FEATURE LIST
a micro-mator lahcl that acts as a hullct torour handxgivingthcm l
intcrnational approach to thc rccor ‘l
Indcpcndcnt lahcls arc still with us. Richard chin discovcrs somc Scottish altcrnativcs to thc mators.
'l lioncxtly hclicy c. w itli icgat'd to thc Scottish music xccnc_ w c arc tlittcrcnt. \Vc think dittcrcntly . w c LlI i ll Lllllclc'ltlly . .llttl \\ c ltay c xuccccdcd w ltctc otlicrx hay c lailcdf l lllHl l )tl\ lS. llc‘atl (ll lllc‘ (ilaxgow-haxcd l’iccioux ()rganixation. ix talking carncxtly ahout hix indcpcndcnt rccoid lahcl. Small and wiry . with xhort grcying liau' hc is iuxt 3“ Day ix ix passionatc ahout thc hands hc workx w uh: \\ ct. \\ ct. \Vct. Kick Rcaction. t iood Byc \li‘\1;1ckcii/ic and l'lic l-loor. l lc hclicvcx in tlicm. and hc would not work w ith a hand lic did not hclic‘. c ltl.
lt may sound almost old laxhioncd. hut thc i‘cccnt hloxxoming ol tlic ittdicx xccnc in Scotland is ncw. lollow mg tlic dcmisc ol l’oxtcard Rccordx lll thc carly l‘JStlx. l'or many. l’oxtcardwaxthc ultintatc mdcpcndcnt i‘ccord lahcl. lt t'clcascd a tlo/ctt nitty xiiiglcx. put toi'w aid thc hippcxt l xomc would xay liypcxt) imagc xincc llat'cs iclcrrmg to itxcll ax ‘ l lic Sound ol Young Scotland
A“ w H
and it launcltcd tltc caiccrxot xcyci‘al musical pcrxonaliticx. notahly l dwin (‘ollinx ot ( )i‘angc .luicc and .\/tcc ('amcra‘x Roddy l't'antc. ‘l’oxtcard Rccordx was rcally important loi‘ Scotland xincc has hccn inllucnccd hy thcm.‘ says .-\llan ( fiunphcll. tormcr managcrot l’oxtcai‘d hand .loscl K. and now running Suprcmc lntcrnational. hixown lahcl. l'iourycars altcr l’oxtcard Rccordx w ct'c xcnt to thc grcat mailho\' in thc sky . Scotland ix sporting xcy cral ncw lahclx. .‘\s w cll ax Suprcmc lntcrnational. lidinhurgli ix homc to thc t'cntarkahlc \lovc Rccottls. (lllL' ot only two xtttll music lahclx opcrating in tlic l ‘l\' whilc on thc \\ CSI coast is ( ilaxgow ‘s Slatttt‘t‘tlc
cy cry llttlcpctttlcttl lgil‘cl
Rccot'tls looscly' cottttcclctl to Suprcmc lnt.
()rganixation. a lahcl oncc callcd tlic
and l)avix‘x l’rccioux
ncw l’oxtcard. '1 his is a dcxci iption not cndorscd hy Davis: yvt- arc not thc ncw l’oxtcard w c don‘t hay c similar-stitindinglMindxorrclcaxc
rccords that sound tlic xamc. \\ c arc
timctodcyclop,‘
So tar. thc l’rccioux tcam and thc tour pcoplc at l’rccioux xtrcss thc tcamwork axpcct‘ hay c hccn xucccxxlul in tlicir cllortx to groom tlicirhandx lorpoxsihlcxtardont \Vct. \\ ct. \\ ct. tltcit' most pronnxing proxpcct. xigiicdto l’iionogram through a liccnxittg dcal last ycai tor an undixcloxcd xum rumourcd to hc xi\ ligurcx. l)avix tlcsct'll‘cS tltc tlcal as ‘hloody gtttnl. hcttci than any otlicr hand that has ncy ci rclcaxcd a singlc.‘ l lardly xui pi ixing lic takcx this xtancc: onc clauxc stipulatcd hix liy c cats iccciy ctl ti ci‘atc Hltfitlltttttl 'c‘\ L'I‘y month. lrcc. \ththci' l’honogram w cit' tuxtilicd in thcir iny cxtmcnt will l‘c lL‘Slctl llt \l‘ittclt \\ ltctt tltc \Vc‘l‘s lirxt anglc. His/ting / ll'us 1.1tt‘kyis iclcaxcd. 'lt it is not a xucccxs I will cat my liatf xayx a contidcnt Davis.
llclttt‘t‘ lltctt. ( iotttl llyc hll' \lackcn/tc'xt (Hid/Muck l’trrk 771v Rat/[m w ill hc rclcaxcd. and thcir yci‘y lirxt singlc. .S/o,'i;ti/ig lo .S/is'u/x l't'xlt'n/tn. lot/(ti. liy Kick Rcaction. also liitx thc \llt ups around now , lllL‘ lx'ickx w riic hold. dynamic songs. icmmixccnt ol 'ylotow n. and altcr a .laittcc l .t tug radio xcxxion and an appcarancc on chorting Scotland. intci‘cxt liom maior rccord lahcls is
loniorroic
lcycrixli
l ).:vix loundcd Prccious a ycar ago using L 1 it ltltlwon in a lcgal hattlc with t ‘léS oy cr xunxct ( iun. a hand hc oncc manaucd. l )cxpitc having no pi ccixc maxtci'plan. l)avix hax tlc‘llllllc ltchts lt‘t' xucccxx: ' lit) l‘L‘ xucccxxlul you nccd to gct promotions i ight. thc artwork must hc li igctltct‘ and hands nccd Lt rccognixahlc pi‘olilc. llicrc arc lots ot hands who rclcaxc classic indcpcndcnt singlcx. But what liappcnx w hcn tlicy sign to a major‘.’ Nothing. l‘hcy hay c no protilc. and lltlllllL' is Iltlct‘cstctl.~
liut contrary to Day is' studicd
husincss-Jl‘hc Prccious ()rganisation soundslikc an Amcrican multinational ~ hc is dctcrmincd to succccd from (ilas‘gow. without hclp from anyonc: ‘Wc hcnct‘it hy hcing up hcrc. hut l hatc all thc sycophantic crap from pcoplc giving it thc old pat on thc hack hccausc wc comc t‘rom (il‘asgow.~
'l’hc dctcrmination to do thc joh propcrly. imitating to somc cxtcnt many of thc majors is rctlcctcd in thc clioicc of hands. 'l‘alcnt is only onc ot thc rcquircmcnts: "l‘hc hand‘s attitudc has to hc right l would not sign a 'l‘ory. tor a start. and thcrc is no room for gross naivcty.‘ says Davis. (NI) gigs. charity shows and a conccrt undcr thc Rcd chgc hanncr arc prool ot‘ sinccrity. (iraham Wilson of Stampcdc Rccords. has t‘cwcr qualms on that scorc: ‘I would sign anyhody it it was a good rccord. I would lovc to put out thc ncxt World ( ‘up singlc tor Scotland.‘
'I‘hcrc arc otltcr ditlcrcnccs. thrcas l’rccious rcprcscnts a l'ull—timc occupation for Davis. Wilson. togcthcr with his lidinhurgh partncr. Allan (‘amphclL runs his rccord lahcl as a sidclinc to his othcr intcrcsts. 'l‘hc two of thcm havc an opcration that straddlcs ccntral Scotland. cach mirroring thc activitics of thc othcr in Scotland‘s two capitals. Wilson stagcs thc Suh Huh. in Rooftops. (‘amphcll has thc lloochic (‘oochic (’luh at Wcst 'l‘ollcross. Stampcdc opcratcs out of Glasgow. Suprcmc lntcrnational is thc vinyl outlct t’or lidinhurgh hands. ('amphcll has just tinishcd managing that wild and wacky prolcssional Scot. .lcssc Rac. Wilson looks al‘tcr thc carccr ot'cx-( ilasgow singcr. Lucinda Scigcr. now hascd in London. ’l‘hcy comc togcthcr in (ircatcst llits. thcir livc conccrts promotions company.
For Wilson. this divcrsity is hcalthy. At‘tcr a Jazzatccrssinglc last ()ctohcr —* ‘I could not work with thcm again‘ ~< hc rclcascd thc tirst singlc hy highly-ratcd (‘oathridgc hand. Huc and (‘ry a fortnight ago. In March. I.ovc and Moncy“s ( 'um/y liar lirprcsxs. a hottcr favouritc than Rcd Rum to hc a winncr. comcs out. distrihutcd by l’honogram hut with Stampcdc‘s distinctivc galloping stallion logo on it. ‘Wc arc going to givc lluc and (‘ry a hig push with a full mailing to local radio stations. It will hclp hcing outwith thc london sccnc. hccausc wc don‘t gct all thc hasslcs from the hig rccord companics down thcrc. Bands hcrc can lcartt thc ropcs without making cchnsivc mistakcs.‘
Wilson (25 ) comcs across as a man who cnjoys thc imagcs as wcll as thc suhstancc of thc music husincss‘. llc profcsscs a lovc for rccords. cars and clothcs. and posscsscs morc ot‘cach than most pcoplc. including a jccp and a distinctly t‘lashy ()pcl sports car: ‘I likc all kinds olcowhoy gcar, hcncc thc Stampcdc logo. although I ncvcr wcar any of it — and l lovc thc fcclofrccordsf
While Wilson vicws commcrcial viability as important. it is odd that