Food Records was a British

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 in 1984 by

David Balfe David Balfe (born 1958 in Carlisle, Cumberland) is a musician and record company executive, most notable for playing keyboards with the Teardrop Explodes, founding the Zoo and Food independent record labels, signing Blur and for being the subj ...

(formally of

Zoo Records Zoo Records was a British independent record label formed by Bill Drummond and David Balfe in 1978. Zoo was launched to release the work of the perennially struggling Liverpool band Big in Japan (the label's first release being the ''From Y T ...

), who later took on

Andy Ross Andrew Ross is an American musician. He has been the guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist for the rock band OK Go since 2005. He is also behind a solo project, Secret Dakota Ring, which released albums in 2004 and 2008. Ross is also co-founder of ...

as his partner. Originally formed as an

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

with distribution going through

Rough Trade Distribution Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pu ...

, Food also licensed acts through

WEA Records Warner Music Group Corp. ( d.b.a. Warner Music Group, commonly abbreviated as WMG) is an American multinational entertainment and record label conglomerate headquartered in New York City. It is one of the " big three" recording companies and th ...

, before becoming closely associated with the

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

group's

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 ...

label.

invested in the label and then in 1994 EMI gained complete control and folded it into Parlophone in 2000. Ross died in 2022 aged 66.

Artists

Food was sold to EMI by David Balfe in 1994. Andy Ross continued running Food as a sub-label of EMI, where it was the record label of Blur, Strangelove, Idlewild,

Jesus Jones Jesus Jones are a British alternative rock band from Bradford-on-Avon in Wiltshire, formed in late 1988, who continue to record and perform, as of 2021. Their track " Right Here, Right Now" was an international hit, and was subsequently globall ...

Dubstar Dubstar are an English indie-dance duo,Note: An American indie hip hop artist has released some tracks and video via the Internet under the name "Dubstar", but is not connected to the band in any way. performing songs with hints of Britpop, dre ...

The Supernaturals The Supernaturals are a five piece guitar-based indie rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. Fronted by singer-songwriter James McColl, they signed to Parlophone in 1996, and had a string of singles which were taken from their three albums and fo ...

Octopus An octopus ( : octopuses or octopodes, see below for variants) is a soft-bodied, eight- limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttle ...

and Grass Show.

''The Food Christmas EP''

In December 1989, Food Records released ''The Food Christmas EP'' (FOOD 23) that featured Food artists covering each other's songs.

Crazyhead Crazyhead are an English garage punk band from Leicester, England. Though lumped in with the largely media-created grebo scene, they were more influenced by the garage rock of the late 1960s, as well as bands like The Ramones, The Stooges and ...

covered Diesel Park West's "Like Princes Do",

covered Crazyhead's "I Don't Want That Kind Of Love" and

Diesel Park West Diesel Park West are an English alternative rock band from Leicester, England. Formed in 1980, they have released nine official albums, plus six singles that have appeared in the UK Singles Chart. Current line-up *John Butler (vocals, guitar) ...

covered Jesus Jones' "Info-Freako". The EP was released on CD, 7" vinyl, 12" and a limited gatefold sleeve 12" vinyl. The EP charted at #63 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. ;Track listing (7" and 12") #"I Don't Want That Kind Of Love" (Reverb) – 4:10 performed by

#"Like Princes Do" (John Butler) – 3:25 performed by

#"Info Freako" (Mike Edwards) – 3:52 performed by

#*CD versions reverse the track order to begin with "Info Freako". ;Credits *Mike Edwards - producer ("I Don't Want That Kind Of Love") *Rick Wilson - producer ("Like Princes Do" and "Info Freako") *John Butler - producer ("Info Freako")

References

{{Authority control Defunct record labels of the United Kingdom 1984 establishments in the United Kingdom 2000 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Record labels established in 1984 Record labels disestablished in 2000 British independent record labels EMI Parlophone subsidiaries Indie rock record labels Pop record labels

Artists

''The Food Christmas EP''

See also

References