Re: R.I.P. Jerry Moss

Co-founder of A&M Records. A&M weren't Sire, but they did okay in bringing TP music to the masses, either through outright signings to A&M or through their distribution deal with IRS.

A+M were the only US label that seemed to know how to market my favorite UK bands in America. IRS Records was only good when A+M was their distributor. I never cottoned to the MCA years for that label! And A+M's embrace of virgin vinyl in the 80s at a certain point insured that their pressings were the best you could get. Alpert + Moss ran what I thought was the best label in America. Hats off to Jerry Moss.

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®

A&M may never have qualified as an indie label, but any label that can release records by The Police, Joe Jackson, Robyn Hitchcock, The Feelies, The Dickies, Squeeze, Soundgarden, John Cale, Iggy Pop, the Payola$, The Tubes, The Stranglers, OMD, The Dream Syndicate, Oingo Boingo, Swervedriver, The Human League and A Certain Ratio (just to rattle off some of the A&M imprints that populate my shelf) has my everlasting respect and gratitude. Rest in peace, Jerry, and thanks for all the great records.

Hell, never mind the list of artists I presented above. If A&M never had released full-length albums by any of those artists, but had just released the soundtrack to Urgh! A Music War, the label would've done enough to earn my appreciation.

Not to mention Soul Asylum, the Mekons, Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor.

And Uncle Tupelo, just in time for them to break up. (EDIT: This post contains erroneous information.)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/18/2023 09:14PM by breno.

I didn't know that!

Apparently I didn't know that either. I was thinking Anodyne was on A&M, but see it was on Sire. I guess I got confused because I remember my friend who did photography for the first two Tupelo albums saying they were planning to sign with A&M (I think I remember being told Herb Alpert himself was called on to wine & dine them) and I guess that got stuck in my head. Sire must've come in with a better deal.

Granted the Mekons had a pretty terrible experience on A&M, but the one album they did put out for them may be their best. (It's that or Fear and Whiskey.)

Tack on Simple Minds, Joan Armatrading, Colourbox, 16 Horsepower, Bauhaus, Scarce, Ass Ponies, Chris Stamey, Color Me Gone / Marti Jones, Fairport…and though he dropped him after 2 singles, Captain Beefheart.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2023 04:19PM by Five*Words.

Also, the Move and Janet Jackson!

Colourbox got US releases on A+M??!! That's news to me. [checks] Hmmm. "Breakdown [v./2]" was a US 12"…well who knew? And when they released "The Sky's Gone Out" they didn't swap out the sprawling, dissonant album version for the smooth, seductive Pop version of "Spirit" in spite of that version being the video on MTV that made me buy the album in the first place!

Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

[postpunkmonk.com]
For further rumination on the Fresh New Sound of Yesterday®



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/20/2023 08:20PM by Post-Punk Monk.