Touch and Go Records

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Touch and Go Records is an American music label founded in 1980 , which is best known for the releases of bands from the hardcore punk genre .

history

Touch and Go Records has its roots in a fanzine of the same name , which has been produced by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson in East Lansing , Michigan , since 1979 . In 1980, a befriended band from Ohio , the Necros , planned to release a single. Vee exchanged records and tapes by mail with Ian MacKaye , who founded the Dischord Records label in Washington . Impressed by MacKaye, Vee and Stimson decided to do the Necros single on a newly founded label under the auspices of the fanzine. In the early days, Touch and Go Records was run jointly by Corey Rusk, the bass player for the Necros, and Tesco Vee. However, when Vee moved to Washington in 1982, Rusk took over full management of the company. In the early days, the focus of the publications was on bands from the hardcore punk genre such as the Necros, the Meatmen and the Negative Approach . In 1983 Rusk moved his label to Detroit and now began to expand the company's spectrum with bands such as Butthole Surfers , Big Black , Scratch Acid , the Didjits , Die Kreuzen and others. a. to expand, he also ran a successful club there.

After a few years there was a move to Chicago ; subsequently appeared records by The Jesus Lizard , Slint , Urge Overkill and others. a., at the same time one began to take over the distribution for other record companies. In 1990 another label, Quarterstick Records, was founded, on which records by Henry Rollins , Calexico a . a. published. Later successful publications on Touch and Go came among others. a. by Shellac , Man or Astro-man? , the Mekons , Girls Against Boys and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs .

The business policy of Touch and Go was that the income (after deduction of production and promotion costs) was shared equally between the label and the bands. This agreement was sealed with a handshake. This approach was criticized in 1995 by the Butthole Surfers , who were dissatisfied with the marketing of their previous releases by the label and asked for a higher share. They sued Touch and Go in 1999 to surrender the rights because, in their opinion, no contract term had been agreed and the contract could consequently be terminated by them; the label relied on US copyright law , which guaranteed them copyright for 35 years. The court agreed with the band; since then, the terms of the contract have been set out in writing. Many other record labels that followed a similar business policy were forced to put their terms and conditions in writing.

From September 8th to 10th, 2006 the "Touch & Go Records 25th Anniversary" festival took place in Chicago, where Big Black, Shellac and Scratch Acid played among others.

Catalog (extract)

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Amoeba.com: The Meatmen - Biography. Retrieved December 17, 2016 .
  2. ↑ ChicagoReader.com: Touch and Go v. The Buttholes. Retrieved October 30, 2016 .