THE GENTLE ART OF PERSUASION

Freek Kinkelaar tells the story of INDUSTRIAL RECORDS (1977-1981)

Within the world of independent labels, Industrial Records was probably one of the very few that was truly independent. Established in January 1977 to create an outlet for the music of Throbbing Gristle, the label was named by Peter Christopherson. It was Monte Cazazza who coined the legendary phrase ‘Industrial Music For Industrial People’. Consequently the label gave a banner to the industrial music genre, which is probably the only time in musical history that a label gave birth to a completely new genre.

The seed for Industrial Records was planted in September 1975 when the provocative performance art-ensemble Coum merged with the music group Throbbing Gristle. Consisting of Genesis P-Orridge (real name Neil Megson), Peter ‘Sleazy’ Christopherson, Chris Carter and Cosey Fanni Tutti (real name Christine Newby), TG were nothing like an ordinary band. Coined as a non-compromising unit (to both the record industry and their own audience), their ambition was to be a rock band that wasn’t really a rock band. They achieved this through a campaign of ‘entertainment through pain’, putting confusion and provocation to good use. Investigation was their keyword, fashion the enemy.

Wanting to document their output, as they had previously done with Coum, TG saw that putting out records was a logical step. TG …

by Freek Kinkelaar
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