Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Diamanda Galás, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderman, Arca, Inspiral Carpets, Moby, New Order, Laibach, Nitzer Ebb, Yann Tiersen, Wire, Yeasayer, Fever Ray, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Yazoo, and M83.
History
Beginnings During 1978, Daniel Miller began recording music, using synthesisers, under the name The Normal.Mute – Documentary Evidence – Biba Kopf 1986 He recorded the tracks "T.V.O.D." and "Warm Leatherette" and distributed them through Rough Trade Shops under the label name Mute Records. The label was formed initially just to release the one single.Muted Response – Daniel Miller Interview – E&MM 1984 "T.V.O.D."/"Warm Leatherette" became a cult hit ensuring the future of the label. "Warm Leatherette" was later covered by Grace Jones and Chicks on Speed as well as Rose McDowell and Laibach (in a German version, as "Warme Lederhaut").
After meeting Robert Rental (who had previously worked with Thomas Leer), Miller began recording and playing live as Robert Rental & The Normal. In 1979 the band went on tour supporting the punk band Stiff Little Fingers, which had just released an album distributed by Rough Trade.
1980–1989 In 1980, Miller released the single "Kebab-Träume" by the German band Deutsch Amerikanische Freundschaft (D.A.F.), who had recently moved to London. The band's 1980 album, Die Kleinen und die Bösen, was the first album released by the new label. The album had the catalogue prefix "STUMM", a play on the record label's name, meaning "mute" in German. This prefix was used through most of the label's album catalogue.
Also in 1980, Miller recorded and released the cover single "Memphis Tennessee" under the name Silicon Teens. The band was Miller's realisation of a dream Mute Records group whose main instruments were synthesisers. In mid-1980, Mute Records released the Silicon Teens' album, titled Music For Parties.
Around this time the artist Fad Gadget had begun recording new demos, including the track "Back To Nature". This was released as a single in 1980, followed by the next single "Ricky's Hand" and the album Fireside Favourites recorded at Blackwing Studios.
September 1980 saw the release of the double-holed, multi-speed 7" single by Non & Smegma, one of the first experimental noise releases from the label. Boyd Rice (Non) went on to release several more recordings with Mute Records. After touring with Daniel Miller as Robert Rental & The Normal, Robert Rental released his only Mute Records single, "Double Heart", a rare remaining trace of this late electronic music pioneer.
Miller approached Depeche Mode in 1980, after seeing them perform in London, wanting them to record a single for his label; that first single was "Dreaming of Me". Emerging out of the British electronic pop scene, Depeche Mode quickly asserted themselves as a radio-friendly pop group, and they had hits with their next three singles, including the UK top ten single "Just Can't Get Enough". Their loyalty to Mute was reciprocated by the label's rapid expansion to cope with their success. In defiance of the major record labels' predictions of failure, Depeche Mode became successful worldwide, even after the departure of principal songwriter Vince Clarke. Martin Gore took over the main songwriting role, opening the band up to different influences and sustaining their creativity.
Mute continued to support other experimental artists, such as NON, releasing an album of Boyd Rice's pre-NON recordings, titled Boyd Rice. 1982 began with the release of the 12-inch single, "Rise", by Boyd Rice, released under the name NON.
Fad Gadget released his third album for the label, titled Under the Flag, influenced by the current Falklands War and the feeling of being British in the most unseemly of times. The album spawned the singles "For Whom the Bells Toll" and "Life on the Line".
Mute Records' big commercial success of 1982 was the band Yazoo, the duo of Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet. After leaving Depeche Mode, Clarke had set up a studio in the Blackwing Studios complex, where he recorded the singles "Only You" and "Don't Go".E&MM Magazine – March 1984 That year, Mute licensed the single "Fred Vom Jupiter" from the German record label Atatak. The track was recorded by Holger Hiller, Andreas Dorau and the schoolgirl Marinas. Also from Germany was the single "Los Ninos Del Parque", by Liaisons Dangereuses, later released by Mute. Liaisons Dangereuses included Chrislo Hass, who had previously been in the German band DAF.
After returning from a world tour in 1983, Depeche Mode released the industrial-influenced hit single "Everything Counts". Bruce Gilbert and Graham Lewis, of the band Wire (who had been working together under the name Dome), teamed up with Daniel Miller to form a project known as Duet Emmo, an anagram of Mute and Dome. They released an album and 12-inch single, both titled Or So It Seems. Miller also secured the rights to the back catalogue of the experimental bands Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire and Richard H. Kirk
During 1983, the Australian band The Birthday Party transferred from 4AD to Mute Records. The band broke up after releasing their final 12-inch EP, "Mutiny". Birthday Party's singer, Nick Cave, stayed with Mute and released his debut single as Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The single was a cover of the song "In the Ghetto", by Mac Davis, previously made famous by Elvis Presley. Yazoo released the album You and Me Both that year and disbanded. Vince Clarke then began working at Blackwing Studios under the name The Assembly. The project's first single, "Never Never", was a hit, featuring Feargal Sharkey on vocals.
D.A.F. split up, and in 1983, ex-member Robert Görl released the single "Mit Dir" on Mute. He recorded the album Night Full of Tension the following year, including the single "Darling Don't Leave Me", featuring Annie Lennox. In 1984, Depeche Mode had one of their biggest hits in the UK with the single "People Are People".Mute – Documentary Evidence (Album Booklet) 1986 Their album that year, Some Great Reward, reached number one in Germany and became their first hit in the United States.
Mute released an album of archive material from the German band Einstürzende Neubauten, titled Strategies Against Architecture '80–'83, compiled by Jim Thirlwell. Mute used Berlin as a recording location at this time. Einstürzende Neubauten member F.M. Einheit contributed on the recording of the Fad Gadget album Gag, along with Rowland S. Howard (ex-guitarist for The Birthday Party), who also contributed to the 1983 Fad Gadget single "I Discover Love". Einstürzende Neubauten's Blixa Bargeld began working with Nick Cave at this time, playing guitar with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. The resulting 1984 album, From Her to Eternity, included a cover of Leonard Cohen's song, "Avalanche".
In 1984, Bruce Gilbert extended his field of music into dance after a commission to write music for dancer Michael Clark.Bruce Gilbert – This Way (Editions Mego) CD sleeve notes. Gilbert recorded with engineer John Fryer at Blackwing Studios. The recordings were documented by Mute on the album, This Way.
The synth duo I Start Counting released their debut single, "Letters to a Friend", in June 1984, produced by Daniel Miller."Mute Records – Letters to a Friend". Retrieved 7 November 2010. In subsequent years, the band would also record for the label under the names Fortran 5, John Came and Komputer. 1984 ended with the long delayed release of Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing by Frank Tovey and Boyd Rice. The album was originally recorded at Blackwing Studios in May 1981, using sounds created from non-musical appliances, and other studio-generated sounds. The recordings were engineered by John Fryer and Eric Radcliffe.Easy Listening for the Hard of Hearing (Mute Records) CD sleeve notes.
In 1985, a new incarnation of Simon Bonney's Crime & the City Solution formed, including ex-Birthday Party members Mick Harvey and Rowland S. Howard. The new line-up released the EP The Dangling Man and later the mini-album Just South of Heaven. Mute released the single "Hypnotized" in May 1985, by newly signed artist Mark Stewart, produced by Adrian Sherwood."Mute Records – Hypnotized". Retrieved 9 November 2010. Stewart recorded his first album for Mute, As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade, in November 1985, also produced by Sherwood, under the name Mark Stewart and the Mafia."Mute Records – As the Veneer of Democracy Starts to Fade". Retrieved 9 November 2010. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released their second album, The Firstborn Is Dead, recorded at the Berlin recording studio, Hansa Tonstudio, co-produced by Flood."Mute Records – The Firstborn Is Dead". Retrieved 17 November 2010.
Fad Gadget began recording as Frank Tovey in 1985 and released the single "Luxury" in August that year, co-produced with Daniel Miller. Vince Clarke and Andy Bell began recording as Erasure in 1985, and released their debut album the next year.
Frank Tovey released his first album under his own name after leaving his Fad Gadget moniker behind him. The new album was titled Snakes and Ladders. The initial release included a twelve-inch single containing four Fad Gadget tracks."Mute Records – Snakes & Ladders". Retrieved 27 November 2010.
To celebrate five years of Depeche Mode, Mute released a compilation album of the band's singles, The Singles 81→85. A remastered edition was issued in October 1998 with additional tracks, including an original version of the song "Photographic", released on Some Bizzare Records."Mute Records – The Singles 81-85". Retrieved 17 November 2010. Wire member Graham Lewis launched his project in 1985, known as He Said, with Mute releasing the project's debut single, "Only One I". Lewis released his debut album the following year after two more singles."Mute Records – He Said (Discography)". Retrieved 17 November 2010.
Erasure released the single "Sometimes" in 1986, and it became a UK top ten hit. I Start Counting finished recording their debut album, My Translucent Hands, in this same year. Wire re-grouped to record a 12-inch single, "Snakedrill", produced by Daniel Miller and Gareth Jones. Band member Bruce Gilbert went on to produce the 12-inch single "Just Talk", for A.C. Marias.
Two Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds albums were released in 1986. The first was Kicking Against the Pricks, a collection of covers including All Tomorrow's Parties and Something's Gotten Hold of My Heart. The second album released in November 1986 was Your Funeral... My Trial.
Mute signed the American female singer Diamanda Galás who in her first year with Mute released The Divine Punishment and Saint of the Pit.
Mute carried out a licensing deal with the Japanese company Wave. This gave Mute the rights to release the Japanese financed album titled Oben Im Eck by Holger Hiller; the album was released in November 1986."Mute Records – Oben Im Eck". Retrieved 27 November 2010.
Crime & the City Solution released new material in 1986 including the album Room of Lights and the twelve inch single Kentucky Click/Adventure."Mute Records – Crime & the City Solution (Discography)". Retrieved 27 November 2010. The new album won the band acclaim in the European press showing the Australian band's growing popularity across Europe.
The end of 1986 saw Mute Records sign the Yugoslav band Laibach. The following year Mute released the band's album Opus Dei, which included the cover single, Life is Life. Also at the end of 1986 the band Wire returned to the studio with producer Gareth Jones. In 1987 Mute released the result of the studio sessions, the album The Ideal Copy.