TOUCH AND GO RECORDS

'Touch and Go Records' is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, which began life in 1979 in East Lansing, Michigan as a magazine put out by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson. Vee was bored with the punk sounds of the day, and captivated by the emerging hardcore movement in America. Inspired, he put out records by the Necros, Fix, Meatmen, and Negative Approach. In 1981, Necros bassist Corey Rusk joined with Tesco to run the label. In 1983, Tesco handed Touch and Go over to Rusk when he left Michigan for Washington DC. Under Rusk's ownership, he hired Terry Tolkin who signed the Butthole Surfers and Virgin Prunes to the label. He also produced the "Gods Favorite Dog" compilation while he was there. Soon Corey Rusk relocated the label to Chicago, Touch & Go released material in the mid-'80's to early '90s by bands such as the Butthole Surfers, who no longer have their catalog on the label (see below), Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, and continued into the new millennium with artists on their roster including Shellac, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio (the latter two are no longer on the label), Arcwelder, CocoRosie, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and the Black Heart Procession. Rusk continues to run the label.
They are well known, partly because of the influence of their catalogue, partly for their approach to recording contracts, pioneered (probably) by Factory Records. The deal was characterised by:

★ 50/50 deals. 50% of profits to artists after label recoups promotion and production costs;

★ Oral contracts, a "handshake deal"
N.B. Currently they ask bands to sign a 1-2 page memo.
In 2006, Touch and Go celebrated its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, the label held a three-day block party event at Chicago's Hideout venue on September 8-10, 2006. Several seminal bands, including Big Black, Scratch Acid, the Didjits, Killdozer, Negative Approach, and Man...or Astro-Man? reunited and performed at the event.

Contents

Dispute with Butthole Surfers

Catalogue

External links

See also

Dispute with Butthole Surfers

Their approach to contracts was challenged in a court case, brought by the Butthole Surfers in 1999, who purported that Touch and Go was not marketing their catalog effectively. They argued that due to the silent nature of duration in T&G's contract, it could be terminated. 'Touch and Go' argued that existing US copyright law held that they controlled the copyright to the band's recordings for a minimum of 35 years, due to sec. 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976 which they argued gave them 35 years of ownership of the copyright.
The US Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of the band, determining that "when a contract is silent as to its length, it is implicit that it can be terminated by either side." And "that allowing terminations under Illinois law does not conflict with sec. 203, but rather is, in fact, in keeping with the intent of sec. 203."

Catalogue

★ !!!

★ Angry Red Planet

★ Arcwelder

★ Arsenal

★ Bedhead (reissued back catalog)

★ Big Black

★ Blight

★ The Black Heart Procession

★ Blonde Redhead

★ Brainiac

★ Brick Layer Cake

★ Butthole Surfers

★ Calexico

★ Cargo Cult

★ Cash Audio

★ Chrome (reissued back catalog)

★ CocoRosie

★ Daddy Longhead

★ The Delta 72

★ Didjits

★ Dirty Three

★ Don Caballero

★ The Effigies

★ Enon

★ The Ex

★ Fix

★ Flour

★ The For Carnation

★ Girls Against Boys

★ The Jesus Lizard

★ Die Kreuzen

★ Killdozer

★ L-Seven

★ Laughing Hyenas

★ Lee Harvey Oswald Band

★ P. W. Long

★ Pinback

★ Polvo

★ Man or Astro-man?

★ Monorchid

★ Naked Raygun (reissued back catalog)

★ Necros

★ Negative Approach

★ The New Year

★ New Wet Kojak

★ Nina Nastasia

★ Phono-Comb

★ Quasi

★ Rachel's

★ Rapeman

★ Red Stars Theory

★ The Rollins Band

★ Scratch Acid

★ Seam

★ Shellac

★ Silkworm

★ Silverfish

★ Skull Kontrol

★ Slint

★ The Standard

★ Storm & Stress

★ Supersystem

★ Tar

★ Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

★ Three Mile Pilot

★ Sally Timms

★ TV on the Radio

★ Urge Overkill

★ Uzeda

★ Various Artists - Gods Favorite Dog

★ Virgin Prunes

★ Wuhling

★ Yeah Yeah Yeahs

External links

★ Interview with Corey Rusk

★ Official site

★ "The man who survived the music wars" by Greg Kot, ''Chicago Tribune'', August 20, 2006, retrieved August 23, 2006

★ Chicago Reader article documenting the legal battle between 'Touch and Go' and the Butthole Surfers

★ The US Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit decision of the case between 'Touch and Go' and the Butthole Surfers

See also

★ List of record labels

★ Quarterstick Records, a sublabel of Touch and Go

★ Chicago Record Labels