Riot City Records - A History.

Vice Squad soon recorded the follow-up, and in early 1981 released the Resurrection EP - a record that followed exactly the same path as the first, taking the charts by storm, even edging into the lower regions of the national chart at a dizzy 97!

Chart position for June 8th 1981

The interest in the new EP led to a resurgence in sales of the first, and for a time they would sit together in the listings. This extra demand gave way to Riot City employing major indie distribution outlet Pinnacle to take a proportion of their product, while still continuing to sell through the Cartel network.

Chart position for November 2nd 1981

These were incredible times, for the label - making records had always been a great experience, but met with this sort of reaction, and where you can just about keep up with demand, it becomes fantastic - a feeling of real triumph, that a tiny record label actually can make a difference.

For Vice Squad events during 1981 would continue to escalate, the band signing up to EMI label Zonophone - a move that I wasn't entirely happy with. The positive side was that it did give the band the opportunity to "go up to the next division" - expanding their profile in the press, setting up tours etc, the downside being that they did lose some control and didn't sell as many records as they did through their previous label - always something I found rather amusing!