An overview of the genre

The term ‘indie’ rose to popularity in the British music industry during the post-punk era (1979-86) and was used initially as an abbreviation for ‘independent’. As such, the phrase ‘indie’ referred originally to those record labels that were independent of ‘the majors’ (transnational record corporations such as the EMI Group). However, as the 1980s progressed, it became apparent that the term indie was also being used to describe a musical genre.

In the period from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s, there was a range of successful independent record companies whose record releases also bore a musical similarity (see below). Many punk and new-wave bands set up labels to release their own records and often limited their output to small runs of seven-inch singles made for the punk and new-wave markets.

Punk and new-wave indies:

• 2-Tone, financed and run by the Specials prior to completing a production and distribution deal with Chrysalis in 1980 (see Marshall 1997, and Frith 1980).

• Zoo, based in Liverpool (see Cooper 1982).

• New Hormones, financed by Buzzcocks and based in Manchester (see McGart- land 1995, and Rawlins and Diggle 2002).

• Factory Records, also based in Manchester (see Haslam 1999: 109-38).

In the early to mid-1980s, a second generation of post-punk indie labels began to share a different musical aesthetic while also remaining largely independent from the major record corporations. This musical aesthetic was particularly noticeable with the release by the New Musical Express of a free compilation cassette entitled CS6, which featured so-called ‘shambling’ bands such as The Soup Dragons, The Pastels, Shop Assistants and The Wedding Present. (Strange Fruit subsequently released this compilation as a vinyl LP.) Other names for this indie subgenre included

‘indie pop’ and ‘cutie’. Initially, the economic rationale of most mid- 1980s’ indie labels mirrored that of Rough Trade, who signed ‘50/50’ deals with their bands whereby costs and receipts were split equally between band and label (as opposed to major-label deals which generally favoured the record company).

1980s indie labels and bands:

• Postcard: Aztec Camera, Go-Betweens, Josef K, Orange Juice.

• Cherry Red: Blue Orchids, Everything But The Girl, Red Lorry Yellow Lorry, Television Personalities, Woodentops.

• Creation Records: Felt, Jesus and Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine, Primal Scream, The Weather Prophets.

• Rough Trade: Scritti Politti, the Raincoats.