StreetSounds is a British compilation
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 ...
, that specialised in urban and electronic club/dance music during the mid-1980s. StreetSounds was an offshoot of producer and promoter Morgan Khan's StreetWave label. The first StreetSounds release was the first edition of the label's core compilation series, ''StreetSounds 1'' in late 1982. This regular compilation series proclaimed itself 'one hour packs of the latest dance tracks'. They were composed of full-length versions of (mainly) black club and urban dance music. Some tracks were licensed from the
US.
History
The Street Sounds formula for compilations was quality track selection, and reacting quickly to trends with a frenetic release rate.
The run of the Street Sounds series coincided with, and helped promote, the rise of
electronic dance music during the mid-1980s, at a time when style conscious young adults in the UK were looking for an alternative to rock, pop and post-punk music.
Khan later extended the formula and released other compilation series including
jazz-funk
Jazz-funk is a subgenre of jazz music characterized by a strong back beat (groove), electrified sounds, and an early prevalence of analog synthesizers. The integration of funk, soul, and R&B music and styles into jazz resulted in the creatio ...
,
house
A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...
and
high energy genres.
Notable Street Sounds releases included the ''Philadelphia Story''; ''
SOLAR''; ''Love Ballads''; and ''Dance Decade''
box set
A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit.
Music
Artists and bands ...
s. ''The Artists'' compilations, that collected representative tracks from specific artists, and 'Anthems' series (compilations of dance music classics) were also well-regarded. The Japanese instrumental group
A.B.'s album ''Deja Vu'' was released on the label, in 1983. The Street Sounds logo was changed several times over the lifespan of the label.
The Street Sounds label went into liquidation in 1988, mainly as a result of large losses incurred by ''Street Scene'', Khan's club music magazine.
After its collapse, the Street Sounds label was dormant for some years. It has since been revived by Khan, and offers mainly reissues of back-catalogue material from the original Street Sounds incarnation.
In April 2009, Street Sounds released a new ''Electro'' compilation through the Street Sounds website. ''Nu Electro Volume 1'' featured twenty tracks mixed by Freddy Fresh and Diplomat, and the musical style returned to the electronic roots of the series rather than the hip hop style compilation that was released in 1988 as ''Electro 22''.
In 2015, Street Sounds released volume 4 of the ''Crucial Electro'' series on CD and vinyl formats.
Creative Director John Carver was responsible for StreetSounds' branding. Carver suggested the name StreetSounds as an alternative to StreetBeat.
He handled the branding, packaging and advertising for StreetSounds for the first few years and was responsible for devising iconic terms like "Electro is aural sex" for the ''Electro'' series and "Get set for sweat" for the ''Hi-NRG'' series.
References
External links
Street Sounds official websiteMorgan Khan webpageStreet Sounds webpage
{{Authority control
British record labels
Record labels established in 1982
Re-established companies
1982 establishments in the United Kingdom
Electronic dance music record labels