Some Bizzare [sic] Records was 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, Neu Electrikk and Blancmange.
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| Founded | 1981 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Stevo Pearce |
| Distributor(s) | Plastic Head |
| Genre | Experimental, electronic, post-punk |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Official website | somebizzare |
History
edit1981–1989
editOne of the first bands that Some Bizzare worked with was B-Movie.[1] 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. After Soft Cell signed to Some Bizzare, he went on to manage them, under a deal with Phonogram Inc. Their cover of "Tainted Love" topped the charts.[1]
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 to three companies, each time signed off for the best deal by the companies mentioned.[1] Soul Mining was eventually released in 1983.[2] 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.[2]
Later acts on the record label's roster included Cabaret Voltaire, Psychic TV, Test Department, Einstürzende Neubauten, Coil, Swans, and Scraping Foetus Off the Wheel. 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.
1990–present
editSome 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.[3] Stevo was also partial to aggressively insulting young record shop employees at this time, should they be unfortunate enough to be working in a shop that sold Coil's recordings (the recordings that they made money from at that period in time).
2001 saw Stevo Pearce compile a new compilation album titled I'd Rather Shout at a Returning Echo Than Kid Someone's Listening. It included 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 minimal.[4]
In 2006, Some Bizzare signed acts the Dark Poets, Monkey Farm Frankenstein, Meka and Mainstream Distortion. The compilation album Redefining the Prologue was released in October 2006 to mark the label's 25th anniversary and 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.[1]
2007 saw Some Bizzare Records sign some new acts, including Pedro INF, a Portuguese dance music producer, and UK artist Kontour, releasing the album Scanners. These new artists were featured on the Some Bizzare Double Album compilation released in 2008. The album featured 32 new artists discovered on Myspace.[5] Other acts included Risqué, who were a French/Welsh electronic group made up of Nathalie and Huw Williams. Their music consisted 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".[5] The album Tie Me Up, Tie Me Down was released by Some Bizzare in August 2009.[6]
The band Einstürzende Neubauten actively discourages purchasing any of their releases from Some Bizzare or their American licensee, Thirsty Ear, as they have been and continue to be sold without paying any royalties to the band.[7]
The label is now effectively defunct. The website has been offline for several years and there have been no releases. Pearce's whereabouts are currently unknown. The label's catalogue is now sold through One Little Indian.
Stevo has since resurfaced alongside the new Some Bizzare Book "Conform to Deform", written by Wesley Doyle which released in February 2023. It has been said multiple times in recent times by Stevo that the label is due a revival via a new development which is being created internally by a team of developers.
Name
editThe second word of the name is spelt "Bizzare", not "Bizarre". Pearce said: "I like ambiguities. It's Some Bizzare, spelt B I Z Z A R E. The idea of the label was to be aware of people's expectations and do the opposite almost."[1]
Some Bizzare artists
editDiscography
editFootnotes
edit- ^ a b c d e Perrone, Pierre (27 October 2006). "Stevo: Bizzare after all these years". The Independent. Archived from the original on 21 August 2009. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
- ^ a b Neal 1987, p. 64
- ^ Malins 1999, p. 20.
- ^ I'd Rather Shout at a Returning Echo than Kid Someone's Listening booklet
- ^ a b "Index of /". Somebizzare.com. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "The Genepool". Archived from the original on 29 May 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2021.
- ^ "halber mensch". [node:title] | [node:field-artist]. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
Bibliography
edit- Malins, Steve (1999). Depeche Mode – A Biography. Andre Deutsch Ltd. ISBN 0-233-99425-4.
- Neal, Charles, ed. (1987). Tape Delay: Confessions from the Eighties Underground. SAF Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-946719-02-0 – via Internet Archive.