99 Records Plays On
Despite the label releasing only 20 records in five years, 99 Records was among the most influential record label of the ’80s, with its impact still being felt today.
Faithful BTS readers can recall the connection between punk and reggae music, A Punky Reggae Party in the UK. Don Letts worked at the London fashion boutique Acme where punks would hang out and buy clothes during the mid ’70s. He typically played loud reggae in the store which ultimately led to reggae profoundly influencing punk music.
Well now it’s time to connect some dots on this side of the Atlantic.
In 1978, Gina Franklyn operated a fashion boutique called 99, which also specialized in punk fashions and was a centre of Greenwich Village’s vibrant punk scene. Franklyn’s boyfriend Ed Bahlman would frequently join her on business trips to London and return with suitcases of punk records which he would sell at the store, along with reggae and funk records.
By 1980, the New York City music landscape was undergoing a changing of the guard. Disco had lost its grip and the avant-garde no wave scene was born as a reaction to punk and new wave’s creeping commercialism. The rap scene was also growing in popularity.
Through it all, 99 was establishing itself as a trend-setting record store. Many future music industry leaders were devoted customers. For example, Rick Rubin would hang out at the shop every day for hours.
Glenn Branca, who was an avant-garde composer and another store regular, approached Bahlman about opening a record label as a vehicle to release Branca’s new music project. Branca had assembled a large guitar orchestra to play minimalist music in a punk rock style. Lesson No. 1 became 99’s (pronounced ‘nine nine’) first release.
Branca then wanted Bahlman to release a record from a new band started by two of Branca’s guitarists, Thurston Moore and Lee Ranaldo. They, along with Moore’s girlfriend, Kim Gordon, were regular customers of 99. Together they became Sonic Youth.
However, 99’s Bahlman passed on Sonic Youth, and Branca left the label and started Neutral Records.
Next, Bahlman signed Bush Tetras, a female quartet and put out the 7-inch single Too Many Creeps, which was played in local clubs and radio stations and kicked off the punk funk movement both in the US and the UK.
While the Bush Tetras may have started the punk funk movement, ESG would go on to define it.
In 1978 in the South Bronx, four sisters from the Scroggins family started a group called ESG (Emerald, Sapphire & Gold). It’s said their mother got them instruments to keep the sisters out of trouble. They played a mix of funk, hip-hop and punk music and were influenced by the latin music they grew up with.
Bahlman discovered ESG while serving as the judge for a talent show. They came in last, but he was impressed and became their manager. Soon after, Factory Records’ Tony Wilson approached the band at a performance and three days later began recording them with Martin Hannett, who had famously recorded Joy Division. In addition to an initial single on Factory Records, they released their debut album on 99 Records.
While ESG were influenced by the nascent hip hop scene taking place in their own backyard, their music would go on to greatly impact the genre. Their music has been sampled more than 500 times by hip hop artists such as The Notorious B.I.G, Tricky, Big Daddy Kane, Public Enemy, Nas and countless others.
Another group on 99’s roster that would go on to play an important role in hip hop was Liquid Liquid. The band’s groove-based music drew on funk, dub, Afrobeat and punk. The avant-garde approach didn’t rely on verse and chorus and the vocals were focused on pitch and rhythm, rather than words and lyrics.
Liquid Liquid is best known for their track Cavern from 1983’s 12" EP Optimo.
Without permission from 99, or attribution, Cavern was covered by The Sugar Hill Records house band and used as backing track for Melle Mel’s old school rap classic White Lines (Don't Don’t Do It)
While the huge popularity of White Lines led to increased exposure for Liquid Liquid and 99 Records, it also led to many tense moments between the label and Sugar Hill Records, including scare tactics such as Sugar Hill Records allegedly hiring someone to wield a machete at the 99 Records store to scare off customers.
White Lines would ultimately cement not only 99 Records legacy, but its downfall. 99 Records took Sugar Hill Records to court and won, but none of the damages awarded were paid, and the legal expenses and associated emotional turmoil ultimately led to 99 Records closure.
99 Records Continuing Legacy
Beyond their massive impact on hip hop, ESG and Liquid Liquid records were forever in the record bags of taste making ’80s and ’90s techno and house DJs such as Larry Levan, Tony Humphries, Frankie Knuckles, Ron Hardy, Carl Craig and many more.
ESG were right at home in club land and played both the opening night of the Factory’s Haçienda club in Manchester as well as the closing night of New York’s Paradise Garage, two of the most influential night clubs of that, or any era.
More recently, ESG and Liquid Liquid have gone on to influence many popular bands and artists who would go on to become influencers in their own right, including James Murphy and everything in his orbit including LCD Soundsystem, and DFA records and the entire dance-punk scene in the early aughts.
Thanks for listening and reading.
Summer note: I plan on being a little less productive during these sunny months and BTS will be on hiatus for a few weeks this summer.
Enjoy the sunshine.
A well deserved hiatus, going out on a high note!