Cowboys and Indies: The Epic History of the Record Industry (60 page)

Ivo Watts-Russell, cofounder of 4AD, the label behind Bauhaus, Modern English, the Cocteau Twins, Dead Can Dance, Throwing Muses, and Pixies. (Courtesy of Ivo Watts-Russell)

Mute founder and electro pioneer Daniel Miller. Another key tastemaker of the eighties, he broke Fad Gadget, Depeche Mode, Nick Cave, Yazoo, Erasure, and, later, Moby and Goldfrapp. (Courtesy of Antoine Giacomoni)

Geoff Travis, the young idealist who started the Rough Trade story. As an A&R man, he signed Cabaret Voltaire, Stiff Little Fingers, Virgin Prunes, the Fall, and the Smiths. He managed Pulp and, with partner Jeannette Lee, signed the Strokes, Antony and the Johnsons, Warpaint, the Libertines, Alabama Shakes, and Palma Violets. (Courtesy of Geoff Travis)

Martin Mills, Beggars Group chairman and indie-community chieftain. Forty years in the game, he remains probably the most respected figure in the business. (Courtesy of Martin Mills)

The catalyst in Seattle, Sub Pop founder Bruce Pavitt. Inspired by Rough Trade in England, he began America’s very own indie charts and eventually discovered Nirvana. (Courtesy of Bruce Pavitt)

Hip-hop pioneer and Tommy Boy founder Tom Silverman. Researching break beats as a journalist in 1980, he found Afrika Bambaataa, a path that led him to Queen Latifah, De La Soul, and many others. (Courtesy of Tom Silverman)

Young mogul Craig Kallman, today’s CEO of Atlantic. A former deejay, he has privately built up one of the largest vinyl collections in the world, measuring some 750,000 discs. (Courtesy of Grayson Dantzic)

Rick Rubin, Def Jam and American Recordings founder—arguably the most important producer of his generation. As a young man, he mixed rock with hip-hop, producing Run-D.M.C., Beastie Boys, and Public Enemy. As well as the milestone
Blood Sugar Sex Magik
by Red Hot Chili Peppers, he produced Johnny Cash’s last albums. (Photograph by Annabel Mehran)

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Gareth Murphy was raised in Dublin surrounded by music and the musicians with whom his father worked as a concert promoter. A graduate of University College Dublin, Murphy has worked at various record companies and has produced thirty electronic compilations. Composing and producing original music, he is a freelance writer and researcher for journals and think tanks. Murphy lives in Paris with his wife and four-year-old son.

A THOMAS DUNNE BOOK.

An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

COWBOYS AND INDIES.
Copyright © 2014 by Gareth Murphy. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.

www.thomasdunnebooks.com

www.stmartins.com

Cover design and illustration by Rob Grom

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The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

Murphy, Gareth.

         Cowboys and indies: the epic history of the record industry / Gareth Murphy.—First edition.

             p. cm.

         ISBN 978-1-250-04337-5 (hardcover)

         ISBN 978-1-4668-4174-1 (e-book)

         1.  Sound recording industry—History.   I.  Title.

     ML3790.M665 2014

     338.4'778—dc23

2014008591

e-ISBN 9781466841741

First Edition: June 2014