Encyclopedia of Political Record Labels

"Every entry [in Encyclopedia] opens a window onto a different story of creativity and resistance … A totally mind-blowing accomplishment." — Guy Picciotto, FugaziA groundbreaking exploration of the parallel rise of social movements and the vinyl record as the dominant form of music distribution after 1950, alongside a compendium of over 750 record labels that propelled political music and resistance on an international scale. An Encyclopedia of Political Record Labels is a compendium of information about political music and radical cultural production. Focusing on vinyl records and the labels that released them, this groundbreaking book traces the parallel rise of social movements in the second half of the twentieth century and the vinyl record as the dominant form of music distribution. Just as the Civil Rights Movement leaps onto mainstream headlines in the early 1960s, the 33rpm “Long Player” and 45rpm single invade people’s stereos. All the major Civil Rights organizations release vinyl records of speeches, movement songs, and field recordings—setting the pace for the intertwining of social movements and sound recordings. This relationship continues through the end of the twentieth century, which marked both the end of apartheid in South Africa and the dominance of the vinyl format.