Labelled With Love

I've recently finished reading Document and Eyewitness: An Intimate History of Rough Trade, a comprehensive account of the record store that grew into a label that's still kicking around today, albeit under somewhat different circumstances.

It's easy to draw comparisons between Rough Trade (the label) and Factory Records. Both were driven by middle class, Cambridge graduates with a deep love of music and both managed to house esoteric artists (Robert Wyatt, Durutti Column) and those that managed major commercial success (Joy Division/New Order, the Smiths). Both also suffered in the early 90s from financial problems and went under with major debts. Unlike Anthony H. Wilson, however, Rough Trade mainman Geoff Travis has managed to keep the name as a viable concern into the present age thanks to a number of artists that, frankly, I can't stand, such as the Strokes, Duffy and the Libertines. Yet anyone who allows British Sea Power to do their thing still gets major kudos points from this hack.

Document and Eyewitness is certainly an entertaining read due to the chaotic nature of what running an indie label must be like. Somewhat obviously, the early days are the most interesting, with stories of armed robberies on the shop that founded the brand and aiding with the release of pioneering singles by the likes of the Normal and Scritti Polliti.

Yet where it pales in comparison to the Factory Records story (of which I've yet to read the definitive account, though the Shadowplayers documentary DVD from a few years ago did a superb job) is that there's so few really interesting, eccentric characters to compare with the likes of Wilson, Rob Gretton, Martin Hannett and Vini Reilly. Rough Trade's stance on letting band's always choose their own artwork also didn't help create the kind of unifying identity Factory had, which is of course probably more to the benefit of many artists. Also, perhaps the cynic in me found the constant debate over the Rough Trade 'ethos' a bit tiring - much as Wilson's situationist gig may have grated the vast majority, he never really did care about making money, which explained Factory's collapse. From reading this, it seems Rough Trade increased the amount of business bods around and still managed to lose millions.

At the end, Factory obviously makes for a better story, hence the existence of 24 Hour Party People. Wilson was an expert at creating and building myths around his bands, his label and himself, not surprising for a guy with a background in television. Travis, on the other hand, comes across as a guy for whom it's just about the music. If I were in a band in the 80s, your head would tell you to sign for Rough Trade, but your heart would be drawn to the insanity of Factory and the snob in me would always want to have a Peter Saville design on the cover of an album.