Recommended Records

{{Infobox record label

| name = Recommended Records

| image = ReR logo 2024.jpg

| image_bg =

| parent =

| founded = March 1978

| founder = Chris Cutler

| defunct =

| distributor = RēR Megacorp (UK)
RēR USA (US)
Locus Solus (Japan)

| genre = Rock in Opposition, avant-rock, experimental music

| country = England

| location = Thornton Heath, London

| url = {{url|www.rermegacorp.com}}

}}

Recommended Records (RēR) is a British independent record label and distribution network founded by Chris Cutler with Nick Hobbs in March 1978. RēR features largely "Rock in Opposition" and related music, but it also distributes selected music released on other independent labels.

In 1982 Cutler established November Books, the publishing wing of Recommended Records, and between 1985 and 1997, Recommended Records and November Books published RēR Quarterly, a "quarterly" sound-magazine edited by Cutler.{{cite web |last=Cutler |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Cutler |title=Biography |url=http://www.ccutler.co.uk/ccabbreviated.htm |access-date=8 February 2020}}

In 1989 Recommended Records became known as RēR Megacorp with a turnover of £180,000 in 1994.{{cite web | last = Wright | first = Patrick | author-link = Patrick Wright (historian) | title = Resist Me, Make Me Strong: On Chris Cutler | work = The Guardian | date = 11 November 1995 | url = http://www.patrickwright.net/wp-content/uploads/pwright-on-chris-cutler.pdf | access-date = 14 October 2011}}

History

File:ChrisCutler November2007.jpg, November 2007.]]

When English avant-rock group Henry Cow toured Europe between 1975 and 1977 they encountered many bands in a similar situation to their own: they were forced to operate outside the music industry that refused to recognise their music. In 1978 these groups got together and formed Rock in Opposition (RIO). To provide a record label and distribution network for these artists, Chris Cutler of Henry Cow and Nick Hobbs, Henry Cow's manager at the time, established Recommended Records (RēR) as a model for a non-profit music company. When RIO folded as an organisation in late 1979, RēR continued RIO's work by representing and promoting marginalised musicians and groups. RēR became a "virtual RIO",{{cite web | title = 20 years of Rock In Opposition: Interview with Chris Cutler (1998) | url = http://www.mitkadem.co.il/RIO_interview.html | access-date = 15 July 2012}} and "part of the continuing legacy of RIO".{{cite book |last=Cutler |first=Chris |author-link=Chris Cutler |title=File Under Popular: Theoretical and Critical Writings on Music |publisher=November Books |location=London |isbn=0-946423-01-6 |chapter=Necessity and Choice in Musical Forms, Part III, Rock in Opposition |year=1985 |page=[https://archive.org/details/fileunderpopular00cutl/page/157 157] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/fileunderpopular00cutl}}

Recommended Records grew from "Ré", a private record label in 1978 to "RēR Megacorp" in 1989, an internationally recognised independent record company with distributors worldwide. They have consistently introduced new and interesting artists from around the world, many of whom might never have been able to release records. They have always put the artist first and commercial viability second.

=Evolution of the name=

When Henry Cow split up in 1978, Chris Cutler created a record label called Ré for his own projects with a distribution arm called Recommended Distribution, so called because he personally "recommended" the titles they distributed. The intention was to import and distribute new, interesting and experimental music from all over the world to the United Kingdom.

File:ReR logo1998.jpg

In 1979, Cutler established the Recommended label for releases other than his own. In 1987, he combined the Ré and Recommended labels to form RēR, and at the same time Recommended Distribution became a worker's cooperative enabling Cutler to concentrate on running the RéR label and writing RēR's mail order catalogue. This arrangement worked for a few years, but in 1989, due to enormous unpaid debts from Recommended Distribution, Cutler was forced to restart his own distribution system again, and RēR became {{nowrap|RēR/Recommended}}. Recommended Distribution went on to become These Records, an affiliated label. {{nowrap|RēR/Recommended}} became known as {{nowrap|RēR Megacorp}} with a website and online shopping facilities.{{cite web | last = Gross | first = Jason | title = Chris Cutler | work = Perfect Sound Forever | date = March 1997 | url = http://www.furious.com/perfect/cutler.html | access-date = 14 October 2011}}

Just as Recommended Records's name evolved over the years, so did its logo.

Imprints

Recommended Records has the following imprints:

Points East – established to release experimental music from Central Europe
Freedonia – established to release records by Půlnoc, formerly The Plastic People of the Universe
Political Underground – established to release records by Unrest Work and Play
Fred Records – dedicated to re-releasing the back catalogue of Fred Frith recordings plus previously unreleased material
This is! – set up by Charles Hayward and Charles Bullen to re-release This Heat's back catalogue

Affiliated labels

A distribution network of affiliated labels exists throughout the world to promote experimental, unusual and innovative music. While many of these labels are distinct operations, they share a common musical ethic. Some of these affiliated labels are:

Ad Hoc Records – RēR USA label
Locus Solus – Recommended Records Japan
These Records – independent UK label and mail-order shop
RecRec Music – RēR Switzerland, an independent Swiss label (no longer active)
Review Records – ReRe Germany, an independent German label
No Man's Land – an imprint of Review (ReRe) Records
AYAA – Recommended France, an independent French label (no longer active)
Cuneiform Records – US distributor of RēR, an independent US label

Artists

These are some of the artists that have had music released or re-released on the Recommended Records label.

RēR compilations

Various artists: Recommended Records Sampler (1982, 2xLP, Recommended Records)
Various artists: Recommended Records Sampler (1982, EP, Recommended Records)
Various artists: RēR Quarterly (1985–1997, LP/CD + magazine, Recommended Records)