Beggars Banquet Records is a British independent record label. Beggars Banquet started as a chain of record shops owned by

Martin Mills Martin Mills (born 12 May 1949) is the founder and chairman of the Beggars Group. Early life Mills grew up near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire and comes from an "upper-middle-class English family". His father was a civil servant and his mother was as ...

and Nick Austin and is part of the

Beggars Group Beggars Group is a British record company that owns or distributes several other labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Young. History The companies’ roots stem from the Beggars Banquet record shops, whi ...

of labels.

History

In 1977, spurred by the prevailing

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and sem ...

aesthetics of the British punk rock movement (then at the height of its popularity), Martin Mills and Nick Austin founded a record label to release records under the Beggars Banquet imprint. The first band on the label was the English punk group

the Lurkers The Lurkers are a British punk rock band from Uxbridge, West London. They are notable for being the first group ever on Beggars Banquet Records for whom they released two albums, the first of which charted in the UK Albums Chart, while five si ...

; the first release on the label was the Lurkers' 7" single "Shadow"/"Love Story". They also released the first solo "Duffo" album from Australian big-band vocalist

Jeff Duff Geoff "Jeff" Stephen Duff, or Duffo, (born 1956) is an Australian singer/cabaret performer in the tenor range, who in his career has used various personae, wardrobe, and satire as features of his performance. Duff's shows ''Ziggy'' and ''Bowie ...

. Later in the decade and into the early 1980s, hits with

Tubeway Army Tubeway Army were a London-based new wave band led by lead singer Gary Numan. Formed at the height of punk rock in 1977 the band gradually changed to an electronic sound. They were the first band of the electronic era to have a synthesiser ...

and Gary Numan secured the label's future. Other bands who were signed to the label include the Associates,

the Bolshoi The Bolshoi were an English London-based music group prominent mostly in the mid to late 1980s. They are best known for the hits "Sunday Morning" and "A way" or "Away" (the name is interchangeable and has been noted as both on different albums ...

the Cult The Cult are an English rock band formed in 1983 in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Before settling on their current name in January 1984, the band performed under the name Death Cult, which was an evolution of the name of lead singer Ian Astbury' ...

Flesh for Lulu Flesh for Lulu were an English rock band formed in Brixton, London, England, active between 1982 and 1992. They reformed from 2013 to 2015 with a new lineup. Initially part of the post-punk scene, the band's sound shifted to reflect influence ...

Gene Loves Jezebel Gene Loves Jezebel are a British rock band formed in the early 1980s by identical twin brothers Jay (born John) and Michael Aston. Gene Loves Jezebel's best-known songs include "Heartache", "Desire (Come and Get It)" (1986), "The Motion of L ...

the Icicle Works The Icicle Works (also known as Icicle Works in the United States) are an English alternative rock band and were named after the 1960 short story "The Day the Icicle Works Closed" by science fiction author Frederik Pohl. They had a top 20 UK hi ...

and

the Go-Betweens The Go-Betweens were an Australian indie rock band formed in Brisbane, Queensland, in 1977. The band was co-founded and led by singer-songwriters and guitarists Robert Forster and Grant McLennan, who were its only constant members throughout ...

References

External links

Beggars Banquet Records (archive) website
* {{Authority control British independent record labels Beggars Group Record labels established in 1977 Indie rock record labels Alternative rock record labels Punk record labels New wave record labels

History

See also

References

External links