él Records was set up in the mid-80s with the help of the Cherry Red label, by énglish éxtrovert Mike Alway to be the vehicle for his love of culture, pop, costume and travel. The label was aimed as the musical equivalent of a tweed jacket and a comb over hairstyle; possibly too pretentious for its own good as it's audience, the C86 generation, where listening to a different channel. The label was eventually to launch the career of pop poet Momus and these days dabble in jazz, bossa nova, Ravi Shankar and Henry Mancini reissues, but the original sound of él was unique, different and compelling. Possibly the first twee pop label ....sorry Sarah fans.
I was intrigues at first and picked up the first four records and still have them today. I thought they'd make a nice blog post as I've rarely seen them mentioned elsewhere. You can pick up CD reissues and compilations of the él Records catelogue at good music outlets these days but the original vinyl products fetch big money in the second hand market.
Big band covers of The Monochrome Set and Subway Sect as a debut single for the label, this sets the tone of what él Records was all about. I've no clue who Anthony Adverse was, but these are great fun.
Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on él Records (GPO 7) in 1986 to luscious lossless FLAC audio.
A. The Ruling Class
B. T-R-O-U-B-L-E
Listen
Seemingly the only ever release by The Cavaliers is a dreamy bossa nova tribute to that enigmatic sporting symbol of the English summer, the beautiful game of cricket. The flip side is more akin to the thump-funk of Tackhead, but is a fan-tribute to the greatest of eighties cricketing icons.
Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on él Records (GPO 11) to high quality and lossless FLAC audio.
A. It's A Beautiful Game
B. The I.T. Man
Something a little more towards the norm. The Rosemary's Children debut single is a West Coast rock meets Canterbury sound affair, with layered guitar riffs, subtle rhythms and folky vox. I really like the guitar work on the flipside ...Alice? The band went onto record a mostly acoustic mini-LP for Cherry Red then vanished.
Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on él Records (GPO 12) in 1986 to lossless FLAC audio.
A. Southern Fields
B. (Whatever Happened to) Alice?
More from the bizarre & extrovert world of Anthony Adverse with another Monochrome Set on the b-side thrown in for good measure. It's clear that this lot were not chasing commercial success and the riches that it could bring.
Ripped from a 7" vinyl single released on él Records (GPO 13) in 1986 to lossless FLAC audio.
A. Our Fairy Tale
B. Eine Symphonie Des Grauens
