| Touch and Go Records | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Founded | 1981 |
| Founder | Tesco Vee Dave Stimson Corey Rusk |
| Genre | Various |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Chicago |
| Official website | http://www.tgrec.com |
Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, which began life in 1979 in East Lansing, Michigan as a magazine put out by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson. Tesco Vee (b Robert Vermeulen 1955, Kalamazoo Michigan) was and still is to some extent the frontman for the early Michigan Hardcore punk The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. An independent record label (or indie record label) is a Record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the Major record labels Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the See also Musical groups established in 1979 Record labels established in 1979 1979 in music (UK East Lansing is a city in the US state of Michigan. The city is located directly east of Lansing, Michigan, the state's capital Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Tesco Vee (b Robert Vermeulen 1955, Kalamazoo Michigan) was and still is to some extent the frontman for the early Michigan Hardcore punk Vee was bored with the punk sounds of the day, and captivated by the emerging hardcore movement in America. Hardcore punk (now usually referred to as simply hardcore) is a subgenre of Punk rock that originated in North America in the late 1970s Inspired, he put out records by the Necros, The Fix, the Meatmen, and Negative Approach. for the James Bond character see List of James Bond henchmen in The Living Daylights Necros were an early Hardcore punk band from The Fix were a hardcore punk rock band from Lansing Michigan in the early 1980's The Meatmen were a Michigan, United States punk band headed by Tesco Vee from 1980 to 1997. Negative Approach is an American Hardcore punk band formed in Detroit MI in 1981 In 1981, Necros bassist Corey Rusk joined with Tesco to run the label. for the James Bond character see List of James Bond henchmen in The Living Daylights Necros were an early Hardcore punk band from In 1983, Tesco handed Touch and Go over to Rusk when he left Michigan for Washington DC. Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Washington DC ( formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D With the label under his ownership, Rusk hired Terry Tolkin who signed the Butthole Surfers and Virgin Prunes to the label, and also produced the "Gods Favorite Dog" compilation. Terry Tolkin was the Vice President of A&R at Elektra Records from 1992 to 1996 Soon Corey Rusk relocated the label to Chicago, Touch & Go released material in the mid-'80's to early '90s by bands such as the Butthole Surfers, who no longer have their catalog on the label (see below), Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, and continued into the new millennium with artists on their roster including Shellac, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio (the latter two are no longer on the label), Arcwelder, CocoRosie, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and the Black Heart Procession. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. Butthole Surfers (also referred to as simply "the Buttholes" is an American Alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary Big Black was a Noise rock band founded in Chicago Illinois, United States that was active between 1982 and 1987. The Jesus Lizard was a Rock music group formed in 1987 in Chicago Illinois. A millennium (pl millennia) is a period of Time equal to one thousand Years (from Latin la mille, thousand and la annum Shellac (sometimes referred to as "Shellac of North America" is an American Noise rock group composed of Steve Albini (guitar and vocals Bob The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are a New York City -based Alternative rock band TV on the Radio (often abbreviated to TVOTR is a New York City Experimental rock band formed in 2001 whose music spans genres as diverse as Post-punk Arcwelder is an American indie rock band which formed in Minneapolis Minnesota in 1988. CocoRosie is an American musical duo formed by sisters Bianca Leilani "Coco" and Sierra Rose "Rosie" Cassidy in 2003. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (sometimes written Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Ted Leo + Pharmacists, or TL/Rx) are an American rock band The Black Heart Procession (occasionally spelled The Blackheart Procession) is an Indie rock band from San Diego California. Rusk continues to run the label.
They are well known, partly because of the influence of their catalogue, partly for their approach to recording contracts, pioneered (probably) by Factory Records. Factory Records was a Manchester based British Independent record label, started in 1978, which featured several prominent musical acts on its The deal was characterised by:
- 50/50 deals. 50% of profits to artists after label recoups promotion and production costs;
- Oral contracts, a "handshake deal"
Due to the law suit filed by the Butthole Surfers, Touch and Go now asks bands to sign a 1-2 page memorandum of intent. An oral contract is a Contract that terms of which have been agreed by spoken communication in contrast to a written contract where the contract is a written document
In 2006, Touch and Go celebrated its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, the label held a three-day block party event at Chicago's Hideout venue on September 8-10, 2006. Several seminal bands, including Big Black, Scratch Acid, the Didjits, Killdozer, Negative Approach, and Man. Killdozer was the name of a Noise rock / Sludge metal band formed in Madison Wisconsin in 1983 with members Bill Hobson Dan Hobson and Michael . . or Astro-Man? reunited and performed at the event.
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Dispute with Butthole Surfers
Their approach to contracts was challenged in a court case, brought by the Butthole Surfers in 1999, who purported that Touch and Go was not marketing their catalog effectively. Butthole Surfers (also referred to as simply "the Buttholes" is an American Alternative rock band formed by Gibby Haynes and Paul Leary They argued that due to the silent nature of duration in T&G's contract, it could be terminated. Touch and Go argued that existing US copyright law held that they controlled the copyright to the band's recordings for a minimum of 35 years, due to sec. Copyright is a legal concept enacted by Governments, giving the creator of an original work of authorship Exclusive rights to control its distribution usually for 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976 which they argued gave them 35 years of ownership of the copyright. History and purpose Before the 1976 Act the last major revision to statutory copyright law in the United States occurred in 1909
The US Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of the band, determining that "when a contract is silent as to its length, it is implicit that it can be terminated by either side. " And "that allowing terminations under Illinois law does not conflict with sec. 203, but rather is, in fact, in keeping with the intent of sec. 203. "
Catalogue
- !!!
- Angry Red Planet
- Arcwelder
- Arsenal
- Bedhead (reissued back catalog)
- Big Black
- Blight
- The Black Heart Procession
- Blonde Redhead
- Brainiac
- Brick Layer Cake
- Butthole Surfers
- Calexico
- Cargo Cult
- Cash Audio
- Chrome (reissued back catalog)
- CocoRosie
- Daddy Longhead
- The Delta 72
- Didjits
- Dirty Three
- Don Caballero
- The Effigies
- Enon
- The Ex
- The Fix
- Flour
- The For Carnation
- Girls Against Boys
- The Jesus Lizard
- Die Kreuzen
- Killdozer
- L-Seven
- Laughing Hyenas
- Lee Harvey Oswald Band
- Man or Astro-man?
- Monorchid
- Naked Raygun (reissued back catalog)
- Necros
- Negative Approach
- The New Year
- New Wet Kojak
- Nina Nastasia
- Phono-Comb
- P. W. Long
- Pinback
- Polvo
- Quasi
- Rachel's
- Rapeman
- Red Stars Theory
- The Rollins Band
- Scratch Acid
- Seam
- Shellac
- Silkworm
- Silverfish
- Skull Kontrol
- Slint
- The Standard
- Storm & Stress
- Supersystem
- Tar
- Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
- Three Mile Pilot
- Sally Timms
- TV on the Radio
- Urge Overkill
- Uzeda
- Various Artists - Gods Favorite Dog
- Violent Apathy
- Virgin Prunes
- Wuhling
- Yeah Yeah Yeahs
External links
- Interview with Corey Rusk
- Official site
- "The man who survived the music wars" by Greg Kot, Chicago Tribune, August 20, 2006, retrieved August 23, 2006
- Chicago Reader article documenting the legal battle between Touch and Go and the Butthole Surfers
- The US Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit decision of the case between Touch and Go and the Butthole Surfers
See also
- List of record labels
- Quarterstick Records, a sublabel of Touch and Go
- Chicago Record Labels
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