Riot City Records - A History.

RIOT CITY RECORDS - A HISTORY

Bristol's premier punk band Vice Squad came up with the idea of releasing their records, and those of other punk bands on a dedicated label, amid discussions with Heartbeat Records on the prospective release of their first EP back in 1980. The current marketing agreement set up between Heartbeat and Cherry Red Records had begun to wobble, and after introducing the Vice Squad demo tape as a possible next release - it was turned down flat as "unsuitable music for the partnership to get involved in" - leaving Heartbeat with final decision, whether to go it alone or turn down the band.

Having always been given total control over the label's output, and as yet not been completely wrong in the selection of artists to record, it was obvious to me that Vice Squad were developing as a band, with a big following, and therefor surely worth being given a chance to prove themselves - after all, that had always been the criteria behind Heartbeat.

Riot City - Vice Squad's choice for the label title, seemed very apt, as we were all living in a city recently torn apart by rioting, its' fall-out still being felt by everyone. It was never intended as a political statement, more a recognition of the current political climate.

The label was formed in the later part of 1980, the first release being Vice Squads' Last Rockers EP with an initial pressing of 1,500 - a cautious start that soon became totally inadequate!

Label distribution was through the Rough Trade network known as The Cartel, one element being Revolver who operated from a record shop of the same name in the heart of Bristol.

During the first week of its release it was clear that more would quickly need to be pressed, as demand took us completely by surprise, John Peel had started to feature the title track Last Rockers almost nightly! on his radio show - it was fast became obvious that something was happening for the band. The had EP leapt to the top end of the independent "Alternative Chart", where it would remain for some 40 weeks, eventually notching up some 22,000 sales. We all felt that maybe we had taken the right decision in starting the label!

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