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Blow Up
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Blow Up
Blow Up Records is a London based independent that has being running for over 10 years (since 1994). Music on the label ranges from 60s to New Wave, from Pop to Electronica and is run by the same team that brings you the legendary Blow Up Club night (1993 to present), and who promote The Metro Club on Oxford Street in London (blowupmetro.com). The Blow Up label was responsible for the first one of the first music library collections in the form of the "Exclusive Blend Series",'Blow Up A-Go-Go: Dancefloor Classics' and several series of limited seven inches. Blow Up released the first Add N to X album and more recently albums for acts such as the "punks of Hammond funk" Big Boss Man, and singles for The Rifles, Frank Popp Ensemble, Noonday Underground and Komeda to name a few, reflecting the label's continuing eclectic output. This year so far the label has released debut singles for upcoming electronic/new-wave outfit Neon Plastix and Eight Legs, as well as the long-awaited second Bongolian album. This Summer will also see the release of the debut album from Psychedelic Northerners Alfa 9.
The label has been taking a break concentrating on The Metro for the last 3 years (Time Out Venue of The Year 2003 - blowupmetro.com) which has hosted some of the hottest breakthough artists of the last few years (The Bravery, Yeah Yeah Yeah's, The Darkness, Kings Of Leon, Scissor Sisters...)
The label is now gearing up for a run of new releases included new albums by label signings Big Boss Man and The Bongolian, as well as one off singles for other artists such as the recent debut 'Peace & Quiet' for the The Rifles, the release of which was marked by a residency at The Metro.
The label's output has been very eclectic, ranging from the debut album for electronic pioneers Add N to X, to compilations unearthing 60s and 70s music library tracks, never before released (Exclusive Blend Series).
Summer 2004: This year has seen Blow Up move UK distribution to Cargo (UK) along with the long-awaited new BBM album in the works.
2000-2001: Year 2000 saw the finalisation of a new distribution deal with Vital, and now sees Blow Up Records set to return with its strongest set of new releases to date, strengthening further the synergy between the label and club. These include a new 7" series entitled 'Blow Up 45', Exclusive Blend Vol.3 and the debut album 'Humanize' from new signings Big Boss Man .
1998-99: 1998 saw the first release from a new series of limited 7" singles called 'Blow Up 1000 Series', which aimed to showcase a diverse range of international talent in the UK. To date, there have been four releases in this Series, including Capri, Lucky 15 and highly-acclaimed Scandinavian acts Komeda and The Elevators as well the popular Katerine, from France. The third single, which featured Komeda, sold out of its limited run of 1000 copies in one week. During this period another one-off single 'Yellowmaddacoolivision' (not part of the 1000 Series) was also released for a UK band called 'Cuff' who received massive MTV support and went on to sign to Atlantic Records in the US. September 1997 saw the release of Exclusive Blend Vol.2, making further inroads into the world of the Music Library. The album was again compiled by Paul, this time from several libraries - deWolfe, Amphonic and the now familiar KPM, and once again included tracks from many great music library theme writers including Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, and Syd Dale, ranging from the Hammond-Heavy classic 'Soul Skimmer' to the spaced-out tribal funk of Nick Ingam's 'Tripwire'. The album quickly built on the success of its predecessor and gained an extra boost when the album's opening track 'Wild Elephants' was picked up by The Gap, and used as the theme their 'Khaki A-Go-Go' ad campaign of Summer 1999. A scramble quickly ensued to obtain the rights for releasing the track as a single, now re-titled 'Blow Up A-Go-Go!', which went on to be released by V2 Records in conjunction with Blow Up in September 1999. A club compilation followed in the November called 'Blow Up A-Go-Go! - Dancefloor Classics from the legendary Blow Up club' (using the single as its title track), featuring classics both new and old that have filled the Blow Up Club Dancefloor. The album received massive support from Club Djs, receiving rave reviews from the listings magazines Time Out and Hot Tickets, as well as Mojo and The Sunday Times, to name but a few. The album also received the 'best response to an album that he'd ever seen' according to Chris at Renegade Promotions (formerly at Wild), gaining an amazing overall average Dj reaction rating of 9 out of 10
1995-97: However, it was not the Weekenders' second release in March 1995, that Blow Up Records released a single via a distributor, SRD. Also a limited run, 'Man of Leisure' sold out of its 3700 pressing in two weeks. The third release in July 1995 'Inelegantly Wasted' was awarded Single of the Week in Melody Maker, sold out of its 6500 pressings and went straight into the Indie Charts at No.s 3 & 4 (NME and Melody Maker respectively). That summer Paul laid the foundations for the release of other projects outside of the band, most of these being undertaken on a one off basis.The first of these releases was the debut release from a London based electronic three piece named 'Add N To X', a band who had just recently changed their name from Raddix Couplement and shed a member Justin Anderson. The band which comprised of Barry Smith, Andrew Averling and Ann Shenton, went to a Sheffield studio with engineer Parrot (All Seeing Eye) to record their debut release. Entitled 'Vero Electronics', it stated clearly their commitment to electronic experimentation from the outset, coining the phrase 'This is Avant Hard Music'. Soon after this, a compilation of Weekenders singles and B-sides followed in early 1996. Intended as an introduction for overseas markets and as a forerunner to a studio album proper, the compilation also served to make the early singles more widely available then the early limited pressings had allowed. The 'forthcoming' studio album from The Weekenders, is still unrecorded to date, due to Paul's commitment to Blow Up club/label activities. August 1996 saw Blow Up Records broaden its musical spectrum once again, to include more club based music, with the release of Exclusive Blend Vol. 1. The compilation was taken from the 60s and 70s library archives of the KPM Music Library , and one of the first compilations dedicated to this genre. Music on the album ranged from Hammond-Heavy 60s R'n'B to brassy Club Pop, mostly of which had never been commercially released before. Quickly gaining international recognition as a ground breaking compilation introducing the world to the hidden delights of library music, whilst also serving as a taster for just one aspect of the sounds that could be heard at the Blow Up club night. The album continues to sell, already having sold 12,000 copies. Over the next two years from August 96 to June 98, Blow Up released a further eight releases. These included a spin off single from Add N To X members principally centred around Andrew Averling under the name 'VA6' titled 'He Plays Like A Disease'.
1994: Blow Up Records made is first tentative steps into releasing records in May 1994 with the debut release from the Weekenders - a limited run of 1000 7" pressings, entitled 'All Grown Up'/ Househusband'. The label was initially set up by Paul Tunkin, promoter of the Blow Up Club, as a means for his group The Weekenders to release their music. Sales of the initial 1000 pressing picked up speed over the following months via mail-order and Camden's legendary 'Out On the Floor' record shop. This shop was also originally where the label ran its operations from, as well as playing host to many cramped Weekenders' rehearsals. With the band's inclusion of a track on the Fierce Panda Return to Splendour EP (also notable for including the debut release from The Bluetones), 'Seems you've missed Sunday', alongside the massive re-emergence of British pop scene. Interest was beginning to mount.