Phantom Records
Encyclopedia
Phantom Records was an Australia
n independent record label
established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing)
and Jules Normington in 1979
. Phantom Records was known not only for its guerrilla retail tactics, but as one of Australia's first great indie labels.
, Sydney
, opened by Jennings on 17 October 1978. The shop had a big glass window at the front, emblazoned in large letters 'Phantom Records', and in keeping with the Phantom comic theme, beneath that, their catch-phrase 'The Big Beat In The Heart Of The Vinyl Jungle'.
From August 1974, Normington had been managing an import vinyl store called firstly, Ripple Records, then Revolver Records, in the Angel Arcade in Sydney, and while doing that, via his friendship with the members, had been roadie, 'sound guy', then first manager for Australian punk band Radio Birdman
. In 1978 Normington left Revolver Records and eventually teaming up with Jennings, followed the Birdman tour around Europe (supporting the Flamin' Groovies ) in early 1978 and during this time they talked of starting a record shop, which Jennings did on his return. By early 1979, Normington was living in Los Angeles
and Jennings tracked him down and asked him to buy stock for the shop. Normington's job while living in L.A. and San Francisco in '79 was simply hunting down sixties punk/psychedelic/garage/surf/mod/R&B/soul records and rarities to send back to Sydney.
Jennings entreated Normington to come back and manage the shop. He returned 9 July 1979 and joined Jenningsn as a partner. They soon employed Steve Stavrakis (who later started Waterfront Records
), and Normington turned Phantom into a mecca for record buyers. Phantom flourished in the punk and postpunk years, specialising in "punk, soul, surf, psychedelic, sixties garage and nothing else".
In late 1979, Normington and Jennings had the idea for the Phantom label when they realised they were surrounded by talent who were as yet unsigned. Their girlfriends Penny Ward and Julie Mostyn, respectively, were lead singers in bands: Shy Impostors were about to record and The Flaming Hands had already recorded tracks, as had their friends The Passengers
. Post-Radio Birdman band The Visitors
had an album's worth of material recorded before their final gig in August 1979.
On 30 April 1980, the first single on the Phantom label—"Face with No Name" by The Passengers
and 7 days later "Cool in the Tube" by Surfside 6
were released. Phantom Records went on to become an indie phenomenon, releasing the very first records of great Australian bands such as the Hoodoo Gurus
, Sunnyboys, Flaming Hands, Stephen Cummings
, Machinations
, punk legends The Kelpies, and an early EP by The Cockroaches
. These were followed by a succession of pivotal singles and EPs, and the label became as important as the shop in its exposure of new alternative music. Apart from the music itself, Phantom was known for its record covers sporting exemplary artwork by local artists like Libby Blainey, John Foy, Paul Worstead, and Gerard Rouen. Normington and Jennings had intended licensing similarly empassioned vinyl from international artists too, but only ever got as far as one single by Stiv Bators
And The Dead Boys
. All other releases on Phantom have remained exclusively by Australian artists.
Although the shop's stock was primarily Normington's taste, the label's signings reflected the personal taste of both Normington and Jennings who would ONLY release a record if they decided they would genuinely go out and buy it if it had already existed - and it needed both of them to agree on that - and for several years this creditable selection criteria led to one success after another. Crucially Phantom became an inspiration for others to start labels such as Waterfront Records
and Citadel Records
, catering to the burgeoning local scene and attracting bands from interstate.
The label's momentum slowed in the mid 80’s, as during this period Jennings was concentrating more on his 100% Mambo clothing company as he phased himself out of Phantom, and Normington was concentrating on making sure the Phantom shop stocked the absolute best records and music mags (from every conceivable country) that fell under the punk/alternative/indie banner, making return trips overseas to acquire stock, scouring many a dusty store for hidden gems which he then shipped back to Sydney, until 1987 when Normington threw himself back into the Phantom label with renewed vigour - this was justified by the success of The Hummingbirds
, The Sparklers, The Deadly Hume, The Mark of Cain, Even As We Speak
and Vanilla Chainsaws. In the late 80's, Normington decided to form a small new label called Messiah Complex
(after an accusation a friend of his had made about him while on a train in Russia a couple of years before), initially devoted to releasing "crushing and fierce garage-punk and grunge 45's only", headed by an evil fictional ego-driven character by the name of Dexter Baxter, who was sued by Waterfront Records management after unleashing defamatory remarks about them (and many others) in his very first press-release (to announce the label's existence). It's a great read. Messiah Complex released exclusive vinyl by Big Chief (their 3rd ever 7"), Superchunk
(also their 3rd ever 7"), Canberra's Stooge
s fanatics Mudrac, ferocious Texan grunge-merchants Sugar Shack
(their first 12" record), and displaced NZ punks Casualty, plus a couple of CDs by Sydney punks Downtime.
After several years Sebastian Chase became a partner in Phantom Records. He had been a founding member of the major label "indy" offshoot rooArt Records, in the late eighties. In 1991, Chase had left rooArt after a split with partner Chris Murphy
and approached Phantom. Normington knew of him as The Hummingbirds
had moved from Phantom to rooArt a couple years earlier. They signed another wave of bands such as Def FX
, and The Whitlams
and had great success with them. They also formed a subsidiary label called Freakzone and released the first several releases by Parliament/Funkadelic-styled funk band SWOOP
on that imprint.
Eventually Phantom was divided into three companies, being basically the shop, the record labels, and a rarity music collectibles arm, and Normington increasingly focused on what to him, had become the most engrossing of these, Phantom Collectibles. Every 3 or 4 months, he published auction catalogues under the title of "Plunder The Vaults", written by himself, and featuring around 3,000 hand-picked rare gems, complete with enthusiastic descriptions, in the same categories mentioned above that the shop had championed at the beginning. But ultimately Chase’s goals for the Phantom companies diverged from Normington - to the detriment of the label. The shop closed its doors in April 1998, just short of 20 years since it opened. In 1999, disenchanted with what the Phantom label had become under Chase's guidance, Normington formed Laughing Outlaw Records pulling in writer Stuart Coupe as a partner and unleashing a whole other slew of quality music. Phantom is now run solely by Sebastian Chase, who, with an apparent dearth of respect for its history or its original selection criteria, keeps it active with very random and seemingly very sporadic releases. Normington left Phantom in 2000 to run his own music collectables business.
Second Phase Phantom (Normington only)
Third Phase Phantom (Normington and Chase)
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
established by Dare Jennings (founder of Mambo (Clothing)
Mambo Graphics
Mambo is an Australian surf and street clothing brand. It was launched in 1984, by and business partner, Andrew Rich in the Sydney suburb of Alexandria.- Early Days :...
and Jules Normington in 1979
1979 in music
See also:Record labels established in 1979* 1979 in music This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1979.-January–February:*January 1...
. Phantom Records was known not only for its guerrilla retail tactics, but as one of Australia's first great indie labels.
History
Phantom Records began life as a record shop in Pitt StreetPitt Street, Sydney
Pitt Street is a major street in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, opened by Jennings on 17 October 1978. The shop had a big glass window at the front, emblazoned in large letters 'Phantom Records', and in keeping with the Phantom comic theme, beneath that, their catch-phrase 'The Big Beat In The Heart Of The Vinyl Jungle'.
From August 1974, Normington had been managing an import vinyl store called firstly, Ripple Records, then Revolver Records, in the Angel Arcade in Sydney, and while doing that, via his friendship with the members, had been roadie, 'sound guy', then first manager for Australian punk band Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman
Radio Birdman was one of the first punk bands in Australia along with The Saints. Deniz Tek and Rob Younger formed the group in Sydney, Australia in 1974...
. In 1978 Normington left Revolver Records and eventually teaming up with Jennings, followed the Birdman tour around Europe (supporting the Flamin' Groovies ) in early 1978 and during this time they talked of starting a record shop, which Jennings did on his return. By early 1979, Normington was living in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
and Jennings tracked him down and asked him to buy stock for the shop. Normington's job while living in L.A. and San Francisco in '79 was simply hunting down sixties punk/psychedelic/garage/surf/mod/R&B/soul records and rarities to send back to Sydney.
Jennings entreated Normington to come back and manage the shop. He returned 9 July 1979 and joined Jenningsn as a partner. They soon employed Steve Stavrakis (who later started Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, that released recordings by some of Australia's most influential bands of the 1980s and 1990s.-History:...
), and Normington turned Phantom into a mecca for record buyers. Phantom flourished in the punk and postpunk years, specialising in "punk, soul, surf, psychedelic, sixties garage and nothing else".
In late 1979, Normington and Jennings had the idea for the Phantom label when they realised they were surrounded by talent who were as yet unsigned. Their girlfriends Penny Ward and Julie Mostyn, respectively, were lead singers in bands: Shy Impostors were about to record and The Flaming Hands had already recorded tracks, as had their friends The Passengers
The Passengers (band)
The Passengers were a late-1970s Brussels postpunk / new wave band that later became better known as The Names . Original line-up included Michel Sordinia , Isabelle Hanrez , Marc Deprez , Robert Franckson , and Christophe Den Tandt .-Formation:The band formed in late 1977 and gave their first gig...
. Post-Radio Birdman band The Visitors
The Visitors (band)
The Visitors were an Australian rock band formed in 1978 after the breakup of popular punk band Radio Birdman. The songs were written by Deniz Tek but unlike many other Tek bands, Tek did not sing vocals in The Visitors. Instead the vocals were sung by long time friend of the band Mark Sisto...
had an album's worth of material recorded before their final gig in August 1979.
On 30 April 1980, the first single on the Phantom label—"Face with No Name" by The Passengers
The Passengers (band)
The Passengers were a late-1970s Brussels postpunk / new wave band that later became better known as The Names . Original line-up included Michel Sordinia , Isabelle Hanrez , Marc Deprez , Robert Franckson , and Christophe Den Tandt .-Formation:The band formed in late 1977 and gave their first gig...
and 7 days later "Cool in the Tube" by Surfside 6
Surfside 6
Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
were released. Phantom Records went on to become an indie phenomenon, releasing the very first records of great Australian bands such as the Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus
Hoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...
, Sunnyboys, Flaming Hands, Stephen Cummings
Stephen Cummings
Stephen Donald Cummings is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and writer. He was lead singer of Melbourne-based rock band, The Sports, during 1976–1981, followed by a solo career which has met with critical acclaim but has had limited commercial success...
, Machinations
Machinations (band)
Machinations was a popular Sydney-based outfit working the mid-1980s independent Australian music scene. Notable national hits included "Pressure Sway", "My Heart's On Fire" and "No Say In It". They also achieved indie prominence with the two versions of their first single, "Average Inadequacy"...
, punk legends The Kelpies, and an early EP by The Cockroaches
The Cockroaches
The Cockroaches was an Australian pop rock band which achieved reasonable success in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from an obscure nom de plume favoured by The Rolling Stones during the 1960s....
. These were followed by a succession of pivotal singles and EPs, and the label became as important as the shop in its exposure of new alternative music. Apart from the music itself, Phantom was known for its record covers sporting exemplary artwork by local artists like Libby Blainey, John Foy, Paul Worstead, and Gerard Rouen. Normington and Jennings had intended licensing similarly empassioned vinyl from international artists too, but only ever got as far as one single by Stiv Bators
Stiv Bators
Stiv Bators , was an American punk rockvocalist and guitarist from Youngstown, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands, The Dead Boys and The Lords of the New Church.- Music and film career :...
And The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys
The Dead Boys were an American punk rock band from Cleveland, Ohio. Among the first wave of early punk bands, the Dead Boys were initially active from 1976 to 1979, briefly reuniting in 1987, 2004 and 2005.-Formation and 1970s punk rock era:...
. All other releases on Phantom have remained exclusively by Australian artists.
Although the shop's stock was primarily Normington's taste, the label's signings reflected the personal taste of both Normington and Jennings who would ONLY release a record if they decided they would genuinely go out and buy it if it had already existed - and it needed both of them to agree on that - and for several years this creditable selection criteria led to one success after another. Crucially Phantom became an inspiration for others to start labels such as Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records
Waterfront Records was an independent record label based in Sydney, that released recordings by some of Australia's most influential bands of the 1980s and 1990s.-History:...
and Citadel Records
Citadel Records
Citadel Records are an independent record label from Sydney, Australia. They were created in the early 80s by John Needham. Bands that released through Citadel include Died Pretty, Deniz Tek, Kim Salmon and the Surrealists, The Trilobites, Johnny Thunders & Patti Palladin, Harem Scarem, New...
, catering to the burgeoning local scene and attracting bands from interstate.
The label's momentum slowed in the mid 80’s, as during this period Jennings was concentrating more on his 100% Mambo clothing company as he phased himself out of Phantom, and Normington was concentrating on making sure the Phantom shop stocked the absolute best records and music mags (from every conceivable country) that fell under the punk/alternative/indie banner, making return trips overseas to acquire stock, scouring many a dusty store for hidden gems which he then shipped back to Sydney, until 1987 when Normington threw himself back into the Phantom label with renewed vigour - this was justified by the success of The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an indie pop or jangle pop band from Sydney, Australia formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly touted outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single...
, The Sparklers, The Deadly Hume, The Mark of Cain, Even As We Speak
Even As We Speak
Even As We Speak is an indie band from Sydney, Australia. The lineup changed over the years and with founding members Matthew Love , Mary Wyer and Rob Irwin joined later by Anita Raynor , Paul Clarke and Julian Knowles...
and Vanilla Chainsaws. In the late 80's, Normington decided to form a small new label called Messiah Complex
Messiah complex
A messiah complex is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief they are, or are destined to become, a savior. The messiah complex does not appear in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ....
(after an accusation a friend of his had made about him while on a train in Russia a couple of years before), initially devoted to releasing "crushing and fierce garage-punk and grunge 45's only", headed by an evil fictional ego-driven character by the name of Dexter Baxter, who was sued by Waterfront Records management after unleashing defamatory remarks about them (and many others) in his very first press-release (to announce the label's existence). It's a great read. Messiah Complex released exclusive vinyl by Big Chief (their 3rd ever 7"), Superchunk
Superchunk
Superchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
(also their 3rd ever 7"), Canberra's Stooge
Stooge
A stooge is a person who is under the control of another. Being called a stooge is an insult. Stooge can also sometimes be used to mean "idiot".* Stooge , a member of a comedy double act who feeds lines to the other comedian...
s fanatics Mudrac, ferocious Texan grunge-merchants Sugar Shack
Sugar Shack
"Sugar Shack" is a song written in 1962 by Keith McCormack & Jimmy Torres. Jimmy then gave his song rights to aunt Fay Voss for a birth day present. The song was recorded in 1963 by Jimmy Gilmer & the Fireballs at Norman Petty Studios in Clovis, New Mexico...
(their first 12" record), and displaced NZ punks Casualty, plus a couple of CDs by Sydney punks Downtime.
After several years Sebastian Chase became a partner in Phantom Records. He had been a founding member of the major label "indy" offshoot rooArt Records, in the late eighties. In 1991, Chase had left rooArt after a split with partner Chris Murphy
Chris Murphy
Chris Murphy may refer to:*Chris Murphy , member of the band Sloan*Chris Murphy , member of the British ska band [spunge]*Chris Murphy , Australian Idol finalist in 2006...
and approached Phantom. Normington knew of him as The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds
The Hummingbirds were an indie pop or jangle pop band from Sydney, Australia formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly touted outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single...
had moved from Phantom to rooArt a couple years earlier. They signed another wave of bands such as Def FX
Def FX
Def FX was an Australian industrial-dance-rock group, formed in Sydney. The core of the group was keyboardist and vocalist Sean Lowry and vocalist Fiona Horne ....
, and The Whitlams
The Whitlams
The discography of The Whitlams consists of six studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, and eighteen singles.-Studio albums:-Live albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Videos:-Music videos:-Awards:...
and had great success with them. They also formed a subsidiary label called Freakzone and released the first several releases by Parliament/Funkadelic-styled funk band SWOOP
Swoop
As a verb, swoop may mean:* Attack swiftly in a military offensive* Fly or glide downward, as in**Fixed-wing aircraft flight**Bird flight***In Australia, a bird that attacks a person to defend its nest is said to swoop the person**Bat flight...
on that imprint.
Eventually Phantom was divided into three companies, being basically the shop, the record labels, and a rarity music collectibles arm, and Normington increasingly focused on what to him, had become the most engrossing of these, Phantom Collectibles. Every 3 or 4 months, he published auction catalogues under the title of "Plunder The Vaults", written by himself, and featuring around 3,000 hand-picked rare gems, complete with enthusiastic descriptions, in the same categories mentioned above that the shop had championed at the beginning. But ultimately Chase’s goals for the Phantom companies diverged from Normington - to the detriment of the label. The shop closed its doors in April 1998, just short of 20 years since it opened. In 1999, disenchanted with what the Phantom label had become under Chase's guidance, Normington formed Laughing Outlaw Records pulling in writer Stuart Coupe as a partner and unleashing a whole other slew of quality music. Phantom is now run solely by Sebastian Chase, who, with an apparent dearth of respect for its history or its original selection criteria, keeps it active with very random and seemingly very sporadic releases. Normington left Phantom in 2000 to run his own music collectables business.
Artists
Classic Period Phantom (Jennings and Normington)- The PassengersThe Passengers (band)The Passengers were a late-1970s Brussels postpunk / new wave band that later became better known as The Names . Original line-up included Michel Sordinia , Isabelle Hanrez , Marc Deprez , Robert Franckson , and Christophe Den Tandt .-Formation:The band formed in late 1977 and gave their first gig...
- Surfside 6Surfside 6Surfside 6 was an ABC television series which aired from 1960 to 1962. The show centered around a Miami Beach detective agency set on a houseboat and featured Troy Donahue as Sandy Winfield, II; Van Williams as Kenny Madison ; and Lee Patterson as Dave Thorne...
- Flaming Hands
- Sunnyboys
- Stiv Bators and The Dead Boys
- The VisitorsThe Visitors (band)The Visitors were an Australian rock band formed in 1978 after the breakup of popular punk band Radio Birdman. The songs were written by Deniz Tek but unlike many other Tek bands, Tek did not sing vocals in The Visitors. Instead the vocals were sung by long time friend of the band Mark Sisto...
- Shy Impostors
- Le Hoodoo GurusHoodoo GurusHoodoo Gurus are an Australian rock band, formed in Sydney in 1981, by the mainstay Dave Faulkner and later joined by Richard Grossman , Mark Kingsmill , and Brad Shepherd...
- MachinationsMachinations (band)Machinations was a popular Sydney-based outfit working the mid-1980s independent Australian music scene. Notable national hits included "Pressure Sway", "My Heart's On Fire" and "No Say In It". They also achieved indie prominence with the two versions of their first single, "Average Inadequacy"...
- The Dagoes
- The CockroachesThe CockroachesThe Cockroaches was an Australian pop rock band which achieved reasonable success in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from an obscure nom de plume favoured by The Rolling Stones during the 1960s....
- The Kelpies
- Sardine vSardine vSardine v was an Australian post-punk band, formed by Ian Rilen , and Stephanie Rilen ....
- The Rockmelons
- The Sparklers
Second Phase Phantom (Normington only)
- Shrinking Violets
- The HummingbirdsThe HummingbirdsThe Hummingbirds were an indie pop or jangle pop band from Sydney, Australia formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly touted outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were an early signing to the rooArt label. The Hummingbirds' single...
- Even As We SpeakEven As We SpeakEven As We Speak is an indie band from Sydney, Australia. The lineup changed over the years and with founding members Matthew Love , Mary Wyer and Rob Irwin joined later by Anita Raynor , Paul Clarke and Julian Knowles...
- Vanilla Chainsaws
- The Mark of CainThe Mark of CainThe Mark of Cain is a hard rock/alternative metal band from Adelaide, South Australia. Their style has been likened to that of Helmet and Rollins Band, yet this band predates both of those groups and was influenced by the early work of Joy Division and US hardcore...
- One Million Pieces
- CrowCrowCrows form the genus Corvus in the family Corvidae. Ranging in size from the relatively small pigeon-size jackdaws to the Common Raven of the Holarctic region and Thick-billed Raven of the highlands of Ethiopia, the 40 or so members of this genus occur on all temperate continents and several...
- Strange Alchemy
- The Godbotherers
- Whole World
- Fear Of FallingFear of fallingThe fear of falling is a natural fear and is typical of most humans and mammals, in varying degrees of extremity. It differs from acrophobia , although the two fears are closely related and sometimes indistinguishable...
Third Phase Phantom (Normington and Chase)
- Def FXDef FXDef FX was an Australian industrial-dance-rock group, formed in Sydney. The core of the group was keyboardist and vocalist Sean Lowry and vocalist Fiona Horne ....
- NitocrisNitocris (Band)Nitocris was a band from Sydney, Australia playing a combination of speedy punk and heavy metal. The band was notable as being perhaps the country's first significant all-female touring band.-Band history:...
- The WhitlamsThe WhitlamsThe discography of The Whitlams consists of six studio albums, two live albums, one compilation album, and eighteen singles.-Studio albums:-Live albums:-Compilation albums:-Singles:-Videos:-Music videos:-Awards:...
- DowntimeDowntimeThe term downtime is used to refer to periods when a system is unavailable.Downtime or outage duration refers to a period of time that a system fails to provide or perform its primary function...
- Parkside Killers
- Purple AvengersPurple Avengers-Overview:Purple Avengers first formed at the beginning of the 1990s having been four school friends from Brisbane, Australia. The band released two albums, with the first album "Starlights Journey Home" being re-released when the band was signed by Sydney based label Phantom Records. The band...