Fringe Product (or Fringe Records) is a defunct Canadian independent record label which was owned by Ben Hoffman. Genres on the label included

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

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 ...

metal A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typicall ...

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

, death metal,

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...

. Hoffman was also proprietor of Record Peddler Distribution (specializing in UK and US imports) and The Record Peddler from the late 1970s to the year 2000. Acts on the Fringe Product label included HYPE,

Dirty Rotten Imbeciles Dirty Rotten Imbeciles (often abbreviated and referred to as D.R.I.) is an American crossover thrash band that formed in Houston, Texas in 1982. The band is currently composed of two of its founding members, vocalist Kurt Brecht and guitarist S ...

, Dayglo Abortions, Guilt Parade, Teenage Head, A Neon Rome,

Breeding Ground In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

, Sacrifice, Slaughter, Corpus Vile, Razor, Vital Sines, UIC, TBA, Sudden Impact, YouthYouthYouth,

The Demics The Demics were a Canadian punk rock band that formed in 1977 in London, Ontario. Biography Originally formed in London, Ontario in 1977, the band consisted of vocalist Keith Whittaker, guitarist Rob Brent, bassist Iain Atkinson-Staines and d ...

, Change of Heart,

Bunchofuckingoofs Bunchofuckingoofs, or the BFGs, was an infamous Canadian hardcore punk band from Toronto's Kensington Market neighbourhood, formed in November 1983. From July 1983 to July 1988, they ran a 24/7 boozecan at their Baldwin Street address known on ...

and

Random Killing Random Killing is a Toronto, Montreal and Oshawa based veteran Canadian punk rock band established in 1984. The group of childhood friends initially got together to jam some of their favourite punk rock music, just for a shits and giggles. The ...

. Fringe Product is also noteworthy for licensing bands such as

Bad Brains Bad Brains are an American rock band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1976. Originally a jazz fusion band under the name Mind Power, they are widely regarded as pioneers of hardcore punk, though the band's members have objected to the use of this t ...

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Dead Kennedys' lyrics were usually political in nature, satirizing p ...

, Butthole Surfers, Killdozer, Rapeman,

Jello Biafra Eric Reed Boucher (born June 17, 1958), known professionally as Jello Biafra, is an American singer, spoken word artist and politician. He is the former lead singer and songwriter for the San Francisco punk rock band Dead Kennedys. Initially ac ...

Die Kreuzen Die Kreuzen (/ˈdiːˈkɹɔɪtsn̩/) is an American rock band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin formed in 1981. The name, which was taken from a German Bible, is grammatically incorrect German for "the crosses."Larkin, Colin (1995) "Die Kreuzen", in ''T ...

Corrosion of Conformity Corrosion of Conformity (also known as COC) is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina, formed in 1982. The band has undergone multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with guitarist Woody Weatherman as the sole const ...

Gang Green Gang Green is an American punk rock band originally from Braintree, Massachusetts. Chris Doherty (guitar), Bill Manley (bass) and Mike Dean (drums) started the band in 1980 and broke up in 1983. Doherty reformed Gang Green the following year ...

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

, and Black Flag for distribution in Canada via Record Peddler Distribution. Fringe usually released albums and mini-lps in two formats at once. First on vinyl and cassette, then on CD and cassette. The first CDs came out in the winter of 1987-1988, but they were re-releases of big sellers like '' Forward to Termination''. The last vinyl was the Disciples of Power Powertrap LP, which was released at the beginning of April 1990.

Obscenity charges

In 1988, obscenity charges were laid against Fringe Product and Record Peddler, on the basis of their distribution of two albums by Dayglo Abortions. It was the first time that the Canadian obscenity laws, established in 1959, were used against a record label. A jury cleared the companies of the charges in a trial in November 1990.

References

Record labels established in 1900 Record labels disestablished in 2000 Canadian independent record labels Punk record labels Industrial record labels Heavy metal record labels 1988 in Canadian music 1990 in Canadian music Defunct record labels of Canada {{Authority control

Obscenity charges

See also

References