Handsome Boy Records was a Canadian

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 ...

founded in 1994 in Toronto."Handsome Boy President Juggling Hit Acts"
''

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 ...

'', September 2, 1995. It was distributed by

BMG Music Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music com ...

in Canada, and by other labels internationally including

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

Background

Handsome Boy is owned by Jeff Rogers, a former manager of the band

Crash Test Dummies Crash Test Dummies are a Canadian rock band from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The band is most identifiable through Brad Roberts (vocals, guitar) and his distinctive bass-baritone voice. The band members have fluctuated over the years, but its best kno ...

."Music mogul follows beat of a different drummer". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', December 31, 1998. After the Dummies achieved international success with their album ''

God Shuffled His Feet ''God Shuffled His Feet'' is the second album by Canadian band Crash Test Dummies, released in 1993. It features their most popular single, "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm". The cover art superimposes the band members' faces over the figures of Titian's paintin ...

'', Handsome Boy was formed in 1994, with its first release being

One Free Fall Rusty is a Canadian alternative rock band formed in 1994 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The band earned a 1996 Juno Award nomination in the category Best Alternative Album for ''Fluke''. History Rusty's origins are in One Free Fall, a band from W ...

's ''Mud Creek''. Initially the label was self-distributed by the staff of Rogers's management company Swell. Within less than a year, however, One Free Fall broke up and reformed as

Rusty Rusty may refer to something covered with rust or with a rust (color). Rusty is also a nickname for people who have red hair, have a rust-hued skin tone, or have the given name Russell. Rusty may also refer to: People *Rusty Anderson (born 1959 ...

, who achieved greater success. This led Handsome Boy to signing more artists, many of which were discovered through "Elvis Mondays" nights at Toronto's

El Mocambo The El Mocambo is a live music and entertainment venue in Toronto, Ontario. Located on Spadina Avenue, just south of College Street, the venue has played an important role in the development of popular music in Toronto since 1948. It is best kno ...

nightclub. Other artists who released material on Handsome Boy included

hHead hHead were a Canadian alternative rock band, formed in 1991 in Ajax. The band was originally formed by Noah Mintz and Brendan Canning as an acoustic duo,"hHead music simple, melancholy; Disc reminiscent of 'Seattle sound'". ''Ottawa Citizen'', Oc ...

Groovy Religion ''Groovy'' (or, less commonly, ''groovie'' or ''groovey'') is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context. History The ...

Meryn Cadell Meryn Cadell is an American-Canadian writer and performance artist. He is an assistant professor of song lyrics and libretto writing in the Creative Writing Program at University of British Columbia. Cadell is a transgender man who transitioned ...

The Monoxides ''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 ...

, John Oswald and Slowburn. The label also released the soundtrack to

Jeremy Podeswa Jeremy Podeswa (born 1962) is a Canadian film and television director. He is best known for directing the films '' The Five Senses'' (1999) and ''Fugitive Pieces'' (2007). He has also worked as director on the television shows '' Six Feet Under ...

's film ''

Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ce ...

''. Through the 2000s, the label stopped releasing new material, although it remained in business as a "catalogue" label of its earlier releases while Rogers worked for

Richard Branson Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson (born 18 July 1950) is a British billionaire, entrepreneur, and business magnate. In the 1970s he founded the Virgin Group, which today controls more than 400 companies in various fields. Branson expressed ...

and focused on tech, film and television projects. It did not release a new record until Street Pharmacy's album ''Divorce'' in 2012.

References

External links

Handsome Boy Records
{{Authority control Canadian independent record labels Alternative rock record labels