Twin/Tone Records
Minneapolis indie label that launched the Replacements and Soul Asylum.
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Twin/Tone Records was a Minneapolis independent label active from 1977 to 1994. It first put out records by the Replacements and Soul Asylum, helping put the Twin Cities music scene on the national map during the 1980s. Alongside SST, Touch and Go, and Dischord, Twin/Tone was part of the pre-Nirvana indie network that moved underground music beyond hardcore punk toward alternative rock.
Peter Jesperson, Charley Hallman, and Paul Stark started the label. The Suburbs had both the first release (a 1978 EP) and the last (1994's Viva! Suburbs!). Suburbs guitarist Bruce Allen designed the logo.
The label operated at 2541 Nicollet Avenue, the former Kay Bank Studios. By 1994, Twin/Tone had issued over 300 records from 100 bands. In 2017, Stark and Jesperson revived the label to release a Suicide Commandos comeback album.
Did You Know?
- Jesperson signed the Replacements immediately after the band's debut at the Longhorn Bar in Minneapolis.
- The label's address, 2541 Nicollet Avenue, was the former Kay Bank Studios, where the Castaways' 'Liar, Liar' and the Trashmen's 'Surfin' Bird' were recorded.
- Hüsker Dü's Grant Hart named his first solo work 2541 after the label's location.
- In 2017, the label was revived by Stark and Jesperson to release the Suicide Commandos comeback album Time Bomb.
More in Independent Record Labels Based in Minnesota
Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Twin/Tone Records (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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