Beserkley Records

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Beserkley Records
Active years 1973-1986
founder Matthew King Kaufman
Seat Berkeley , CA , USA
Label code LC 4589
Genre (s) Pop , rock

Beserkley Records was an American indie record label from Berkeley , California that was founded in 1973 by Matthew King Kaufman.

history

When music producer Kaufman's contract with A&M Records ran out and he couldn't find a new company to work with, he decided to start his own label "to have fun and make some records," such as he said at the time.

In addition to the band Earth Quake , whose manager he was and with whom he had already produced an album for A&M Records , he signed Jonathan Richman , The Rubinoos and Greg Kihn . The first singles to be released on the new label were Earth Quake's “Friday On My Mind,” and Jonathan Richman's “Roadrunner,” a song he had recorded two years earlier with John Cale for Warner Bros. , the but remained unpublished. "Roadrunner" became a worldwide hit. As a result, Jonathan Richman quickly became known, especially in Europe. In the USA alone, the song went unnoticed.

By 1975, other singles appeared, which were put together on the label's first album, which was jokingly named "Beserkley Chartbusters, Volume 1" . Earth Quake 's first albums , Jonathan Richman's Modern Lovers, quickly followed . With “Egyptian Reggae”, Richman finally landed a number 1 hit around the world in December 1977 (Germany number 13).

But other musicians like The Rubinoos or Greg Kihn also got plenty of airplay with their power pop all over the world. The Greg Kihn Band was able to reach number 2 in the US charts with their song "Jeopardy" and even topped the charts in various European countries. In Germany, the single made it to 18th place in 1983.

In 1984 the label ran into financial difficulties after the last few productions had poor sales. Then Kaufman decided to close the label.

Discography

Albums released in Germany from 1976

  • Earth Quake
    • Rocking The World (1975)
    • 8.5 (1976)
    • Leveled (1977)
    • Two Years In A Padded Cell (1979)
  • Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers
    • Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers (1976)
    • Rock'n'Roll With The Modern Lovers (1977)
    • Live (1977)
    • Back In Your Life (1979)
  • Greg Kihn / Greg Kihn Band
    • Greg Kihn (1976)
    • Greg Kihn Again (1977)
    • Next Of Kihn (1978)
    • With The Naked Eye (1979)
    • Glass House Rock (1980)
    • Rockin Roll (1981)
    • Kihntinued (1982)
    • Kihnspiracy (1983)
    • Kihntagious (1984)
  • The Rubinous
    • The Rubinous (1977)
    • Back To The Drawing Board (1979)
  • Tyla Gang
    • Yachtless (1977)
    • Moonproof (1978)
  • Spitballs
    • Spitballs (1978)
  • Mrs. Green
    • Mrs. Green (1988)
  • Compilations
    • Beserkley Chartbusters Volume 1 (1975)

distribution

Beserkley Records was marketed in the USA through the Playboy label and distributed by CBS until 1977 . This was followed by a contract with Janus / GRT and in 1979 the label came under Elektra / Asylum .

In Germany, TELDEC brought the label to stores from 1976 to around 1980. Then Beserkley titles appeared at WEA Musik GmbH . In 1984 the Greg Kihn album "Kihntagious" was released in Germany by EMI America . In 1986 the label's repertoire was transferred to Rhino Records .

In 1987 and 1988 a whole series of albums of the label were released on CD via the German label Line Records .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d http://www.bsnpubs.com/elektra/beserkley.html
  2. ↑ a b https://web.archive.org/web/20070313170609/http://blogcritics.org/archives/2003/10/04/155018.php
  3. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/titel-details-494
  4. ↑ https://www.offiziellecharts.de/titel-details-959
  5. ↑ https://www.discogs.com/label/28092-Beserkley