ZTT Records

ZTT Records is a British label launched in 1983 by producer Trevor Horn, businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and NME journalist Paul Morley. The name comes directly from Filippo Tommaso Marinetti’s sound poem "Zang Tumb Tumb," which used "zang tumb tumb" to mimic a machine gun. Most of ZTT’s creative team had previously worked together on ABC’s *The Lexicon of Love*, and a short-lived precursor label, Perfect Recordings, released singles like the Buggles' 'On TV' but not the album *Adventures in Modern Recording* (which came out on Carrere Records in 1981). Sinclair ran ZTT as managing director, while Morley handled marketing. In 1983, ZTT acquired Basing Street Studios from Island Records in a deal that gave Island a 50% stake in ZTT in exchange for the studio and distribution.

ZTT’s first signing was Frankie Goes to Hollywood, whose singles "Relax" and "Two Tribes" became two of the decade’s biggest sellers. "Relax" hit number one in January 1984 and stayed on the UK chart for a full year. Grace Jones and Art of Noise also charted for the label in the 1980s. ZTT reshaped UK pop by issuing multiple 12-inch remixes of singles, which charted separately, and by producing T-shirts with slogans like "Frankie Say Arm the Unemployed," which became iconic. In 1984, the Horn-Sinclair businesses were reorganised into SPZ Group, including Sarm West Studios, Perfect Songs, and ZTT. Most ZTT releases were published by Perfect Songs and recorded at Sarm West. The late 1980s saw bitter legal battles: Holly Johnson fought his way out of a restrictive contract and won, while Art of Noise and Propaganda left the label (Propaganda settled out of court).

In the late 1980s, ZTT turned to dance music. Manchester trance group 808 State reached the top 10 with "Pacific State," and other early-1990s hits came from Seal, MC Tunes, and Shades of Rhythm. The label has produced 45 UK Top 40 hits, 15 of which reached the Top 10. In May 2022, Universal Music Group—which had bought ZTT and Stiff Records in December 2017—relaunched the label with a new album by xPropaganda (Claudia Brücken and Susanne Freytag), recorded with producer Stephen Lipson.

ZTT treated music videos and cover art as high art. Morley hired then-unknown directors like Anton Corbijn and Zbigniew Rybczyński, and designers such as Malcolm Garrett, Corbijn, Mark Farrow, and Jean-Paul Goude.