Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road,

Shepherd's Bush Shepherd's Bush is a suburb of West London, England, within the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham west of Charing Cross, and identified as a major metropolitan centre in the London Plan. Although primarily residential in character, its ...

, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons. The pair founded the label after Macdonald left his job as press officer at

Stiff Records Stiff Records is a British independent record label formed in London by Dave Robinson (music executive), Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. Originally active from 1976 to 1986, the label was reactivated in 2007. Established at the outset of the p ...

, and Symons provided the seed funding. The first signing to the label was

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

and early releases also came from Sheffield band The Box and Hull band

The Housemartins The Housemartins were an English indie rock group formed in Hull who were active in the 1980s and charted three top-ten albums and six top-twenty singles in the UK. Many of their lyrics conveyed a mixture of socialist politics and Christiani ...

. Records by the latter's spin-off group

The Beautiful South The Beautiful South were an English pop rock group formed in 1988 by Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway, two former members of the Kingston upon Hull, Hull group the Housemartins, both of whom performed lead and backing vocals. Other members stayin ...

were subsequently issued. Key staff contributors, following a move to

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. It ...

, included comedian

Phill Jupitus Phillip Christopher Jupitus (, ''Given name#Name at birth, né'' Swan; born 25 June 1962) is a retired English stand-up comedy, stand-up and Improv comedy teacher, improv comedian, actor, performance poetry, performance poet, cartoonist and podc ...

and Cathal Smyth (Madness' Chas Smash). Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for artists like

Beats International Beats International were a British dance music band and hip-hop collective, formed in the late 1980s by Norman Cook (later in his career known as Fatboy Slim) based in Brighton, East Sussex, England, after his departure from the Housemartins. ...

, Gabrielle and Portishead. In 1992,

Paul Weller John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...

signed for the main Go! Discs label. In 1996, Macdonald resigned when PolyGram acquired a majority stake in the label, which folded not too long afterwards. However, Go! Discs' dance offshoot Go! Beat Records continued and became a unit in the PolyGram group. In 1999, Go! Discs was revived, but it is now in dormancy along with Go! Beat. The Go! Discs catalogue now operates under

EMI Records EMI Records (formerly EMI Records Ltd.) is a British multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was originally founded as a British flagship label by the music company EMI in 1972, and launched in January 1973 as the succes ...

, a division of the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. It was rebranded from

Virgin EMI Records Virgin EMI Records was a British record label owned by the Universal Music Group that was formed in 2013. In June 2020, the label was rebranded as EMI Records, and operates Virgin Records as an imprint of the new EMI Records. History Virgin ...

in June 2020.

Andy Macdonald and Independiente

After the purchase of Go! Discs by PolyGram, Andy Macdonald started

Independiente Records Independiente is a British independent record label formed in 1997 after Andy Macdonald sold his first label Go! Discs to PolyGram in 1996 for a reported £30 million. The label, which is currently dormant, is a division of Concord Music. The ...

and continued his involvement with the recording career of

. Independiente is also the home of

Travis Travis may refer to: People and fictional characters *Travis (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Travis (surname), a list of people Places in the United States *Travis, Staten Island, a neighborhood *Travis Air Force Base, a ...

Roddy Frame Roddy Frame (born 29 January 1964) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. He was the founder of the 1980s new wave band Aztec Camera and has undertaken a solo career since the group's dissolution. In November 2013, journalist Brian Do ...

, Embrace,

So Solid Crew So Solid Crew are a British UK garage and hip hop collective originating from Battersea, London, which achieved wide success in the early 2000s. The group consisted of many members, the most notable being Asher D (Ashley Walters), Lisa Ma ...

Howling Bells Howling Bells are an Australian indie rock band that formed in Sydney in 2004. The band obtained popularity following the release of its 2006 self-titled debut album. The lineup consists of Juanita Stein (vocals, rhythm guitar), Glenn Moule (dr ...

and Malian desert blues band

Tinariwen Tinariwen (Tamasheq language, Tamasheq: ; with vowels ; plural of ténéré meaning "desert") is a collective of Tuareg people, Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of southern Algeria and of northern Mali, in the region of Azawad. Considered ...

Artists

* Anna * Apollo Landing * The Bathers * The Bic *

The Blue Ox Babes The Blue Ox Babes were an English pop group, formed in early 1981 by former Dexys Midnight Runners guitarist Kevin 'Al' Archer, together with his girlfriend Yasmin Saleh, guitarist Nick Bache and former Dexys keyboard player Andy Leek. Archer ...

Boothill Foot Tappers The Boothill Foot Tappers was a British folk/skiffle/ bluegrass band that was formed in 1982 and associated with the folk music revival in the United Kingdom. They were featured in the Ben Elton- presented show ''South of Watford'' on London We ...

* The Butterfield 8 * David Holmes *

Drugstore A pharmacy (also called drugstore in American English or community pharmacy or chemist in Commonwealth English) is a premises which provides pharmaceutical drugs, among other products. At the pharmacy, a pharmacist oversees the fulfillment of m ...

* Father Father *

The Frank and Walters The Frank and Walters are an alternative pop band from Cork city in Ireland. The band was founded in 1989 and named in honour of two eccentric Cork characters. Members The original band line-up included Paul Linehan (vocalist and bassist), his ...

The La's The La's were an English rock band from Liverpool, originally active from 1983 until 1992. Fronted by singer, songwriter and guitarist Lee Mavers, the group are best known for their hit single " There She Goes". The band was formed by Mike ...

* Madness *

More Fire Crew More Fire Crew are an English grime crew from Waltham Forest, whose 2002 single "Oi!" with Platinum 45 was widely recognised as the first grime song to reach the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number eight. Background While enrolled on a sound ...

(

Lethal Bizzle Maxwell Owusu Ansah (born 14 September 1984), known by his stage name Lethal Bizzle, is a British rapper from Walthamstow, London, of Ghanaian origin. He emerged in 2002 as a grime MC as part of More Fire Crew, with their grime single "Oi!" c ...

, Ozzie B & Neeko) *

Platinum 45 More Fire Crew are an English grime crew from Waltham Forest, whose 2002 single "Oi!" with Platinum 45 was widely recognised as the first grime song to reach the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number eight. Background While enrolled on a sound e ...

* Portishead * The Southernaires *

The Stairs The Stairs are an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1990 by vocalist and bassist Edgar "Summertyme" Jones, guitarist Ged Lynn and drummer Paul Maguire. The band released one album and a handful of singles, prior to Lynn's departure ...

* Trashcan Sinatras

References

{{Authority control Go! Discs Record labels established in 1983 Record labels disestablished in 1996 1983 establishments in the United Kingdom Re-established companies Record labels based in London British independent record labels Pop record labels Rock record labels Electronic music record labels

Andy Macdonald and Independiente

Artists

See also

References