Go! Discs

Go! Discs
Parent company	Independent (1983–1996, 1999–present) Universal Music Group (1996–present; back catalogue)
Founded	1983; 1999 (relaunch)
Founder	Andy Macdonald, Lesley Symons
Defunct	1996
Status	Dormant
Distributor(s)	Chrysalis Records (1983–1996) Mercury Records UK (back catalogue, 1996–2013) Virgin EMI Records (back catalogue, 2013–present)
Genre	Various
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Location	Hammersmith, London

Go! Discs was a London-based record label, launched in 1983 from offices in Wendell Road, Shepherd's Bush, by Andy Macdonald and Lesley Symons after he left his job as press officer at Stiff Records and she provided the seed funding. The first signing to the label was Billy Bragg and early releases also came from Sheffield band The Box and Hull band The Housemartins. Records by the latter's spin-off group The Beautiful South were subsequently issued. Key staff contributors, following a move to Hammersmith, included comedian Phill Jupitus and Cathal Smyth (Madness' Chas Smash). Go! Beat Records was launched as a subsidiary for dance artists like Beats International, Gabrielle and Portishead. In 1992, Paul Weller signed for the main Go! Discs label.

In 1996, Macdonald resigned when PolyGram acquired a majority stake in the label, which folded not too long afterwards. However, Go! Discs' dance offshoot Go! Beat Records continued and became a unit in the PolyGram group. In 1999, Go! Discs was revived, but it is now in dormancy along with Go! Beat.

The Go! Discs catalogue now operates under Virgin EMI Records, a division of the Universal Music Group.

Andy Macdonald and Independiente

After the purchase of Go! Discs by PolyGram, Andy Macdonald started Independiente Records, and continued his involvement with the recording career of Paul Weller. Independiente is also the home of Travis, Embrace, Aaliyah, So Solid Crew, Howling Bells and Malian desert blues band Tinariwen.

Artists

• Anna
• Apollo Landing
• Billy Bragg
• The Bic
• The Housemartins
• The Beautiful South
• The Bathers
• The Butterfield 8
• Boothill Foot Tappers
• Paul Weller
• The Blue Ox Babes
• Father Father
• The Southernaires
• Drugstore
• Trash Can Sinatras
• The La's
• The Frank and Walters
• The Stairs
• Madness
• Portishead
• David Holmes

See also

• List of record labels