Sarah Records - an intro

On moving down to Bristol and being a huge music nerd, I was happy to discover some of the places behind one of my favourite record labels, Sarah Records. Based in Bristol, the label ran from 1989-1995. The label took the names of places dotted around Bristol as the titles for it's 7" compilation albums. Suddenly 'Air Balloon Road' wasn't a collection of songs anymore, it was a place about 5 minutes up the road from me in St. George! I had a new level of appreciation for how affectionately known the label was for being the twee enemy of the music press and sticking to it's principals of not distributing music primarily for commercial gain, but also the affection the label's founders had for their host city.

In this project I wanted to create something a bit more expressive, and what better then to make it about a record label that built itself on musical expression.

Sarah's graphic style -

A nice Wikipedia user went to the trouble of adding the complete Sarah discography, which certainly made my life easier.

They had 100 releases of singles, compilations, fanzines and even a board game before announcing they would be no more. Their announcement took the slightly teenage stance of taking out two half page ads in NME and Melody Maker entitled, "A Day For Destroying Things".

Despite being slated by them at the time, in 2015 NME cited Sarah Records as second best Indie label of all time.

A few of Sarahs' releases:

Another Sunny Day - You Should All Be Murdered (Sarah 022, 1989)

This charmingly named song about killing anyone whose ideals don't match your own is definitely in the 'teenage' category of approaching life. His voice causes a I-can't-believe-it's-not-Morrissey double take.

The video highlights a couple of visual cliches that come with being an over-sensitive Sarah Records fan:

Grainy black & white video filming a train journey while looking out of the window in a seemingly wistful way - check

Sprawling British industrial landscape - check

Bonus points would have been available if:

- It was raining

- He artfully filmed his girlfriend in the reflection of the seat opposite looking wistfully out of the window. Or eating a bag of Quavers. Either one works.

The final few seconds where the camera pans down to his crotch is a new one by me. I have no explanation for that.

I'm coming across as more cynical than I actually am - around the same time that I discovered Sarah Records as a teenager, I came across Billy Liar, and loved the whole kitchen sink, gritty stories of everyday people.

BUT - a video from a moving train isn't a brooding reflection on Britain's heritage of hard graft in manufacturing or a metaphor for being an onlooker to a world that is chaotic. It might be poetic the first 5 times it's done, but after that it's just someone discovering the black and white setting on their camera phone and trying to be arty.

The Field Mice - Emma's House (Sarah 012, 1989)

One of my absolute favourite Sarah releases - the chiming opening and bittersweet, lovelorn lyrics kind of stop you in your tracks. How singer Bobby Wratten's voice breaks as he asks his illlogical question, "Emma's house is empty, so why do I call it Emma's house?" is heartbreakingly perfect. Ahhhhh, the bass line running through the background. Even the cheap, reverby drum machine backing made up of 80% snare works.

#Fangirl

The Field Mice were probably the most commercially successful Sarah band, and often cited by modern bands as a major influence.

Aberdeen - Fireworks (Sarah 097, 1994)

Slightly trippy Elizabeth Fraser-esque vocals. Oddly enough, an American band - one of the few that signed to Sarah.

Blueboy - Cloud Babies (Sarah 070, 1993)

One of the more 'polished' sounding bands on Sarah. Also released 3 mini-fanzines: "just as good as I should be" "nice boys prefer vanilla" "i am telling you because you are far away" (thanks Wikipedia!).

Saropoly

One of their really imaginative releases was Saropoly, a board game where players navigate around 1980's Bristol in the most twee (Park St. Vigilante Squad makes a citizen's arrest for catching you flyposting) and strangely incisive way possible. Players are major players in a record company who have been taken to Bristol to scope out the music scene and spend a 'day in the life' at Sarah Records. There are some very detailed instructions here.