Stiff Records was created by Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson in July 1976 and is said to be the blueprint for the independent label of today. After the success of their first release by Nick Lowe they had a run of not quite so successful stuff - songs by the likes of The Pink Fairies and The Roogalator didn't trouble the charts.
But Stiff were soon back on track when they signed The Damned, whose debut 'New Rose' became one of John Peel's most played records. Nick Lowe was now the in-house producer and he earned the nickname 'Basher' after describing his production technique as 'I just bash it down and tart it up later'.
The punk/new wave thing continued to work for them and they signed a young singer/songwriter called D.P. Costello, who Jake Riviera quickly renamed Elvis. It was Elvis Costello who gave them their first Top 20 single with 'Watching The Detectives' and in 1979 they achieved their first No. 1 with Ian Dury's 'Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick'.
Fun was at the heart of Stiff Records - they were one of the first labels to issue picture sleeves and they managed to lure ska heroes Madness away from 2-Tone after just one single. Madness went on to do very big business for Stiff for five years and gave the label their final No. 1 - 'House of Fun'.
It wasn't all cool music though - Stiff released Billy Connolly's theme from kids TV show 'Supergran', music hall entertainer Max Wall's 'England's Glory', the soundtrack from the 1980 West End production of Oklahoma and even an early single by Stock, Aitken and Waterman!
Stiff Records: Official site
