Stiff Records

This week I’m going to tip the proverbial cap to the pioneering Stiff Records which was an independent Record Company that helped a lot of artists in the UK. I’ll be posting a song each day off that label. This week I’ve written up 3 songs and Randy and Dave are going to contribute two songs. I really appreciate them for doing that. 

Stiff Records gave you an alternative to the Top 40. They would take chances on performers than the established record companies wouldn’t take. Who would have taken a chance on a nerdy-looking fellow named Elvis Costello? Many of the artists didn’t fit in with the major labels’ idea of what an artist should sound or look like. They had their own unique roster of talent. 

This could be a mile-long post but I’m going to keep it short. This record company was created in 1976 by Dave Robinson and Jake Riviera. The label was created to capitalize on the new punk and new wave scenes, providing an alternative to the major record companies. They used bold marketing tactics…their slogan was “If It Ain’t Stiff, It Ain’t Worth a F***. The company didn’t have a lot of money but they had plenty of ideas. 

Stiff REcords people

They signed a lot of talent and that talent is what we are going over this week. I wanted to do a week of Stiff Records and let’s see what we will find. The talent was Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Ian Dury and The Blockheads, The Rumour, Madness, The Damned, Motorhead, Devo and even Tracey Ullman. 

Jake Riviera left in 1978 to form Radar Records, taking Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe with him. Despite its success, the label faced financial difficulties in the early 1980s. Stiff was sold to Island Records in 1984, which marked the end of its independent era.

Stiff Records was revived in the 2000s by ZTT Records (Zang Tumb Tuum), releasing new music while managing its extensive back catalog.

Nike Lowe: The pop business was full of these dreadful groups, Genesis and Journey and REO Speedwagon and people like that. And it was all safe and run by these bean counters and know-nothings. That’s why, over here, the pub rock thing started up. When punk came along a few years later, that was the thing that it really needed, but I would say that pub rock was spawned for the same reasons — dissatisfaction that it was all rubbish and needed to be pulled down. Because it had gotten to a point where you just couldn’t have another concept album or triple bullshit thing.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

27 thoughts on “Stiff Records”

  1. Max, check out the movie CBGB with the great Alan Rickman in the lead role. It’s about the birth of the punk rock scene in NY back in the 70s. It’s an awsomeness film. Where do you find these obscure bands? Must have some bloodhound in ya.

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  6. Great idea for a series and thanks for the link and inviting me. I knew ZTT now had the rights but I didn’t know they’d been sold to Island in ’84. Anyway, not to say everything I end up saying in the post I have coming up, but they had a real ear for talent and in general, the British scene was so very much enhanced by the presence of indie labels such as it, Factory, 4AD and so on that got heard and offered less-than-mainstream artists a chance to get their records out

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    1. I’m glad you added more of the history in your post. I just did a quick summary. I’m happy that any unknown artists were heard because of them.

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  8. For all the reasons we all know- Rock becoming a business, loss of that angry teenage angst and drive, long hair becoming not a ‘f**k you!’ statement to the world but a styled blow-waved perfectly cut parted and hair lacquered into place ‘safe and standard’ loo. Overlong meaningless introspective noodlings by bands that were more used to sipping Moet and Chardon with the record labels owners and publicists than chugging down a pint of Watney’s at the Skinners Arms- The people really did need a change. Rock music and growing teens need an outlet and punk and Stiff satisfied that need.

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    1. Yes they did…what was once a rebel move became mainstream… after a while punk became mainstream…I guess everything does after a while.

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      1. Yes, luckily nowadays we have decades worth of good music to rediscover or mould and twist into a new form. There were quantum shifts back at the start – Rock’n’roll, then the British Invasion, then punk, New Wave, grunge, rap, whatever moves you. In music as in fashion there MUST be change.

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      2. And many times it comes back to the starting point in some ways….it’s like a huge circle…. my proof? Bell Bottoms lol.

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