F-Beat Records was one of the record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

s set up by Jake Riviera

Jake Riviera

Jake Riviera is a music business entrepreneur best known for his management of such performers as Elvis Costello and Nick Lowe and as co-founder of pioneering British indie label Stiff Records.Riviera was in school bands and local groups in north-west London in the 60s, and became road manager of...

 in late 1979/early 1980, at the same time as he started Demon Records. The label's first release, I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

 & the Attractions, reached number 4 in the UK charts, the highest singles chart position the label attained.

Costello notched up another fifteen hits for F-Beat before leaving for Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records

Warner Bros. Records Inc. is an American record label. It was the foundation label of the present-day Warner Music Group, and now operates as a wholly owned subsidiary of that corporation. It maintains a close relationship with its former parent, Warner Bros. Pictures, although the two companies...

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F-Beat's roster also included Nick Lowe

Nick Lowe

Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...

, Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter

Carlene Carter is an American country singer and songwriter. She is the daughter of June Carter and her first husband, Carl Smith....

, The Blasters

The Blasters

The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin , with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had...

, Blanket of Secrecy

Blanket of Secrecy

Blanket of Secrecy was a British New Wave trio that existed for a short time in the early 1980s. The band is notable for the fact that the band members, true to their band name, were never officially identified, using only the pseudonyms Tinker, Tailor and Soldier...

 and Clive Langer and the Boxes

Clive Langer

Clive Langer is a British record producer active from the mid 1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films Still Crazy and Brothers of the Head. Prior to his record producing career he was a guitarist with the British cult band Deaf SchoolLanger...

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The original F-Beat label was closed down in 1986, but it was briefly reactivated in the early 1990s with a new roster including Blab Happy

Blab Happy

Blab Happy were a British indie band from Leicester formed in 1987, comprising Mick McCarthy, Jon Dennis, Tony Owen and Jeremy Clay. After two EPs released on their own Wisdom label won airplay on John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show, and enthusiastic reviews in New Musical Express, Sounds and Melody...

, Nicola Hitchcock

Nicola Hitchcock

Nicola Hitchcock is a British singer and songwriter. She is best known for having been the singer of the band Mandalay...

, Phil Burdett and The Gutter Brothers

Gutter Brothers

The Gutter Brothers are an English skiffle and rock band which was active from 1985 until 1993. Since 2003 they have occasionally performed live together and in January 2008 recorded a new album which is due for release in August 2008....

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