The Indie's Turn: Stiff Records
By Brighid Mooney

Once known as "the world's most flexible label," Stiff Records (a play on the name given to unsold records) was one of the most influential independent labels to come out of the do-it-yourself punk era and helped to revolutionalize not only the way indie labels were run, but also the way in which major labels themselves looked at things like promotion and publicity. The four main components of the original Stiff Records were the fearless leadership of Jake Riviera, the daredevil antics of Dave Robinson, the production skills of Nick Lowe and the one of a kind graphic design of Barney Bubbles. Together they helped lay much of the groundwork and provided an indelible blueprint for today's independent labels, with a successful company built on enthusiasm, bravado, a bit of business acumen and an uncommon amount of mettle.

"The policy will be very simple indeed," Riviera told Sounds interviewer Chas de Walley.  "Basically we want to put out singles that are two and a half minutes long and have two and a half chords in them."¹ Then still known as Andrew Jakeman, Riviera had been managing Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers, and then the punk R&B mania of Dr. Feelgood when he decided to start his own label. Upon extricating himself from Dr. Feelgood, Riviera borrowed a sum of £400 from the Feelgoods' frontman Lee Brilleaux, enlisted the help of former roadie Dave Robinson, who had been managing Graham Parker and running a recording studio from the Hope & Anchor pub in lslington, and with that, Stiff Records came into being. Riviera was full of ideas, a fearless tenacity and an intimidating demeanor, but Robinson, sometimes credited with inventing pub rock, the catalyst of punk, was already well-versed in rock and roll publicity, having successfully orchestrated the most outlandish pop publicity stunt of the era to get pub rock staple Brinsley Schwarz a record deal. He also had something else that Riviera desperately needed. "Jake needed Dave because Dave had Graham Parker and he had money," said publicist Glen Colson. "But Dave needed Jake because Jake had all the ideas."²

Since Stiff Records had evolved from London's thriving pub rock scene, it made sense that Nick Lowe, attempting to go solo after his stint with Brinsley Schwarz, provided Stiff with their first single. Stiff's Buy 1, released on Friday the 13th in August of 1976, was Lowe's "So It Goes" backed by "Heart of the City." Even though he was the label's first single, Nick Lowe was actually on board as Stiff's resident producer. The first artist actually signed to Stiff Records, however, was a singer-songwriter working his way around the pub circuit under the name D.P. Costello. When Riviera heard the one-song demo tape Costello had personally dropped off at Stiff's London headquarters he loved it immediately, though it wasn't actually the first time Riviera had heard one of Costello's songs. In fact, Dave Robinson had recorded the singer, then known by his real name of Declan MacManus, with his band Flip City at the Hope and Anchor and played this tape for Riviera during their initial search for possible acts to sign to the newly formed label. As Robinson recalls, "When I first played the Declan MacManus tape to Jake, he said 'next!'"³

With Costello signed to Stiff, Riviera rechristened him as Elvis, an audacious move designed to gain maximum attention. He was then befitted with hornrim glasses, replacing his wire frames, and clothed in a small jacket with narrow lapels, drainpipes and a skinny tie. An image was born. With Nick Lowe producing, Costello recorded his debut album, My Aim Is True, and his first single, "Less Than Zero" backed with "Radio Sweetheart," on sick days and holidays from his day job. "I was the first artist actually signed to Stiff, the first with a contract," Costello recalls. "I was the 11th release, but my stuff kept getting put back because things like the Damned and Richard Hell were very much tied to the moment. Timing was much more crucial to their records than to mine."⁴ In fact, the Damned's single "New Rose" was the very first punk single, released three weeks ahead of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy In the UK." It was Costello, however, who gave Stiff Records their first Top 20 single with "Watching the Detectives." 

"The magic that was flowing in that first year would have made anybody famous," says Colson. "If you'd have walked in that office, a sleeve would have been done for you by Barney Bubbles, Nick would have produced you and Jake would have come up with ideas. You could have been anybody, as long as you were a crackpot, and had a bit of a vibe."⁵ Though money was scarce at first, with Robinson actually sleeping under a desk in the office, anyone with enough gumption could make a name for themselves at the small label. Kosmo Vinyl, whose persistence first got him a job as a roadie for Graham Parker, and eventually a promotion to press officer and personal assistant to Ian Dury within just twelve months, was one such example. "The first thing I had to do at Stiff was fix a door; then Dave and Jake had me fly-posting," he says. Vinyl was also there while Costello was auditioning the musicians that would become his backing band, The Attractions. "Terry Razor and I went and picked Steve Nieve up from his parents' house," he remembers. "We had to wait while Steve finished mowing the lawn."⁶

From the beginning, Stiff's proprietors knew that promotion was key, and they were never above a shameless publicity stunt. Stiff revived the 45 picture sleeve, popular with collectors, which soon caught on with major labels as well. They also introduced giant posters, 60x40 monstrosities designed by Barney Bubbles, which also became an industry standard. In addition to Riviera's quirky, provocative slogans ("If it ain't Stiff, it ain't worth a fuck"), Stiff also benefited from Riviera's relentless and volatile personality, driving the label forward at every step. As Costello recalls, "It was very thrilling to go in there, with bottles of cider sailing through the front door at moments of exasperation. That's my favourite memory, during a heated moment of negotiation with Swansong. I don't think Jake ever felt intimidated by anybody and if he did, there was a tremendous amount of bravado going on."⁷

One of the first major undertakings of the new label was to reinvent the package tour of the 60s Volt/Stax revue with their own Live Stiffs tour, featuring several of their best acts including Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric and Larry Wallis. The tour was to consist of 24 UK shows, with each act playing a 30 minute set and the lineup changing nightly to give everyone their fair due. Elvis Costello and the Attractions had one pub circuit under their belt at the time the tour embarked, and Ian Dury, formerly of pub rock's Kilbourn and the Highroads, was now being backed by the much more reliable Blockheads. These two quickly established themselves as the most ambitious of the lineup and a fierce competition sprang up between them.

This competitive spirit was boosted by the fact that they were, technically, no longer labelmates. Before the tour was even underway, Riviera and Robinson had a major clash and Riviera defected to start his own label, taking Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello with him. The tour went on, but this was effectively the end of the volatile partnership between Stiff's two strong-willed founders.

Starting in High Wycombe, the Live Stiffs tour opened with Nick Lowe, dressed in a neon green suit decorated with question marks. Despite the air of competition, the tour was also markedly collaborative, with each band sharing not just equipment, but also musicians. Both Larry Wallis and the Attractions' Pete Thomas played backup for Nick Lowe, frontman Ian Dury played drums for Wreckless Eric and both Nick Lowe and Pete Thomas in turn backed Larry Wallis. To close each show, the entire bunch would get on stage together to perform the tour's anthem, Ian Dury's "Sex and Drugs and Rock and Roll." On October 18 at the Lyceum, the show was recorded for release on a live album, with Costello surprising everyone by performing a fiery rendition of Bacharach and David's "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself," before the entire group was rounded up on stage for the final song. "I'm very grumpy by the end of it," Costello remembers. "I was usually somewhere else when the finale was going on, but I had my arm twisted at the Lyceum. I was extremely drunk."⁸

Though financially the tour took a loss, its main success was in helping to launch the career of Ian Dury, which in turn saved the fledgling label. The impressive Live Stiffs LP now serves as a time capsule of the incendiary performances of Stiff's road-weary musicians as they finished their grueling UK tour.

With Riviera off to start the new Radar Records, Robinson soldiered on with what was left of the Stiff roster, maintaining enough success with Ian Dury's New Boots and Panties!! LP and a handful of other acts to keep the label afloat.  In the early 80s, Stiff's major act was Madness, with whom they had a successive string of 23 hit records. But by 1986, Stiff could no longer sustain itself and collapsed with an estimated debt of over £3.5 million. One of the label's last signings before its ultimate disintegration was of Dr. Feelgood, bringing full circle Lee Brilleaux's £400 loan which gave the now legendary Stiff Records its humble beginnings.


1-8. Birch, Will.  No Sleep Till Canvey Island: The Great Pub Rock Revolution.  2000.