Formed in July 1976 by Jake Riviera and Dave Robinson, two entrepreneurial scamps from the London pub-rock scene, Stiff Records became the blueprint for almost every indie label that followed.
The idea was to offer an alternative to 70s pomp rock. The pair took a £400 loan from Dr Feelgood singer Lee Brilleaux and set up a makeshift office in West London. It was a simple ethos: record the best new talent and get it out. Fast. A whole raft of slogans – ‘Today’s Music Today’, ‘The World’s Most Flexible Record Label’, ‘If It Ain’t Stiff It Ain’t Worth A Fuck’ – reinforced Stiff’s impish reputation as the rough-and-ready tyke who dared take on the majors.
Stiff’s first release was Nick Lowe’s So It Goes in August ’76, reportedly made for just £45. Lowe became the label’s in-house producer, earning the nickname Basher (“I just bash it down and tart it up later,” was his studio philosophy). The roster was soon bolstered by such disparate talents as The Damned, Ian Dury, Wreckless Eric and, for one single only, Motörhead.
But perhaps Stiff’s greatest early coup was discovering 22-year-old Declan MacManus, a young Londoner who wrote songs while holding down various office jobs. Riviera signed him on the strength of a demo tape and gave him a new identity: Elvis Costello. His 1977 single Watching The Detectives became Stiff’s first Top 20 hit.
Riviera quit Stiff in late 77 for Radar Records, taking with him both Lowe and Costello. Undaunted, Robinson pressed on. Ian Dury & The Blockheads repaid his faith in January 1979 by giving the label their first No.1 with Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick. Soon after, Robinson signed Madness, who almost single-handedly kept Stiff upright throughout the early 80s, scoring 18 hits in five years. By 1986, though, Stiff collapsed with reported debts of around £3m.
The intervening years saw an influx of Stiff-inspired indies, among them Creation, Go! Discs, Food, Domino and XL. Then, in 2007, came the revival. ZTT and parent company SPZ Group, who had bought the rights in the 80s, relaunched the label, breaking new acts like The Enemy and reviving old ones like Wreckless Eric. Some people, it seemed, just couldn’t stay away. Here, we look back through the label's best offerings.
