SST Records facts for kids
Quick facts for kids SST Records |
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| Founded | 1966 (as Solid State Tuners) 1978 (as SST Records) |
| Founder | Greg Ginn |
| Distributor(s) | Various |
| Genre | |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Location | Taylor, Texas |
SST Records is an American independent record label started in 1978 in Long Beach, California, by a musician named Greg Ginn. An independent label is a record company that is not owned by a major corporation. This gives them more freedom to release unique music.
Ginn first started a small business called Solid State Tuners when he was only 12 years old, back in 1966. He sold electronics equipment. Later, he turned the company into a record label so he could release music by his own band, Black Flag.
Music writer Michael Azerrad said that Ginn grew his label from a small shop into one of the most popular and important independent labels of the 1980s. SST Records helped create a network of underground bands across the country. This was the beginning of the indie-rock scene before bands like Nirvana became famous.
SST Records was a key player in the shift from hardcore punk music to the more varied styles of alternative rock. At first, the label focused on hardcore punk bands from Southern California. But as these bands started to explore new sounds, SST released albums that helped shape American alternative rock. They released music by famous bands like the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, the Meat Puppets, Bad Brains, Soundgarden, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr..
After being very busy in the late 1980s, SST started to release jazz music. Today, the label is based in Taylor, Texas.
Contents
History of SST Records
How the Label Began
Greg Ginn started a mail-order business called Solid State Tuners (SST) when he was 12. He sold radio equipment left over from World War II. The business was small but did well.
In 1976, Ginn started a punk rock band called Panic. In 1978, the band recorded eight songs, but no record labels wanted to release them. Ginn decided to use his business experience to release the music himself. He found a record pressing plant in the phone book and had them make the records. Ginn's band, now called Black Flag, released its first EP, Nervous Breakdown, in January 1979 on SST Records.
Early Black Flag shows sometimes had problems, and the police began to watch the SST office. The band didn't have enough money to hire a lawyer. Because of these troubles, many clubs in Los Angeles stopped allowing hardcore punk shows.
In 1980, SST released the first EP by the Minutemen, called Paranoid Time. The band recorded and mixed all the songs in one night for only $300. This showed other musicians that they could release their own records without needing a big company.
A Disagreement with a Major Label
SST wanted to release Black Flag's first album, Damaged (1981), with a bigger company to reach more people. They made a deal with a small label called Unicorn Records, which was connected to the major label MCA Records.
However, right before the album came out, MCA decided not to release it. They said the album's lyrics were "anti-parent." SST took Unicorn to court, saying the label didn't pay them the money they were owed. Unicorn fought back and got a court order that stopped Black Flag from releasing any more music until the case was over.
When SST released a Black Flag collection called Everything Went Black, Unicorn took them back to court in 1983. Ginn and another SST co-owner, Chuck Dukowski, were found to have broken the court's rule. They had to spend five days in the Los Angeles County Jail. Later that year, Unicorn Records went out of business, and Black Flag was finally free to release music again.
Growing and Welcoming New Bands
Even with its legal problems, SST kept releasing records by bands like the Minutemen and the Meat Puppets. In 1982, they signed Hüsker Dü, a hardcore band from Minneapolis. This was the first band they signed from outside the West Coast.
In 1984, SST released four new albums by Black Flag. They also released double albums by Hüsker Dü (Zen Arcade) and the Minutemen (Double Nickels on the Dime). This was a lot of work for a small label. Zen Arcade received great reviews and sold out quickly, but SST had trouble printing enough copies to keep up with demand.
In the mid-1980s, Hüsker Dü became SST's most popular band. Their music connected hardcore punk with the new sound of college rock. The band's success brought a lot of money to the label. However, the band felt SST wasn't giving their albums enough attention. They also had disagreements with the label's producer. Soon after, Hüsker Dü signed with a major label, Warner Bros. Records.
SST's group of bands changed when the Minutemen ended in 1985 after their guitarist D. Boon died. Black Flag also broke up in 1986. The label brought in new bands like Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., and Bad Brains to take their place.
In 1986, Ginn bought another record label, New Alliance Records, from Mike Watt of the Minutemen. Ginn then re-released some of New Alliance's important albums on SST, including music by the Descendents and the Minutemen.
Challenges and a New Direction
Many artists began to leave SST in the late 1980s. Sonic Youth became unhappy with the label's business practices and how it was run. The band felt that the money from their successful records was being used to fund other albums they didn't like. They left SST in 1988. Dinosaur Jr. also left in 1990, with the band's leader J Mascis saying, "they wouldn't pay you."
In 1987, SST released over 80 albums, which was a huge number even for a major label. The label's importance began to fade, and by the 1990s, another independent label, Sub Pop from Seattle, had become more popular.
SST's reputation was also hurt by a long legal fight with the band Negativland. The case was about the band using a sample from a famous song. The issue was eventually settled, but it created more problems for the label.
In the mid-1990s, SST became much quieter. It stopped releasing most of its jazz music and put out very little new material, except for Ginn's own projects. However, it continued to sell the classic albums by Black Flag, the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, and other popular bands.
Several former SST artists, including Sonic Youth and the Meat Puppets, took legal action against the label to get back the original recordings of their music, claiming they were not paid correctly. By the late 1990s, the label had stopped releasing new music for a while. Ginn said this was because the company that distributed their records went out of business.
In the mid-2000s, the label started releasing new music again, but mostly from Ginn's own bands. In 2006, it was announced that 94 albums from SST's history would be available to buy and stream online.
Discography and Roster
- SST Records discography
- List of SST Records bands
See also
In Spanish: SST Records para niños
