Subterranean Records is 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 and medium-sized enterprise, small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels ...

based in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

. Founded by Steve Tupper and a then partner, Michael Fox in 1979, it focused on that city's underground

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and industrial music scene. Subterranean and fellow punk/alt/underground San Francisco label

Alternative Tentacles Alternative Tentacles is an independent record label established in 1979 by Dead Kennedys vocalist Jello Biafra and guitarist East Bay Ray in San Francisco, California, with the intention to release the Dead Kennedys' self-produced single " C ...

both sprang forth from the DIY

movement in 1979, and were quite successful on college and community radio stations in the US. These labels helped define the San Francisco punk movement. Subterranean was the more avant garde of the two. While originally just focused on documenting and promoting the SF area, over the years Subterranean has released records by artists from many areas and genres. Like many small DIY labels, Steve Tupper noted that bands were chosen based on his musical tastes. Subterranean had a small storefront record shop on

Valencia Street Valencia Street is a major thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at Market Street (San Francisco), Market Street near the foot of Hayes Valley, San Francisco, Hayes Valley, and passes through the Mission District, San Francisco, ...

for about 4 years, from about 1984 to 1988. The label has released a number of important underground albums, most notably four LPs by the band Flipper. The

Dead Kennedys Dead Kennedys are an American punk rock band that formed in San Francisco, California, in 1978. The band was one of the defining punk bands during its initial eight-year run. Initially consisting of lead guitarist East Bay Ray, bassist Klaus Fl ...

also released an important single on the label.

Catalog

This list is organized by catalog number, a roughly chronological number system established by the label and typically printed on or assigned to each official release. :

Roster

* Alterboys * Angel'in Heavy Syrup * Animal Things * Any Three Initials * Arkansaw Man *

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

* Bay of Pigs * The Bedlam Rovers * Caroliner * Chrome *

Club Foot Orchestra The Club Foot Orchestra is a musical ensemble known for their silent film scores. Their influences include Eastern European folk music, impressionism, and jazz fusion; ''The New Yorker'' described their style as "music that bubbles up from the in ...

* Code of Honor * Controlled Bleeding *

* Factrix * Flipper * Fried Abortions *

Frightwig Frightwig is an all-female punk rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1982 by Deanna Mitchell and Mia d'Bruzzi. The current lineup of Frightwig consists of Deanna Mitchell, Mia d'Bruzzi, Tina Fagnani, and Rebecca Sevrin. Histor ...

Helios Creed Barry Johnson (born on November 3, 1953), known professionally as Helios Creed, is an American guitarist, singer and bandleader. He first came to prominence in the mid-1970s with the San Francisco band Chrome, who were considered an early influ ...

* Housecoat Project * Penelope Houston * Inflatable Boy Clams * The Jars * Jr. Chemists * The Leather Nun * Les Seldoms * The Lewd * Bruce Loose * Low Flying Aircraft * Minimal Man * The Muskrats * Naked City * Negative Trend *

Nervous Gender Nervous Gender is an American punk rock Electronic music, electronic band formed in Los Angeles in 1978 by Gerardo Velazquez, Edward Stapleton, Phranc and Michael Ochoa. Their use of heavily distorted keyboards and synthesizers made them, al ...

* No Alternative * Polkacide * Pop-O-Pies * Pre-Fix * Psyclones *

Research Library A research library is a library that contains an in-depth collection of material on one or several subjects.(Young, 1983; p. 188) A research library will generally include an in-depth selection of materials on a particular topic or set of top ...

* Sick Pleasure * Society Dog * Tom Tadlock * The Terminators of Endearment * The Tools * Ultrasheen * UNS * VKTMS * The Wannabe Texans * Stefan Weisser * Wilma * Witch Trials * Woundz * Kathleen Yearwood *

Z'ev Z'EV (born Stefan Joel Weisser, February 8, 1951 – December 16, 2017) was an American poet, percussionist, and sound artist. After studying various world music traditions at CalArts, he began creating his own percussion sounds out of indu ...

References

External links

Subterranean Records Homepage

Discography at Discogs.com
{{Authority control Record labels established in 1979 American independent record labels Punk record labels Industrial record labels Music of the San Francisco Bay Area

Catalog

Roster

See also

References

External links