Off Centaur Publications was the first "commercial"

filk Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defin ...

label. It was founded in 1980 by Teri Lee,

Jordin Kare Jordin T. Kare (October 24, 1956 – July 19, 2017) was a physicist and aerospace engineer known for his research on laser propulsion. In particular, he was responsible for Mockingbird, a conceptual design for an extremely small (75 kg dry m ...

, and Catherine Cook. For a short time, Off Centaur produced high quality recordings of some of filk's best performers, and changed the course of filk music. Like some other filk labels the name was a pun, in this case upon the idiom "off center" meaning eccentric, odd, or unusual -- all of which could be considered legitimate characterizations of filk music. (Other filk labels have included Wail Songs, Unlikely Publications, and Random Factors, illustrating the style of self-deprecating humor common among these publishers.) Releases from this label are very difficult to find. At an Interfilk auction at

FilKONtario FilKONtario is a fan-run convention in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario area dedicated to filk, the music of science fiction and fantasy fandom. Established in 1991, it is the only filk convention in Canada. In its fifth year (1995), the conven ...

, a copy of '' Horse-Tamer's Daughter'' was sold for

CA$ The Canadian dollar (symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style g ...

400.00. Admittedly, since these are charity auctions to support the filk community, prices at Interfilk auctions do tend to run higher than typical. However, Off Centaur tapes are commonly considered "unobtainium" since few have been republished or re-created, and the best do tend to command collector prices. Off Centaur Publications was inducted into the

Filk Hall of Fame Filk music is a musical culture, genre, and community tied to science fiction, fantasy, and horror fandom and a type of fan labor. The genre has existed since the early 1950s and been played primarily since the mid-1970s. Etymology and defin ...

in 1995.

Notable albums and performers

* ''A Wolfrider's Reflections, Songs Of Elfquest'' by

Cynthia McQuillin Cynthia McQuillin (July 25, 1953 – January 14, 2006) was a filk singer and writer as well as an author and artist. She lived in the San Francisco Bay area. Her songs touched the usual filk topics of science fiction, fantasy, and cats, but ...

Mercedes Lackey Mercedes Ritchie Lackey (born June 24, 1950) is an American writer of fantasy novels. Many of her novels and trilogies are interlinked and set in the world of Velgarth, mostly in and around the country of Valdemar. Her Valdemar novels include i ...

Leslie Fish Leslie Fish is a folk musician, author, and anarchist political activist. Music Along with The DeHorn Crew, in 1976 she created the first commercial filk recording, ''Folk Songs for Folk Who Ain't Even Been Yet''. Her second recording, ''Solar S ...

Julia Ecklar Julia Ecklar (born 1964) is a John W. Campbell Award–winning science fiction author and a singer and writer of filk music who recorded numerous albums in the Off Centaur label in the early 1980s, including '' Minus Ten and Counting'', '' Horse ...

(1984) * ''Cold Iron'' by

(lyrics by

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

) (1983) * '' The Best of Chi-con IV'' - anthology, recorded live at the 1982

Worldcon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

* ''Minus Ten and Counting: Songs of the Space Age'' * '' Horse-Tamer's Daughter'' by

* '' Singer in the Shadow'' by

* '' Captain Jack and the Mermaid'' by

Meg Davis Meg Davis (born January 28, 1953) is an American singer of traditional music. She is also a songwriter, best known for her classic ballad "Captain Jack and the Mermaid" (recorded by many world folk groups such as De Dannan). She is known primaril ...

* '' Lovers, Heroes & Rogues'' by

Michael Longcor Michael Longcor is a folk and filk singer. His songs span a range of topics including military history, Indiana history, and humor. He has won six Pegasus Awards and has been nominated for six others. His music has appeared on Dr. Demento and on ...

* '' On a Bright Wind'' by

Kathy Mar Kathy Mar (; from Chinese ' by analogy with non-rhotic accents) is an American filk singer. Career Mar worked as a professional folk singer and street performer in Denver, Colorado for many years before discovering filk. Her first recordings ...

(1984) * '' Murder, Mystery and Mayhem'' anthology, lyrics by

(1985) * '' Past Due'' by Bill Sutton (1986) * '' Rebel Yells''—anthology, recorded live at the 1986

* '' Where No Man...''—a collection of Star Trek filk songs (1987)

Books

* '' Westerfilk Collection''

Notes

External links

Library listing

American record labels Record labels established in 1980 Filk music {{US-record-label-stub

Notable albums and performers

Books

See also

Notes

External links