Popular Metaphysics was a record label created by Sandy Pearlman in Studio C of the

Hyde Street Studios Hyde Street Studios is an American music recording facility in San Francisco, California. Located at 245 Hyde Street and previously occupied by Wally Heider Studios, it became Hyde Street Studios in 1980 when it was taken over by local songwriter, ...

in San Francisco in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

. The label was short lived, but it signed a few solid acts and released their records on the

MCA MCA may refer to: Astronomy * Mars-crossing asteroid, an asteroid whose orbit crosses that of Mars Aviation * Minimum crossing altitude, a minimum obstacle crossing altitude for fixes on published airways * Medium Combat Aircraft, a 5th gene ...

label, including Love Club (1990), Manitoba's Wild Kingdom(1990), and

World Entertainment War World Entertainment War was an American funk rock band, formed in 1986. They recorded four records before disbanding in 1993, and then played reunion concerts in 2000 and 2001, and again in 2009. The band describes itself as “a benevolent medi ...

(1991).

History

In 1986, Sandy Pearlman leased Studio C in San Francisco's Hyde Street Studios from studio owner Dan Alexander. Pearlman ran Studio C as Alpha & Omega Studio until 1991. He also used it for his own projects, including those on his short-lived MCA-distributed label Popular Metaphysics, and he also sub-leased it to other producers and artists. Howie Klein was the owner and President of

415 Records 415 Records was a San Francisco record label created in 1978. The label focused its efforts on local punk rock and new wave music acts of the late 1970s through the late 1980s, including The Offs, The Nuns, The Units, Romeo Void, and Wire Train. ...

and he had been named General Manager of

Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label founded in 1960 by Frank Sinatra. It is owned by Warner Music Group, and operates through Warner Records, one of its flagship labels. Artists currently signed to Reprise Records include Enya, Michael ...

in 1989; later, in 1995, he would become President of Reprise Records and Executive Vice President of

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 ...

, a position he held until his retirement in 2001. Sandy Pearlman took over as President of 415 Records when Klein left and A&R Director

Daniel Levitin Daniel Joseph Levitin, FRSC (born December 27, 1957) is an American-Canadian cognitive psychologist, neuroscientist, writer, musician, and record producer. He is the author of four ''New York Times'' best-selling books, including '' This Is You ...

stayed to help run the label. Levitin had held that position with 415 Records when

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

severed their co-branding contract earlier in 1989. By this time, Al Teller, who had been president of Columbia when the 415 partnership began, was now president of

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

and so, Pearlman formed a new co-branding alliance between 415 Records and

. Three months after Klein left, in 1989, Pearlman bought 415 Records and named Tom Schedler head of his A&R department. Shortly after, Pearlman changed the label's name to Popular Metaphysics, ending the 415 Label. In 1990, Mark Garvey's ''Songwriters' Market'' published a listing that read as follows: "*SANDY PEARLMAN, INC., 245 Hyde St., San Francisco CA 94102. (415)885-4999. A&R Director: Natasha V. Record producer, record company (Popular Metaphysics, formerly 415), recording studio (Alpha & Omega Recording, Hyde Street Studios)." Popular Metaphysics signed and released records through its co-branding agreement with MCA for a diverse but small group of artists, including Love Club, Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, and World Entertainment War. Not every artist that Popular Metaphysics courted was co-branded by MCA. In the summer of 1990,

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

alternative band Idaho Syndrome, did a showcase for a label representative, and expected to be signed, contingent on MCA's final approval. As lead singer Ryley Fogg described it two years later, "They didn't like dirge rock," and the deal fell through.

Post-closing activities

Artists signed to Popular Metaphysics

Popular Metaphysics signed artists included:

Discography

* Love Club ;''Lime Twigs and Treachery'' (

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

) Recorded at, engineered by, mastered by Stephen Marcussen, produced by Bill Buchanan, and released as a CD in the US (cat# MCAD-10034) on Jan 1, 1990 on the Popular Metaphysics/MCA Records label. * Manitoba's Wild Kingdom ;''...And You?'' (

) Recorded at, engineered by, with

Ulrich Wild Ulrich Wild is an American record producer, engineer and mixer specializing in the rock and metal genres. Born and raised in Switzerland, Ulrich is now a naturalized citizen in the United States, living in Los Angeles, California. In a career tha ...

assisting, mastered by, produced by

Andy Shernoff Andy Shernoff (born April 19, 1955) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is a founding member of The Dictators, one of the original New York punk bands, in which he wrote nearly all of the songs, played bass guitar and k ...

and released in Germany as a vinyl LP album (cat.# 2292-57200-1), in the UK as a cassette tape album (cat.# MCGC 6087), and in the US as a CD album (cat# MCAD 6367) and cassette (cat# 6367), on Popular Metaphysics, co-branded with

. *

;''World Entertainment War'' (

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

) Recorded at Alpha Omega Studios, engineered by

and Mark Senasac, produced and mixed by Mark Senasac, mastered by Stephen Marcussen, and released in the US and Germany on CD (cat# MCD-10137), cassette, (cat# 10137) and album (cat# MCAD10137), by Popular Metaphysics/MCA.

References

{{Authority control American record labels Record labels established in 1989 Indie rock record labels