Some Bizzare Records

infobox record label


parent =
founded = 1981
founder = Stevo Pearce
distributor = Plastic Head
genre = Various
country = UK
url = [http://www.somebizzare.com Some Bizzare.com]

Some Bizzare Records is a British independent record label owned by Stevo Pearce. The label was founded in 1981, with the release of "Some Bizzare Album," a compilation of unsigned bands including Depeche Mode, Soft Cell, The The and Blancmange.

History

One of the first bands that Some Bizzare worked with was B-Movie. They were touted as the next "New Romantic" act to follow Visage and Spandau Ballet. [http://arts.independent.co.uk/music/features/article1930746.ece "Stevo: Bizzare after all these years "] "Independent Online Edition", accessed 22 December 2007] After working with B-Movie the label achieved notable success with Soft Cell, an electronic duo whose "Mutant Moments" EP Stevo Pearce had championed in Sounds. Pearce went on to manage Soft Cell, got them a deal with Phonogram under the Some Bizzare umbrella, and their cover of "Tainted Love" topped the charts.

In the early eighties Stevo Pearce gained a reputation for being a maverick. He licensed The The's "Soul Mining" album to three different record labels. After delivering the album to Phonogram he then took it from them and sold it to Warner Bros. Records, then sold it on again to CBS. The one recording was sold three times, each time signed off by the companies mentioned for the best deal. "Soul Mining" was eventually released in 1983. [Page 64,Tape Delay, Charles Neal] The The released further albums with Some Bizzare, including "Infected" in 1986. Matt Johnson from The The also recorded with Some Bizzare act Marc and the Mambas. [Page 64,Tape Delay, Charles Neal]

Later acts on the record label's roster included Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, Test Department, Einstürzende Neubauten, Coil, Swans, Scraping Foetus Off The Wheel, and various Soft Cell solo and off-shoot projects. Many of these bands were included on the label's 1985 compilation album "If You Can't Please Yourself, You Can't Please Your Soul".

Some Bizzare built a reputation for madcap behavior. For example, during the nineties Stevo Pearce's offices, based in Mayfair, included a private chapel and confession box for would-be-signings to go through the solemn hand-over of demo tapes. [Page 20, Steve Malins, Depeche Mode Biography]

2001 saw Stevo Pearce compile a new compilation album titled "I'd Rather Shout at a Returning Echo than Kid Someone's Listening". It was to include the Soft Cell track “God Shaped Hole”, recorded by the newly reformed band. The compilation also saw the inclusion of two tracks recorded by Cabaret Voltaire's Richard H. Kirk. Between 2001 and 2005 Some Bizzare's output was very minimal. [I'd Rather Shout at a Returning Echo than Kid Someone's Listening booklet] The compilation album "Redefining the Prologue" was released on October 2006 to mark the label's 25th anniversary provides an overview of the label's output. This album coincided with a Some Bizzare exhibition at the Horse Hospital arts venue in Bloomsbury, London. The exhibition included original artwork from bands like The The and Marc and the Mambas.

2007 saw Some Bizzare Records sign some new acts including Risqué, who were a French / Welsh electronic group made up of Nathalie and Huw Williams. Their music comprised of robust driving rhythms and ethereal vocals. They record their music in a studio based in Barcelona. Huw Williams is a well established producer working with bands like “Rubikon” and “Rookie”. [Official Some Bizzare Records web page]

2008 saw several new acts signed to the label including Pedro INF a Portuguese dance music producer and UK artist Kontour who produces dark electronic music. These new artists were featured on the "Some Bizzare Double Album" compilation released in 2008. The album featured 32 new artists discovered on MySpace. [Official Some Bizzare Records web page]

Payment of artists

Several former Some Bizzare artists have claimed that they were underpaid or never paid royalties for their recordings, which the label continues to reissue without their permission.

In 2003, Genesis P-Orridge of Psychic TV wrote that "because we were never paid a penny Royalties by Some Bizarre for DREAMS ["Dreams Less Sweet"] or FORCE ["Force the Hand of Chance"] (after about $5000 in 1982 from Warner Bros) to this day!!! we never have the budget to sue so its an endless loop. The only strategy I know left is to ASK our fans to boycott Some BIzarre recordings of PTV...." [ [http://mobilization.com/tg23_gen.html Mobilization: Throbbing Gristle 23] ]

In 1999, John Balance of Coil wrote "We have no news over Nothing releasing Horse Rotorvator and Scatology because we gave them it about 5 years ago and had it legally able to be released in the US but Nothings lawyers were unhappy with a slightly less than watertight legal situation so didn't go ahead. [...] Since then he [Stevo Pierce] has re-issued the CDs in the Uk without our permission in the mistaken belief that he hold sole copyright on these two titles and has not paid us royalties to date. [...] I repeat again that these two titles issued by Some Bizarre are cursed by me, John Balance . Do not buy them!!!!" [ [http://www.brainwashed.com/coil/news/news1999.html Coil News 1999] ] . Coil reissued "Horse Rotorvator" in 2003 on their own Threshold House label under the title "Stevo Pay Us What You Owe Us!". [ [http://www.amazon.co.uk/Stevo-Pay-What-You-Owe/dp/B00005LIQL Amazon.uk: Stevo Pay Us What You Owe Us - Vol. 2 - Horse Rotorvator] ]

Blixa Bargeld, at a 2004 Einstürzende Neubauten concerts, introduced a new song: "Well, this piece on the new album is called "Grundstück" [...] When we first attempted this one, we suddenly received a fax from our ex-record company who was threatening us - to sue us again. I’m talking about Some Bizarre that we have signed to in 1982 or 83. They have ripped us off, they have ripped everybody off. They never paid us in [...] 21 years [...] we just decided that okay, we are working on this floor piece, why not turn that into a hex?" [ [http://foo.ca/wp/2004/05/09/neubauten-blixa-bargeld-quotes/ Neubauten: Blixa Bargeld Quotes] ] Einstürzende Neubauten also released new remastered versions of their four Some Bizarre albums on their own label in 2004.

In a 2006 interview, Stevo Pierce's comment on feuds with Psychic TV and Coil was "I've never been sued by an artist, a publisher or a record company and I've never sued an artist, a publisher or a record company. Unfortunately, that could be classed as an act of weakness."

Current roster of artists

ee also

* Some Bizzare Records discography

References

External links

* [http://www.somebizzare.com Some Bizzare Records]
* [http://www.myspace.com/somebizarrelabel Some Bizzare Official MySpace Page]