Grand Central Records was an

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 ...

based in the Northern Quarter of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, England. It was started in 1995 by DJ Mark Rae (who, along with Steve Christian makes up the duo

Rae & Christian Rae & Christian are an English production duo, consisting of Mark Rae and Steve Christian. They are also founders of the Grand Central Records label. History In 1995, Mark Rae fulfilled a long-term dream by founding Grand Central Records in Ma ...

). Rae started out working as manager of the Fat City Records' store (which is now also a record label). The two labels maintained a close relationship, co-hosting club nights including ''Friends and Family''. Grand Central also had a digital sub-label, GC3. As of May 2006, Grand Central Records ceased operating as a record label and the official website was closed down. The label was allegedly investigated by the MCPS with regard to unpaid royalties and the resultant bill was so large that it forced the label into liquidation.

Artists

* Aim *ARP * Boca 45 * Broadway Project *Dual Control *

Fingathing Fingathing are an English electronic music group, comprising classically trained double bass player Simon 'Sneaky' Houghton, DJ/turntablist Dan 'Peter Parker' Baxter and Visual Artist Chris Cavetroll Drury. History Peter Parker was a finalist ...

Funky Fresh Few Funky Fresh Few are a hip-hop act from Blackpool, Lancashire, England, who started out as a graffiti crew called Imperial Arts. The band originally consisted of James Folks, Damon Savage and Timeone. They met up with Mark Rae in 1996, who was se ...

*Ill Gotten Gains *

Jon Kennedy Jon Kennedy is a drummer and electronic musician who was born in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, England. He was discovered in 2000 when he passed a demo CD to Ninja Tune artist Mr Scruff. Scruff played tracks from the CD soon after on his "U ...

Kate Rogers Kate Rogers is a Canadian singer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Biography Rogers was raised in rural Ontario and studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto for seven years. Her early career as a recording artist included vocals for G ...

* Kohei Mihara *Mark Rae *

Niko Niko may refer to: People The given name is sometimes a short form of Nikola, Nikolas, Nikolaos or others. * Nikō (1253–1314), Japanese Buddhist disciple of Nichiren * Niko (musician), American musician active from 2002 * NiKo (born 199 ...

*Only Child *QNC QNC are New York hip hop artists, QBall and DJ / producer Curt Cazal. Originally members of J.V.C. F.O.R.C.E (Justified By Virtue For Obvious Reasons Concerning Entertainment), QNC later collaborated with Rae & Christian and Aim. Their debut album, ''Duo Dynamic'', was released in 2005. *

* Riton *

Rob Smith Robert Smith or Bob Smith, or similar, may refer to: Business * Robert MacKay Smith (1802–1888), Scottish businessman, meteorologist and philanthropist who founded Glasgow University's Mackay Smith Prizes * Robert Barr Smith (1824–1915), ...

*The Nudge The Nudge is Christian Wood (aka Woody), a DJ from

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, signed to Grand Central Records by Mark Rae. He only released a couple of 12" singles under the name The Nudge – ''Bumpin' '' and ''Quickness'' (feat. ''The Rusty Pelicans'' aka The Rusty Ps), although further tracks and remixes appear on the Grand Central albums, Grand Central Vol. 1, Grand Central Vol. 2, Grand Central Translation, Grand Central Vol. 3 and Underground Crown Holders. *

Tony D Anthony Depula (June 28, 1966 – April 4, 2009), known professionally as Tony D, was an American hip hop artist from Trenton, New Jersey. Career Although he was an MC and a DJ, he was most famous for being an influential producer in hip hop ...

*Veba Veba is a singer from

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

. She provided vocals on several songs for other Grand Central artists' records, including Mark Rae, Tony D, Fingathing, Only Child and most notably, Rae & Christian. An album containing several of her appearances, Veba Vs Grand Central was released in 2005.

After Grand Central

* Aim left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and formed his own record label,

ATIC Records ''ATIC Records'' is an independent record label formed by British musician, DJ and producer, Aim (Andy Turner) and Niko (Nicole Vergel de Dios). They left Grand Central Records in early 2005 and started ATIC Records in June 2006. As there h ...

, in June 2006 and released his label debut '' Flight 602'' later the same year.

has also signed to ATIC Records, along with

Gripper A ''gripper'' is something that grips things or makes it easier to grip things. It may refer to: * grippers, tools for building hand strength * a Robot end effector, the "hand" of a robot * a person working in a grip (job) In the United States, ...

and

Paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ...

. * Boca 45 released his second album, ''Vertigo Sounds'', on German record label Unique Records in 2006. *

released an EP, ''Apocalypso'' in 2006 from their own website. Subsequent releases have been on MP3 only, via the "Artists First" internet label. DJ Sneaky has since recorded solo, releasing a digital 4-track EP, with an album to follow, entitled ''Feel Like a King... Pluck a String''. *

released a 12" single, ''Demons'' in 2007 on his new label,

The Jon Kennedy Federation ''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 ...

. *Mark Rae initially started a new recording partnership with Rhys Adams in 2005, under the name ARP (Adams.Rae.Productions). In 2007, the pair started a new record label, Yes King Recordings and a new band, Yes King. Veba appeared amongst the vocalists on the Yes King album, ''Rock This World'' (2008). Future solo releases from Mark Rae and from

are also expected to be released on the new label. *The Nudge followed Aim to ATIC Records, and now records under the name Crowhead. * Riton has released several 12" singles on different European labels, and has also released an eponymous album under the recording name Eine Kleine Nacht Musik. *

released two 12" singles, ''Give Love'' (2006) and ''Loveage'' (2007) on Functional Breaks.

Grand Central Records compilation albums

References

External links

* {{Authority control Electronic music record labels British independent record labels Record labels established in 1995 Defunct companies based in Manchester Music in Manchester British hip hop record labels

Artists

After Grand Central

Grand Central Records compilation albums

See also

References

External links