Stiff

Stiff Records: The archetypal independent Record Company upon which much of the Punk and New Wave revolution was built, from the mid 1970s to the mid 1980s, when it closed down.

Being an avid NME reader, I was well aware of eth progress of the various Stiff Tours in the mid to late 1970s, packaged tours, much like the Motown tours in 1960s USA, where Acts signed to Stiff Records were showcased.

Stiff signed various punk and new wave acts such as Nick Lowe, the Damned, Lene Lovich, Wreckless Eric, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, and Devo. In the 1980s, with most of their early signings having moved on, the label found commercial success with Madness, The Pogues, Tracey Ullman, The Belle Stars, Kirsty MacColl and others.

The first great British Hits Factory and you'll find many of their acts on this blog...

Here are a selection of some of the best Stiff signings, that may or may not get a post of their own at some point!

Lene Lovich with 'Lucky Niumber'

The magnificent Wreckless Eric and 'Whole Wide World'

Kirsty McColl with 'They Don't Know'

The Belle Stars with 'A Sign of the Times'

Of all the records released by Stiff Records, about one quarter charted, a remarkable success rate.

Elvis Costello with the sublime  'Alison'

Ian Drury with  'Sweet Gene Vincent'

I'll leave it with the fabulous Pogues and 'Dirty Old Town'

For full Stiff Records Discography look HERE