FATTENING BLOGS FOR SNAKES: TRACK RECORDS & STRUMMERVILLE present : A Dissenters Gallery

A DISSENTERS GALLERY... the story behind the story, behind the story....

Track Records was one of the hippest and least compromising—and arguably the most successful and significant—of the Independent record labels active in the UK in the ’60s. Now this brainchild of Kit Lambert and his street-wise partner, Chris Stamp (brother of actor Terence), is alive once again.

The success story of Track Records began only three days after its first disc was issued: On Monday, March 20, 1967, "Purple Haze" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience entered the national charts. The Who and the Jimi Hendrix Experience were the first artists to be signed by Track, and Track Records went on to sign more of the most innovative artists in the United Kingdom: The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (“Fire”), Thunderclap Newman (“Something In The Air”), a young Marc Bolan in John's Children (“Desdemona”), and the Dutch group Golden Earring (“Radar Love”).

In 1999, former Stranglers/Cult manager Ian Grant resurrected Track Records and over the next 10 years released contemporary recordings by Big Country, Joe Brown, Ronnie Lane, Paul Kossoff, Blue Cheer, and the Dirty Strangers featuring Keith Richards, along with new releases from original Track Records stablemates, The Crazy World of Arthur Brown & Thunderclap Newman, and the soon-to-be released box set by John Sinclair. Now for the first time since those heady days of 1967, Track Records is once again opening its doors to brand new bands.

In association with Strummerville, the music charity set up to help new artists in Joe Strummer’s name, Track will release The Dissenters’ Gallery, a quarterly sampler of new talent, on both CD and download.

Track is also staging various live forays under the 'Dissenters Gallery' banner commencing on 16th April at Portobello's Inn On The Green.

Each band included in the sampler will be invited to play one night alongside existing Track acts, special guests and DJs.Track Records was a leader in one of the most productive times in British cultural history, when music, uniqueness and attitude mattered more than marketing, 'celebrity', lawyers and accountants. Its artists were cutting-edge and innovative. They were non-conformist. Music was alive and well because it wasn't “the music business” yet. That attitude still prevails at Track and The Dissenters Gallery is our way of giving undiscovered talent a voice.

The Dissenters Gallery is a statement—a statement that expresses dissatisfaction with all that is wrong today, whether it be the system of government, the music industry or social imbalance generally. The Who wrote an anthem for a generation. Hendrix flew the freak flag higher than it had ever been flown before. Anti-authoritarian behaviour and the counter-culture created a landscape where music and its fashions mattered, as it did again a decade later with the punk explosion.
With a new election on the horizon and only promises of 'more of the same', it really is time to take a lesson from our forerunners and make sure we all make some noise again in the 21st century.

1 of 6_APRIL 16th

NIMMO & THE GAUNLETS
PINK CIGAR
THE ROTTEN HILL GANG
THE DIRTY STRANGERS