Sleeping Bag Records was a New York City-based

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 by musician Arthur Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov. It was active between 1981 and 1992, and specialized in

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

and hip hop.

Background and history

The label was founded in 1981 initially to release singles produced by Arthur Russell under his various dance aliases. Their first release was the Dinosaur L album ''

24→24 Music ''24→24 Music'' is a 1981 album by Dinosaur L, the disco project of American musician Arthur Russell. Enlisting a variety of musicians, Russell recorded the album in 1979 primarily at Blank Tapes studio in New York. It was released on Sleeping ...

'' (1981). The label's roster would eventually include

Mantronix Mantronix was an influential 1980s hip hop and electro funk music group from New York City. The band was formed by DJ Kurtis Mantronik (Kurtis el Khaleel) and rapper MC Tee (Touré Embden). The group is primarily remembered for its pioneering ...

Just-Ice Joseph Williams Jr. (born June 22, 1965), better known by the stage name Just-Ice, is an American rapper from New York City. A former bouncer at punk clubs, Williams was the first of the New York rappers to embrace gangsta rap, and when he bur ...

Nice & Smooth Nice & Smooth is an East Coast hip hop duo from New York City that consists of Gregory O. "Greg Nice" Mays (born May 30, 1967) and Darryl O. "Smooth B" Barnes (born August 3, 1967) plus their deejay Tedd "DJ Teddy Tedd" Whiting. The duo released f ...

T La Rock Terrence "Terry" Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, (born September 16, 1961) is an American old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 single "It's Yours." Biogr ...

EPMD EPMD is an American hip hop duo from Brentwood, New York. The duo's name is a concatenation of the members' names "E" and "PMD" or an acronym for "Erick and Parrish Making Dollars", referring to its members: emcees Erick Sermon ("E" a.k.a. ...

and Stezo;

freestyle Freestyle may refer to: Brands * Reebok Freestyle, a women's athletic shoe * Ford Freestyle, an SUV automobile * Coca-Cola Freestyle, a vending machine * ICD Freestyle, a paintball marker * Abbott FreeStyle, a blood glucose monitor by Abbott La ...

vocalists Nocera and Kariya (" Let Me Love You for Tonight"); and R&B singer-songwriter

Joyce Sims Joyce Elizabeth Sims-Sandiford (August 6, 1959 – October 13, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, whose biggest hit single, " Come into My Life", reached the top 10 in both the US ''Billboard'' R&B Chart and the UK Singles Chart in 19 ...

. In 1983, Juggy Gayles began promoting singles for the company. Later, he became a partner. The label's corporate

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wordma ...

was a

drawing Drawing is a form of visual art in which an artist uses instruments to mark paper or other two-dimensional surface. Drawing instruments include graphite pencils, pen and ink, various kinds of paints, inked brushes, colored pencils, crayons, ...

of a

koala The koala or, inaccurately, koala bear (''Phascolarctos cinereus''), is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae and its closest living relatives are the womb ...

. Sub-label Fresh Records was founded in

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

Kurtis Mantronik Kurtis el Khaleel (born Graham Curtis el Khaleel, September 4, 1965), known by the stage name Kurtis Mantronik, is a Jamaican-born hip hop and electronic-music artist, DJ, remixer, and producer. He was the leader, DJ, and keyboardist of the inf ...

, in addition to being the musician of the hip-hop duo Mantronix, worked for the label in an A&R capacity. After folding in

1992 File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...

, the Sleeping Bag catalog sat in limbo for several years. In

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, the label and its catalog were purchased by

Warlock Records Warlock Records is a record label based in New York City that was founded in 1985 by Adam Levy (born 1962), whose father was record producer Morris Levy. Artists that recorded for Warlock Records include Jungle Brothers, Royal House, Skinny Boys ...

, which has since been re-releasing its titles with the Sleeping Bag and Fresh logos alongside the Warlock Records logo. The building in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

where the label had its headquarters was torn down in the 1990s, and a luxury apartment building now stands in its place. In 2006, the label became one of many imprints’ catalogs that became Traffic Entertainment Group, which has been releasing new versions of the classic albums in Sleeping Bag’s catalog with their original artwork intact.

In popular culture

rhymed about its record-signing experience with sub-label Fresh Records in the song "Please Listen to My Demo" from its

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 ...

'' Unfinished Business'' album. * Label partner Juggy Gayles was crank-called by

the Jerky Boys The Jerky Boys are an American comedy act from Queens, New York City, New York, whose routine consists of prank telephone calls and other related skits. The duo was founded in 1989 by childhood friends Johnny Brennan and Kamal Ahmed. After Ahm ...

on "The Hucklebuck" track from 1999's '' Stop Staring at Me!'' album. Gayles was the publisher of the original version of "The Hucklebuck," released by Paul Williams and His Hucklebuckers in 1949.

References

{{Authority control

Sleeping Bag Records Sleeping Bag Records is a defunct New York City-based independent record label founded by musician Arthur Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov. It was active between 1981 and 1992, and specialized in dance music and hip hop. Background and ...

1981 establishments in New York (state) 1992 disestablishments in New York (state) Defunct companies based in New York City American companies established in 1981 American companies disestablished in 1992

Background and history

In popular culture

See also

References