Line #12 Creator/RadarRecords


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elvis_costello_and_the_attractions_olivers_army_radar.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:The oscilloscope-like Radar label, designed by Barney Bubbles.]]
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4	Radar Records was a short-lived but influential UK label from the PostPunk era.
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6	In late 1977, Stiff Records co-founder Jake Riviera, who was also the manager of Music/ElvisCostello and Music/NickLowe, had a falling out with his partner Dave Robinson. Riviera left Stiff, taking Costello and Lowe with him, and began looking for a new label. Around the same time, Andrew Lauder, a respected executive at [[Creator/LibertyRecords Liberty]][=/=]Creator/UnitedArtistsRecords[[note]]Lauder originally worked at Liberty, which was absorbed into UA in the early 1970s[[/note]], where he'd signed acts ranging from Music/TheBonzoDogBand to Music/{{Buzzcocks}}, left that company (along with several colleagues) to start a new venture with financial backing from WEA Records. Riviera and his acts wound up at Lauder's new label, Radar Records; the first releases emerged in February 1978.
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8	With Costello and Lowe providing a (seemingly) solid sales base, Lauder began assembling a stable of mostly British acts, with a few Americans and Europeans mixed in. The roster included PunkRock (Music/IggyPop and James Williamson, Richard Hell and the Voidoids, Metal Urbain, 999), [[PsychedelicRock psychedelia]]-tinged NewWaveMusic (The Soft Boys), PowerPop (Yachts, Bram Tchaikovsky, Pezband), HardRock (The Good Rats), British R&B (The Inmates), {{Rockabilly}} (Ray Campi, Mac Curtis), {{Krautrock}} (Music/LaDusseldorf), NewRomantic (Music/{{Visage\|Band}}), and even a SingerSongwriter (Loudon Wainwright III) and RecordedAndStandUpComedy (Film/NationalLampoon). Lauder also signed Music/ThePopGroup, whose AvantGardeMusic reportedly scared WEA's American labels away from distributing the label there. (Radar eventually signed a licensing deal with US Creator/{{Polydor\|Records}} that included the Inmates, the Yachts and Bram Tchaikovsky.) Radar also did some interesting reissues, including a 12" EP of early Music/PereUbu singles, GarageRock from the WEA catalogue (The Shadows of Knight, The Electric Prunes) and PsychedelicRock from the UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} label International Artists (Music/The13thFloorElevators[[note]]Lauder had tried to sign the Elevators to UK Liberty, but their manager wanted too much money[[/note]], The Red Krayola; Radar also released an album and single by the late 70s version of the Krayola). In short, Radar had an insanely eclectic roster...
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10	...that turned out to be far too diverse for WEA's tastes, especially since few of Radar's acts besides Costello and Lowe sold to expectations. (The fact that the entire music industry had suddenly slumped after years of being hugely profitable didn't help.) Therefore, Radar was more or less shut down at the end of 1979. Riviera and Lauder formed F-Beat, yet another new label for Costello and Lowe, which was distributed by WEA and then [[Creator/RCARecords RCA]]; meanwhile, WEA kept the Radar imprint alive for a few final releases by the Inmates, Yachts and Bram Tchaikovsky and one stray new act, {{Power Pop}}pers DJ Kane and the Millionaires. Radar Records made its last releases in early 1981...
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12	...and that was the end until TheNineties. With {{Britpop}} taking off and acts like Music/{{Nirvana}} and Music/GreenDay selling millions, the UK branch of Creator/WarnerMusicGroup (the corporate successor to WEA) decided to start a semi-indie label with the credibility to attract fresh new talent. Therefore, a revived version of Radar began in 1995, funded by WMG but distributed by indie specialists Pinnacle. Headed by veteran small label exec Rob Collins (whose previous companies K.422 and Product Inc. had worked with bands like Music/{{Swans}}), the revived Radar signed bands like PowerPop Power-Trio Midget, [[{{Grunge}} Grungy]] American group Morning Glories, artsy Prolapse, funky Acacia, WorldMusic combo Summit, {{Glam Rock}}ers Heave and Glitterbox, and angsty Pure Morning. The Pop Group even reissued some of their older work. However, only Midget and Acacia sold in large enough quantities to please Warner, and by the fall of 1998 Radar Records had fallen off the radar once again.
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14	!!Radar Records acts with Website/TVTropes pages:
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16	[[index]]
17	* Music/The13thFloorElevators
18	* Music/ElvisCostello
19	* Music/LaDusseldorf
20	* Music/NickLowe
21	* Film/NationalLampoon
22	* Music/PereUbu
23	* Music/IggyPop and James Williamson
24	* Music/ThePopGroup
25	* Music/{{Visage\|Band}}
26	[[/index]]
27
28	!!''Radar Records'' provide examples of:
29	* WhatCouldHaveBeen: While Creator/RadarRecords dealt with several prominent bands, there were several other notable acts that they ''almost'' signed.
30	** Music/JoyDivision recorded a demo for Genetic Records, a Radar sublabel owned by producer Martin Rushent, before deciding to stick with Creator/FactoryRecords. However, the band's back catalog would eventually wind up distributed by Creator/WarnerMusicGroup on both sides of UsefulNotes/ThePond, along with the band's later incarnation, Music/NewOrder.
31	** Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees negotiated with Radar before ultimately signing with Creator/PolydorRecords.
32	** The Undertones were rejected by Radar (as well as Stiff and Chiswick) before Creator/SireRecords signed them.
33	** Radar actually released a single by Robyn Hitchcock's early band The Soft Boys. However, when the group finished their debut album ''A Can of Bees'', the label rejected it and gave it back to them. They eventually released it on their own label.
34	* In his memoir ''Happy Trails'', Lauder reveals that he attempted to sign Music/GangOfFour and get British rights to Music/TheResidents, although neither deal worked out.

Context Creator / RadarRecords