McDougall's record shop in

Falkirk Falkirk ( ; ; ) is a town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a resident population of 32,422 at the ...

, run by his mother, then at stores in Edinburgh, London and

Stirling Stirling (; ; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the roya ...

. Findlay helped his brother found Brian's in Falkirk in 1967, then they expanded to open Bruce's in 1969, in Edinburgh's Rose Street. Bruce's Record Shops opened a store in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

the following year, then

Kirkcaldy Kirkcaldy ( ; ; ) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, making it Fife's second-largest s ...

, eventually becoming the largest independent record chain in Scotland, with thirteen stores. Findlay organised the first Edinburgh Pop Festival in 1973, which featured among others

the Incredible String Band The Incredible String Band (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a British psychedelic folk band formed by Clive Palmer (musician), Clive Palmer, Robin Williamson and Mike Heron in Edinburgh in 1966. Following Palmer's early departure, Williamso ...

, Can,

Planxty Planxty were an Irish folk music band formed in January 1972, consisting initially of Christy Moore (vocals, acoustic guitar, bodhrán), Andy Irvine (vocals, mandolin, mandola, bouzouki, hurdy-gurdy, harmonica), Dónal Lunny (bouzouki, gu ...

the Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

Kevin Ayers Kevin Ayers (16 August 1944 – 18 February 2013) was an English singer-songwriter who was active in the English psychedelic music movement. Ayers was a founding member of the psychedelic band Soft Machine in the mid-1960s, and was closely asso ...

George Melly Alan George Heywood Melly (17 August 1926 – 5 July 2007) was an English jazz and blues singer, critic, writer, and lecturer. From 1965 to 1973, he was a film and television critic for ''The Observer''; he also lectured on art history, with an ...

and

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold more than List of best-selling si ...

Guinness Guinness () is a stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at Guinness Brewery, St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in the 18th century. It is now owned by the British-based Multinational corporation, multinational alcoholic bever ...

became majority shareholders of Bruce's in the late 70s and Findlay ceased involvement in 1980. The chain ceased trading in 1981, the Falkirk and Kirkcaldy branches continuing as Sleeves, under a management buyout. Zoom signed many Scottish

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 ...

and new wave bands, some of them, later well known and successful, such as

, who Findlay managed from 1978 to 1990. One of the first bands signed was

the Valves The Valves were a punk rock band from Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the early British punk bands, they were chronicled in Henrik Poulsen's book '' 77: The Year of Punk and New Wave'', and featured Dave Robertson as 'Dee Robot' on vocals, G. Dair ...

, the second band were PVC2, who featured

Midge Ure James "Midge" Ure (; born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s in bands including Slik, Thin Lizzy, ...

The Skids Skids are a Scottish punk rock and New wave music, new wave band, formed in Dunfermline in 1977 by Stuart Adamson (guitar, keyboards, percussion and backing vocals), William Simpson (bass guitar and backing vocals), Tom Kellichan, Thomas Kelli ...

almost joined the label, but Findlay encouraged them to go to

Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...

record shop owner, Sandy Muir, out of which No Bad Records was formed. The first single released by Zoom was "Robot Love" (with "For Adolfs Only" as

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

), by the Valves, on 30 August 1977, selling 15,000 copies. Simple Minds signed shortly after their formation, releasing their debut album, '' Life in a Day'' and first two singles "Life in a Day" and "Chelsea Girl". Their first three albums (''Life in a Day'', ''

Real to Real Cacophony ''Real to Real Cacophony'' (sometimes incorrectly referred as ''Reel to Real Cacophony'') is the second studio album by Scottish rock band Simple Minds. It was released on 23 November 1979 through record labels Zoom and Arista. Recording '' ...

'' and ''

Empires and Dance ''Empires and Dance'' is the third studio album by the Scottish new wave band Simple Minds. It was released on 12 September 1980 through Arista Records. Background The album was influenced by the band's experience of travelling in Europe on ...

'') were released by Zoom and licensed to Arista Records. Findlay now manages Aberfeldy, and has been regular host/contributor to

Radio Forth Radio Forth is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife. Radio Forth is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Edinburgh and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio network and Greatest Hits Radio ne ...

and

BBC Radio Scotland BBC Radio Scotland is a Scottish national radio network owned and operated by BBC Scotland, a division of the BBC. It broadcasts a wide variety of programmes. It replaced the Scottish BBC Radio 4 opt-out service of the same name from 23 N ...

Bands and releases

Ordered chronologically: * "Robot Love" -

The Valves The Valves were a punk rock band from Edinburgh, Scotland. One of the early British punk bands, they were chronicled in Henrik Poulsen's book '' 77: The Year of Punk and New Wave'', and featured Dave Robertson as 'Dee Robot' on vocals, G. Dair ...

(30 August 1977) * " Put You in the Picture" - PVC2 (August 1977) * "Ain't No Surf in Portobello" - The Valves (December 1977) * "

Stuck with You "Stuck with You" is a song by American rock band Huey Lewis and the News, written by guitarist Chris Hayes and lead singer Huey Lewis. Released in 1986, it was the first single from the band's fourth album, ''Fore!''. The song spent three weeks ...

" - Zones (17 February 1978) * "Radio-active" - The Cheetahs (1979) All the below licensed to Arista Records * "Some Other Guy" -

The Questions The Questions were a Scottish pop band, active during the late 1970s and early 1980s. History The Questions formed in the summer of 1977 at St. Augustine's High School in Edinburgh, and performed their first gig in December of that year a ...

(1978) * "Love Is Blind" - Nightshift (1978) * "Can't Get Over You" - The Questions (1979) * '' Life in a Day'' -

(10 March 1979) * "Chelsea Girl" - Simple Minds (1 June 1979) Albums: *'' Life in a Day'' - Simple Minds *''

'' - Simple Minds *''

'' - Simple Minds

References

External links

schoolhousemanagement.co.uk...a passion for music
Homepage of Bruce Findlay, founder of Zoom
The Cheetahs - Radio-Active

I Found It At Bruces
{{Authority control Alternative rock record labels Punk record labels New wave record labels Record labels established in 1977 Record labels disestablished in 1980 Scottish record labels