Glass Records began in 1981, basically to release a single by my
band 'Glass', for posterity, seeing as how we'd broken up. Ciaran
Harte, who had been the songwriter/singer/guitarist for 'Glass'
recorded some solo tracks, on his recently acquired TEAC 4 Track,
2 of which 'Love Is Strange’ c/w 'Shimahero' were the second
release on the label at which point the idea of a record label
became a serious notion. Religious Overdose, from Northampton,
were the first band to send me a tape. It was strange and I liked it.
That was the 3rd release. We had no real distribution, just word of
mouth, selling directly to shops like Small Wonder, Rough Trade,
Red Rhino up in York. You could do that back then. People were
interested. I remember Geoff Travis himself ringing me from Rough
Trade to order 100 more each of the Religious Overdose & Ciaran
Harte releases. It felt like we were part of a scene or something.
The label ran until 1990, releasing records by In Embrace, Bron
Area, Kevin Harrison, The Cravats, Where's Lisse?, Kevin Harrison,
Schleimer K,The Jazz Butcher, David J, Nikki Sudden/Dave
Kusworth/Jacobites, The Pastels, Spacemen 3, The Perfect
Disaster, The Replacements, Walkingseeds, The Red Crayola,
Mayo Thompson, The Servants and more. We had fantastic support
from Nine Mile Distribution and later Red Rhino.
After Red Rhino, run by my good friend Tony Kostrzewa, went
bust in 1988 it just wasn’t the same, so in 1990 I took up an offer to
start up a new label with Fire Records, which I called Paperhouse.
Then a couple of years later moved to Creation, then back to Fire
after that. I did a singles only label called Seminal Twang somewhere
in between, then another label God Bless Records. All of these were
really a continuation of Glass under other names, artistically speaking.
Spent 15 years as a graphic designer, disgusted by what independent
music had turned into, then in 2015 revived Glass as Glass REDUX,
mainly for CD reissues, and in 2018 started a new imprint:
Glass Modern, predominately for vinyl, ancient and modern.
And here we are…. and so for the 40th Anniversary of the original
label wehave this collection of old songs made new by old friends
and new, for the kids, old and young. Many thanks to all who took
part and God bless us everyone.
David Barker Stoke Newington, London August 2022
Glass Records remains one of the great unsung British independent
labels of the 1980s. Founded and fronted by the charismatic rock
provocateur David E. Barker, Glass blazed a trail with seminal
releases by the likes of Jacobites, Spacemen 3, The Pastels and
many many more. They even became the first British label with the
good taste to domestically release a record by an obscure mid-west
American bar-band called TheReplacements. Salute.
Laurence Bell, Domino Records
I love Dave Barker for loads of reasons the main one is though he
knows music lives for music and breathes music.
Alan McGee, Creation Records
Includes unlimited streaming of Glass Remade/Remodelled
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Glass Records began in 1981, basically to release a single by my
band 'Glass', for posterity, seeing as how we'd broken up. Ciaran
Harte, who had been the songwriter/singer/guitarist for 'Glass'
recorded some solo tracks, on his recently acquired TEAC 4 Track,
2 of which 'Love Is Strange’ c/w 'Shimahero' were the second
release on the label at which point the idea of a record label
became a serious notion. Religious Overdose, from Northampton,
were the first band to send me a tape. It was strange and I liked it.
That was the 3rd release. We had no real distribution, just word of
mouth, selling directly to shops like Small Wonder, Rough Trade,
Red Rhino up in York. You could do that back then. People were
interested. I remember Geoff Travis himself ringing me from Rough
Trade to order 100 more each of the Religious Overdose & Ciaran
Harte releases. It felt like we were part of a scene or something.
The label ran until 1990, releasing records by In Embrace, Bron
Area, Kevin Harrison, The Cravats, Where's Lisse?, Kevin Harrison,
Schleimer K,The Jazz Butcher, David J, Nikki Sudden/Dave
Kusworth/Jacobites, The Pastels, Spacemen 3, The Perfect
Disaster, The Replacements, Walkingseeds, The Red Crayola,
Mayo Thompson, The Servants and more. We had fantastic support
from Nine Mile Distribution and later Red Rhino.
After Red Rhino, run by my good friend Tony Kostrzewa, went
bust in 1988 it just wasn’t the same, so in 1990 I took up an offer to
start up a new label with Fire Records, which I called Paperhouse.
Then a couple of years later moved to Creation, then back to Fire
after that. I did a singles only label called Seminal Twang somewhere
in between, then another label God Bless Records. All of these were
really a continuation of Glass under other names, artistically speaking.
Spent 15 years as a graphic designer, disgusted by what independent
music had turned into, then in 2015 revived Glass as Glass REDUX,
mainly for CD reissues, and in 2018 started a new imprint: Glass Modern,
predominately for vinyl, ancient and modern.
And here we are…. and so for the 40th Anniversary of the original
label wehave this collection of old songs made new by old friends
and new, for the kids, old and young. Many thanks to all who took
part and God bless us everyone.
David Barker Stoke Newington, London August 2022
Glass Records remains one of the great unsung British independent
labels of the 1980s. Founded and fronted by the charismatic rock
provocateur David E. Barker, Glass blazed a trail with seminal
releases by the likes of Jacobites, Spacemen 3, The Pastels and
many many more. They even became the first British label with the
good taste to domestically release a record by an obscure mid-west
American bar-band called TheReplacements. Salute.
Laurence Bell, Domino Records
I love Dave Barker for loads of reasons the main one is though he
knows music lives for music and breathes music.
Alan McGee, Creation Records
supported by 31 fans who also own “Glass Remade/Remodelled”
The greatest to ever do it, do it again! Sometimes lush as a warm blanket, sometimes all the angles of a dance party, always suspended in and out of time _hopskipjump
London's Modern Woman meld proggy folk-rock and wiry post-punk into an adventurous and elastic sound all their own on this new EP. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 21, 2021
