F-Beat Records was a

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 ...

set up by

Jake Riviera Jake Riviera (born Andrew Jakeman, February 1948, in Edgware, Middlesex, England) is a British music business entrepreneur, best known for his management of such performers as Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe and as co-founder (with Dave Robinson) o ...

in 1979. Its first release, " I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" by

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

& the Attractions, reached number 4 in the UK charts, the highest singles chart position the label attained.Freeth, Nick (2002) ''The Guitar & rock equipment'', Salamander, , p. 230 The first album released on the label was Costello's '' Get Happy!!'', which peaked at number 2 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

.Buckley, Peter (ed.) (2003) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, , p. 231 As well as releases from Costello, whom Riviera managed, he sought acts for the label via an advert in ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', and one of the bands who applied (and were given an audition, ultimately unsuccessfully) were

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

and

Andy Rourke Andrew Michael Rourke (born 17 January 1964) is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing. Career Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an a ...

's band White Dice.Rogan, Johnny (1993) ''Morrissey and Marr: The Severed Alliance'', Omnibus Press, , p. 124 The roster was built up to include

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 album ...

the Blasters The Blasters are an American rock band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Their self-described " American Music ...

Blanket of Secrecy Blanket of Secrecy (BoS) was a short-lived English new wave band formed in 1982. The band was notable for the fact that its band members, true to their band name, were never officially identified at the time - only the pseudonyms Tinker, Tail ...

and Clive Langer and the Boxes. The Album and Single covers were mostly designed by Barney Bubbles and also Antoinette (Tony) Riviera. F-Beat was distributed in the mid-1980s by

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 ...

.Ellis, Lucy & Sutherland, Bryony (2002) ''Annie Lennox: the Biography'', Omnibus Press, , p. 136 Costello notched up another fifteen hits for F-Beat before leaving for

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. The original F-Beat label was closed down in 1986, but it was briefly reactivated in the early 1990s with a new roster including

Blab Happy Blab Happy were a British indie band from Leicester formed in 1987,Gregory, Andy (2002) ''International Who's Who in Popular Music 2002'', Europa, , p. 133 comprising Mick McCarthy, Jon Dennis, Tony Owen and Jeremy Clay. After two EPs released o ...

, Nicola Hitchcock, Phil Burdett and the Gutter Brothers. The F-Beat label had associated offshoot labels in

Demon Records Demon Music Group (DMG) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-issuing recordings as compilations on physical media (CDs and vinyl) via supermarkets and specialist stores. History DM ...

and Edsel Records, the latter concentrating on reissues.Hoffman, F (2004) ''Encyclopedia of Recorded Sound'', Routledge, , pp. 285-6 F-Beat and its sub-labels were acquired by MCI Records and then in 1998 by

Kingfisher plc Kingfisher plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational retailing company headquartered in London, England. It has over 1,300 stores in nine countries, and its brands include B&Q, Castorama, Brico Dépôt and Screwfix. Kingfisher i ...

for £2 million.Solomons, Mark & Ferguson, Tom (1998)
British Retailer Kingfisher Picks Up Demon Label
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'', 18 April 1998, pp. 6, 85. Retrieved 17 November 2012

Roster

& the Attractions *

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in power pop and new wave,Rockpile Rockpile was a British rock and roll band of the late 1970s and early 1980s, noted for their strong pub rock, rockabilly and power pop influences, and as a foundational influence on new wave. The band consisted of Dave Edmunds (vocals, gui ...

Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films ''Still Crazy'' and ''Br ...

& the Boxes *

The Coward Brothers Declan Patrick MacManus OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in 2020, and has twice been nom ...

Carlene Carter Carlene Carter (born Rebecca Carlene Smith; September 26, 1955) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter Cash and her first husband, Carl Smith. As of 2020, since 1978, Carter has recorded 12 album ...

The Blasters The Blasters are an American rock band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Their self-described " American Music ...

* Nicola Hitchcock *

The Gutter Brothers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

References

Record labels established in 1979 Record labels disestablished in 1986 Re-established companies Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom Pop record labels {{UK-record-label-stub

Roster

See also

References