Deconstruction Records is a British

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded in 1987 by Pete Hadfield and Keith Blackhurst, together with

Mike Pickering Mike Pickering (born 21 February 1954) is an English musician and DJ. Career Pickering was a DJ at The Haçienda's Nude and Hot nights, and later Shine. He worked for Factory Records, where he signed Happy Mondays, To Hell with Burgundy and ...

M People M People (stylised as ''M''People) is an English dance music band that formed in 1990 and achieved success throughout most of the 1990s. The name M People is taken from the first letter of the first name of band member Mike Pickering, who form ...

. According to ''

DJ Magazine ''DJ Magazine'' (also known as ''DJ Mag'') is a British monthly magazine dedicated to electronic dance music and DJs. Founded in 1991, the magazine is adapted for distribution in the United Kingdom, the United States, Spain, France, Italy, Lat ...

'' it is "best remembered for marrying underground credibility and diversity with an open-minded attitude towards pop".

Artists

Kylie Minogue Cropped Sliver Spoon Awards 2012

It initially specialised in house anthems such as K Klass's "Rhythm Is a Mystery" and Bassheads' "Is There Anybody Out There?", as well as M People's output, but also had a record in promoting underground dance acts such as Dave Clarke. Hits included

Robert Miles Roberto Concina (3 November 1969 – 9 May 2017), known professionally as Robert Miles, was an Italian record producer, composer, musician and DJ. His 1995 composition "Children (composition), Children" sold more than 5 million copies and topp ...

' UK No. 2 hit "Children",

Felix Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

's twice UK top ten hit "

Don't You Want Me "Don't You Want Me" is a song by British synthpop group the Human League (credited on the cover as The Human League 100). It was released on 27 November 1981 as the fourth single from their third studio album, ''Dare'' (1981). The band's best k ...

" and Italian techno act U. S. U. R. A.'s UK No. 7 hit, "Open Your Mind". It was home to

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. She is the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. She has been recognised for reinve ...

in the mid-late 1990s, when working with Saint Etienne, Brothers in Rhythm (who produced her single "

Confide in Me "Confide in Me" is a song recorded by Australian singer Kylie Minogue, taken from her Kylie Minogue (album), self-titled fifth studio album (1994). It was released as the album's lead single on 29 August 1994 by Deconstruction Records, Deconstr ...

"), and others. Among the other artists to record for the company were

Guru Josh Paul Walden (6 June 1964 – 28 December 2015), better known as Guru Josh, was a Jersey musician, active in the British post-acid house scene, best known for his debut single "Infinity". Biography Musical career Walden was the son of a Jer ...

Black Box In science, computing, and engineering, a black box is a system which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs (or transfer characteristics), without any knowledge of its internal workings. Its implementation is "opaque" (black). The te ...

, Way Out West, Sasha,

Jam Machine The Jam Machine, also known under the pseudonym The Strings of Love, is an Italo house group created by Corrado Rizza with Max and Frank Minoia. The trio scored a minor UK chart hit in 1989 with the song "Everyday" at No. 68. It was released by th ...

and

Republica Republica are an English alternative rock band formed in 1994. The height of their popularity spanned from 1996 to 1999. The current line-up consists of Saffron (vocals), Tim Dorney (keyboards), Johnny Male (guitar), Conor Lawrence (drums). T ...

. It also released recordings by

Lionrock Lionrock was a British big beat group, comprising record producer Justin Robertson, MC Buzz B, and producer, engineer, programmer and synthesist Roger Lyons. Lyons replaced recording engineer Mark Stagg in 1995. Their biggest chart success cam ...

Death in Vegas Death in Vegas are an English electronic music group, for which Richard Fearless serves as frontman. The band was formed in 1994 by Fearless and Steve Hellier and signed to Concrete Records under the name of Dead Elvis. Owing to an Irish record ...

and

Dub Pistols Dub Pistols is an English electronic music band founded in 1996 by Barry Ashworth and Jason O'Bryan. Career The band's first singles were "There's Gonna Be a Riot" and "Best Got Better" in 1998. Their first album, '' Point Blank'', came out ...

through its Concrete Records subsidiary.

Commercial history

Distribution was via label deals with

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

, for acts such as

K-Klass K-Klass are a British electronic music group from Wrexham, Wales and Chester, England, who are based in Manchester, England. Its original members were Andy Williams, Carl Thomas, Russ Morgan and Paul Roberts. In 1991, K-Klass signed with the ...

and Bassheads, and

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also A ...

for everybody else (although M People had a separate deal with Epic in the United States, but had its primary label attached to their releases Stateside). It was acquired by BMG in 1993, and its operations reduced in 1998, with M People gaining its own M People Records label for the release of its ''Fresco'' album.

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

then acquired BMG's stake in

Sony BMG Music Entertainment Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout ...

in 2008, which led to the closure of both Deconstruction and Concrete.

Orthography

Deconstruction Records was written a number of ways, including * De Construction Records (pre BMG releases) * deConstruction Records * Deconstruction Records

2009 re-launch

Sony and Three Six Zero Group relaunched the label in July 2009, again under Mike Pickering; its first release was Sasha's "Xpander" in August 2009. They relaunched some of its back catalogue, and announced some new signings in late 2009, including

Axwell Axel Christofer Hedfors (; born 18 December 1977), better known by his stage name Axwell, is a Swedish DJ, record producer, remixer and owner of Axtone Records. He is a member of Swedish House Mafia along with Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angell ...

, Diagram of the Heart, Retro/Grade and Way Out West. In May 2010, it was announced that

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris, is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter who has released six studio albums. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'', was released in June ...

was signed the head of the A&R team at the newly relaunched Deconstruction label.

References

External links

Official siteDiscogs entry
{{Authority control British record labels Record labels established in 1987 Record labels disestablished in 1998 Record labels established in 2009 English electronic dance music record labels Pop record labels