Taang! Records
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| Taang! Records | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1984 |
| Founder | Curtis Casella |
| Genre | Punk rock, ska |
| Location | San Diego, California, United States |
| Official website | Taang! Records website |
Taang! Records is an American independent record label that was formed by Curtis Casella in Boston, Massachusettes and is currently based in San Diego. Taang! specializes mainly in releases by punk rock, indie and ska/ska-core bands and artists.
History
Casella formed Taang! originally as a singles-only label in 1984 and signed various Boston-area acts from hardcore bands such as Gang Green]], Last Rights, [[ and Negative FX to punk bands Stranglehold, Last Stand, and Kilslug. The label's first full-length release was Negative FX's self-titled album, which was originally recorded in 1982. Taang! also ran a storefront in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts[1].
In 1986, The Lemonheads first lp "Hate Your Friends" was the first to be released interationally. From there on, past and future releases were to be distributed worldwide.
By 1989, Bullet Lavolta was signed to the label, which created the merge of Taang! with RCA. Taang! then had the two biggest college radio releases by The Lemonheads and Bullet LaVolta, which were simultaneously #1 & 2 on the charts. The label went on to sign more diverse acts such as Poison Idea, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Swirlies and Spacemen 3.
In 1992, Casella decided to produce San Diego based-band Battalion of Saints for an archival release, not yet realizing the band leader's plans to reform the band. By this time, Casella was dividing his time between Los Angeles and Boston. He became the music supervisor and first DJ at his friend's club, the Viper Room. The label operated out of Boston for two more years before Casella moved its headquarters to San Diego. A storefront was added in Hollywood. Shortly after moving to San Diego, Taang! released 2 albums by local ska band Buck-O-Nine.& put them on tour with Stiff Little Fingers.
In the mid to late 1990s, there were no new signings and the label focused on archival releases by bands such as Cock Sparrer, The Adicts, The Business and The Exploited. Taang! put out 15 releases over five years, and they sold well in US chain stores during a period in which many record labels were closing down due to financial troubles.Taang! was thriving , Taang! was the first label to sign to digital.
While operating out of California, the label continued its focus on Boston-based bands such as The F.U.'s catalogue , the next the works of The Proletariat the next.& The Brusiers The Next , Bands such as Gang Green, slapshot and Poison Idea, who previously left Taang! for other labels, had returned. In 2007, the label started to sign more new bands, such as Everybody Out! (featuring Rick Barton of the Dropkick Murphys), and Southern California's Evacuate (led by Mike Virus of Cheap Sex and the Virus Fame) who released their debut in 2009.
In 2010, Taang!'s releases were by UK-based The Newtown Neurotics, early label recruits Kilsug, Oysters, Gang Green, D.Y.S., and Attitude Adjustment. The label's 200th release will be a DVD from SLAPSHOT titled "Chip On My Shoulder" & as of June 2010 Detroit-based band Negative Approach.are joining the TAANG! family In 2009, Taang! messed around with the Volcano Suns releases and because Curtis was so full of crap and lazy and also a ripoff artist...lost that band.
Taang! in the media
Curtis Casella is featured in the 2006 Sony Pictures Classics documentary American Hardcore[2], the film Chip on My Shoulder directed by Ian McFarland, and All That Matters Is Sunday: the Birth of Boston's Hardcore directed by punk filmmaker Lewis Ingham. Casella is also portrayed by another actor in the film "Boston Boy".
Artists
- The Adicts
- Anti-Heros
- Attitude Adjustment
- Battalion of Saints
- The Boys
- The Bruisers
- Buck-O-Nine
- Bullet LaVolta
- The Business
- Brandon Cruz
- Ken Chambers
- Cock Sparrer
- D.Y.S.
- The Dickies
- Dicky B Hardy
- Dropkick Murphys
- Evacuate
- Everybody Out!
- The Exploited
- Eye For An Eye
- The F.U.'s
- Forced Reality
- The Freeze
- The 4-Skins
- Gang Green
- Hard-Ons
- Jerry's Kids
- Kilslug
- Last Resort
- Last Rights
- Last Stand
- The Lemonheads
- Keith Levene
- Lyres
- Maelstrom
- Menace
- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
- Mission of Burma
- Moving Targets
- Negative Approach
- Negative FX
- The Newtown Neurotics
- Oysters
- Part Time Christians
- Poison Idea
- The Proletariat
- Rat City Riot
- Reverberation
- The Ruts
- Sam Black Church
- Seka
- slapshot
- Slaughter & The Dogs
- Sloppy Seconds
- Spacemen 3
- Spore
- SSD
- Stars & Stripes
- Stiff Little Fingers
- Stranglehold
- Swirlies
- The Titanics
- Upsidedown Cross
- The Worthless