ZTT Records
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer
Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
, Horn's wife and businesswoman
Jill Sinclair Jill Sinclair (5 April 1952 – 22 March 2014) was an English businesswoman and former record company director, a founder of ZTT Records and one of the most influential women in pop music. She has been called "One of the most successful people in ...
, and ''
New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
'' (NME) journalist
Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...
. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ZANG TUUM TUMB on various releases. In December 2017,
Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...
(UMG) acquired ZTT Records, along with
Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London, England, by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the punk rock boom, Stiff ...
. The ZTT and Stiff back catalogues were licensed to
BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold i ...
under Union Square Music until 2022, when Universal relaunched the label.


History

ZTT is an
initialism An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
of
Filippo Tommaso Marinetti Filippo Tommaso Emilio Marinetti (; 22 December 1876 – 2 December 1944) was an Italian poet, editor, art theorist, and founder of the Futurist movement. He was associated with the utopian and Symbolist artistic and literary community Abbaye d ...
's sound poem ''
Zang Tumb Tumb ''Zang Tumb Tumb'' (usually referred to as ''Zang Tumb Tuuum'') is a sound poetry, sound poem and Concrete poetry, concrete poem written by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, an Italian futurism (art), futurist. It appeared in excerpts in journals between ...
'', which described 'zang tumb tumb' as the sound of a
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...
. It is believed that they likely got the idea for the name via John McGeoch, who produced the Swedish pop-funk band Zzzang Tumb's eponymous 1983 album around the same time as the label was founded. The majority of the creative team at ZTT had first assembled when Horn produced the album ''
The Lexicon of Love ''The Lexicon of Love'' is the debut studio album by English pop band ABC. It was released on 21 June 1982 by Neutron Records in the United Kingdom, by Mercury Records in the United States and Japan, and by Vertigo Records in Canada and Eur ...
'' for the British
pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...
band ABC. A precursor to ZTT was the short-lived Perfect Recordings label, spun off from the newly founded Perfect Songs publishing subsidiary of
Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...
and
Jill Sinclair Jill Sinclair (5 April 1952 – 22 March 2014) was an English businesswoman and former record company director, a founder of ZTT Records and one of the most influential women in pop music. She has been called "One of the most successful people in ...
's company. Perfect Recordings only released
The Buggles The Buggles were an English new wave band formed in London in 1977 by singer and bassist Trevor Horn and keyboardist Geoff Downes. They are best known for their 1979 debut single " Video Killed the Radio Star", which topped the UK Singles Cha ...
' ''
Adventures in Modern Recording ''Adventures in Modern Recording'' is the second and final studio album by English new wave group the Buggles, released on 11 November 1981 by Carrere Records. Although the Buggles began as a duo of Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes, the album ended ...
'', along with the singles derived from it. In
1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...
, Horn, Sinclair and Morley founded ZTT Records, which after a slow start boomed. Sinclair became ZTT's managing director, while
Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...
concentrated on marketing. In the same year, Sinclair and Horn acquired
Basing Street Studios Basing Street Studios was a recording studio in a former 17th century chapel at 8–10 Basing Street, in Notting Hill, London, England. Originally established in 1969 as Island Studios by Chris Blackwell, the founder of Island Records, the studi ...
from
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anothe ...
in exchange for distributing the ZTT label. ZTT's first signing was
Frankie Goes to Hollywood Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English synth-pop band formed in Liverpool in 1980. The group's best-known line-up comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (singer), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Peter Gill (FGTH drummer), Peter ...
(FGTH), whose hits ''
Relax Relax may refer to: Aviation * Roland Z-120 Relax, a German ultralight aircraft design for the 120 kg class Music Albums * ''Relax'' (Blank & Jones album), 2003 * ''Relax'' (Das Racist album), 2011 Songs * "Relax" (song), a 1983 song by Fran ...
'' and ''
Two Tribes "Two Tribes" is an anti-war song by British band Frankie Goes to Hollywood, released in the UK by ZTT Records on 4 June 1984. The song was later included on the album '' Welcome to the Pleasuredome''. Presenting a nihilistic, gleeful lyric ...
'' were among the most influential and best-selling singles of the decade. It was the label's second single, ''Relax'', that became the label's first number one in January
1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...
. Relax stayed in the
UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
for a full year, and ZTT was well and truly established. During the 1980s,
Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...
and
Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...
were other ZTT acts to chart. ZTT Records also helped define the structure and formats of the UK pop music scene; as part of their marketing efforts to prolong the life of a single release, ZTT issued multiple 12" remixes which charted at positions in their own right as a separate 12" single. ZTT Records also licensed or produced t-shirts with graphic messages related to its artists' singles (eg. Frankie Say Arm the Unemployed ), which themselves became 1980s icons. ZTT were unafraid to invert the business of pop and turn it into entertainment. In 1984, the Horn-Sinclair family businesses were reorganised as SPZ Group, which then consisted of
Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
,
Perfect Songs Perfect Songs is an independent music publishing company with a catalogue containing songs of the past 25 years. It is part of the SPZ Group of companies, which also includes Sarm Studios (recording studios), ZTT Records, Stiff Records (record ...
, and ZTT Records. From the beginning, the majority of ZTT releases were published by Perfect Songs, and recorded at
Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
. The latter part of the decade was eclipsed by a bitter legal battle between ZTT and
Holly Johnson William Holly Johnson (born 9 February 1960) is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he wa ...
, who fought his way out of the strict, long recording agreement. Similarly, other ZTT artists, such as
Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mus ...
and
Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...
, were disenchanted and left the label. Propaganda's case was settled out of court; Johnson won his outright. By the late 1980s, ZTT began to focus on the emerging
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 da ...
scene.
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 ...
trance group
808 State 808 State are an English electronic music group formed in 1987 in Manchester, taking their name from the Roland TR-808 drum machine. They were formed by Graham Massey, Martin Price and Gerald Simpson. They released their debut album, '' Newb ...
would reach the top 10 with '' Pacific State'', and three other singles and one album during the early 1990s.
Seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
was the next major ZTT act to emerge in the 1990s, and the label also scored hits with MC Tunes and Shades of Rhythm. ZTT Records have produced forty-five Top 40 hits in the United Kingdom, fifteen of which were Top 10
hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album s ...
. In May 2022, UMG released the new album by Propaganda vocalists Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag on the reactivated ZTT Label. Credited to xPropaganda, the album was recorded with producer Stephen Lipson, titled ''The Heart Is Strange'' and received a generally positive reception.


Music videos and cover art

ZTT Records pioneered
music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing devic ...
and
cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper (tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ...
as forms of high art in their own right.
Paul Morley Paul Robert Morley is an English music journalist. He wrote for the ''New Musical Express'' from 1977 to 1983 and has since written for a wide range of publications as well as writing his own books. He was a co-founder of the record label ZTT Re ...
commissioned videos from then-unknown directors, who would go on to become acclaimed in their field, such as
Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...
,
Godley & Creme Godley & Creme were an English rock duo formally established in Manchester in 1977 by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing music as a duo after their departure from the rock band 10cc. In 1979, they directed their first music v ...
, Zbigniew Rybczyński and
Andy Morahan Andrew Douglas Morahan (born 11 August 1958) is a British commercial, film and music video director. He is the son of director Christopher Morahan and the half-brother of actress Hattie Morahan. Married to Joanna Lewis, he has two children. ...
. Morley also commissioned early ZTT sleeve design and photography to pioneers of the medium such as
Malcolm Garrett Malcolm Leslie Garrett (born 1956) is a British graphic designer, and Creative Director of Images&Co, a communications design consultancy based in London, UK. He is Ambassador for Manchester School of Art and co-founder of the annual Design M ...
,
Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...
,
Mark Farrow Mark Farrow was named Designer of the Year in the Creative Review Peer Poll in 2004, voting him ‘the most important graphic designer working today’. His career began in the early 1980s designing experimental sleeves and posters for Factory Reco ...
and
Jean-Paul Goude Jean-Paul Goude (born 8 December 1938 in Montreuil (France)) is a French graphic designer, illustrator, photographer, advertising film director and event designer. He worked as art director at ''Esquire'' magazine in New York City during the 1 ...
. The label's work in the visual field was profiled by Tony Enoch in Design Week, who positioned ZTT as "from a time when a record label meant something – a happening, a sense of belonging. Labels defined people's youth. Think Apple, Virgin, Beggar's Banquet, ZTT, and Stiff: small, independent British labels appearing to be able to do anything they wanted, reinventing the rules." In
2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, journalist
Ian Peel Ian R Peel (born 18 January 1958 in Skipton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, England is a sport shooter who has represented Great Britain in the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions. Sport shooting career Peel first appeared at the Olympics in ...
curated a first exhibition of ZTT sleeve art for galleries in
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
and
Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
, and in
2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...
, he curated the visual archives of ZTT and
Sarm West Studios Sarm Studios is an independent recording studio in London. Originally founded in east London in 1973, the studio's original location was renamed Sarm East Studios in 1982 when Jill Sinclair and Trevor Horn purchased Basing Street Studios from Isl ...
before the studios were demolished. In
2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...
, Peel compiled a
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...
of the labels' most acclaimed videos, entitled 'The Television is Watching You', which received a
British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC, previously the British Board of Film Censors) is a non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of f ...
(BBFC) 15 Certificate.


Notable acts on the ZTT label

† as one-time UK distributor for
Tommy Boy Records Tommy Boy Entertainment is an American independent record label and multimedia brand founded in 1981 by Tom Silverman. The label is credited with helping and launching the music careers of Queen Latifah, Afrika Bambaataa, Stetsasonic, Digital U ...


Action Series

As part of ZTT internal cataloguing of releases, they maintained two series; the Action Series, and the Incidental Series. The Action Series was issued mainly to singles and albums by a majority of the labels artists. However to confuse matters, the series also contains a booklet and a concert. The Action series paused in
1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
, and was restarted by
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 ...
manager
Ian Peel Ian R Peel (born 18 January 1958 in Skipton-on-Swale, North Yorkshire, England is a sport shooter who has represented Great Britain in the Summer Olympic Games on three occasions. Sport shooting career Peel first appeared at the Olympics in ...
in
2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
.


See also

*
Lists of record labels File:Alvinoreyguitarboogie.jpg File:AmMusicBunk78.jpg File:Bingola1011b.jpg Lists of record labels cover record labels, brands or trademarks associated with marketing of music recordings and music videos. The lists are organized alphabetically, b ...
*
List of electronic music record labels This is a list of notable electronic music record labels: 0–9 * 3 Beat Records * 12k *430 West Records *8bitpeoples A *A Different Drum *Ad Noiseam *Adjunct Audio * Alex Tronic Records * Alfa Matrix * Alien8 * All Around The World *All S ...
*
List of independent UK record labels This is a list of notable independent record labels based in the United Kingdom. * __NOTOC__ 0-9 * 3 Beat Records * 4AD A * Acid Jazz Records * Alcopop! Records * All Saints Records * Ambush Reality * Andmoresound * Angular Recordi ...


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ztt Records British record labels Record labels established in 1983 Electronic music record labels Drum and bass record labels Electronic dance music record labels Alternative rock record labels New wave record labels British independent record labels Indie rock record labels Pop record labels IFPI members