- Half A Cow
infobox record label
name = Half a Cow Records
image_bg =
parent =
founded = 1990
founder =Nic Dalton
Miles Ferguson
distributor =MGM Distribution Shock Records
genre = Various
country =Australia
location =Strawberry Hills, New South Wales
url = [http://www.halfacow.com.au Half a Cow Records]Half A Cow is an
independent record label fromAustralia , established in 1990 bySydney musician and music identityNic Dalton .History
In 1987 - 1989 Dalton ran a bookshop (owned by Dalton's parents) in the
Sydney suburb of Glebe called Dalton's Books. In late 1989, Dalton and his friend Miles Ferguson , took over the store, renamed it Half A Cow and started stocking more comics, records and tee-shirts than the 'beat' books they had been concentrating on. At the same time, they started Half A Cow Records and started working on the label's first release, "Billiepeebup" (hac01, released October 1990) - a 4-track recorded album of songs made between 1985 and 1989 by theLove Positions , a duo of Dalton and his then girlfriend,Robyn St Clare fromThe Hummingbirds . That was the label's second release (out October 1990), the first being a 10" EP called "Pleasure" (cow01) by theCraven Fops in March of1990 .In
1991 Half a Cow released the single "Don't Want To Be Grant McLennan" bySmudge (about Go-Betweens co-founderGrant McLennan ), which was an indie hit, and single of the week in music magazineNME In late
1991 Evan Dando asked Dalton to temporarily join theLemonheads . An offer he initially turned down, but as Dando pointed out that it'd make his label known worldwide, and with persuasion from friends he did indeed join, and as expected in1992 it gave a huge boost for Half a Cow. Before he left Half A Cow assistant, Dave Chatfield, was appointed to run the label, along withRobyn St Clare . In1992 the label also signed a deal withFestival Records to distribute the label. Dalton's time with theLemonheads was extended from an initial six months to two years. In1994 the label switched distributor toMercury Records , which was followed by a change in1998 back toFestival Records . In early 2000 Half A Cow ended its relationship withFestival Records and now the label is completely independent and distributed throughMGM Distribution . Chatfield moved to Melbourne to pursue touring with Spunk and the label is managed by Dalton.Since its establishment in
1990 Half A Cow has put out over a hundred and forty releases by a long line of bands, including work by Dalton and bands he has been in (such as Sneeze,Godstar , a re-issue of thePlunderers and his current bandNic Dalton and his Gloomchasers ). As of May 2006, the label is based back in Sydney (after six years in NSW's central west and a year in outer Melbourne) where it continues to release contemporary Australian music as well as a series of re-issues by bands from the 1960s (likeThe Missing Links , The Purple Hearts andthe Wild Cherries ).Past and present roster
*
2 Litre Dolby
*Agnes Kain
* Art of Fighting
*Bernie Hayes
*Bettie Serveert
*Booster Valves
*Bruce
*Captain Denim
*Carton
* Crow
*The Daisygrinders
*Craven Fops
*Dog Trumpet
*Deezleteens
*The Eastern Dark
*Fragile
*Fuzzy
*Grandview
*Glovebox
*Godstar
*Hippy Dribble
*Khancoban
*Kid Cornered
*Kim Salmon and the Business
*Kim Salmon and the Surrealists
*Love Positions
*Luke Russell
*The Missing Links
*Nic Dalton
*Nic Dalton and his Gloomchasers
*The Orange Humble Band
*Papas Fritas
*Pip Proud
*Plunderers
*Pressed Meat & the Small Goods
*the Purple Hearts
*the Raylenes
* The Savages
*She Loves You Too
* Sidewinder
*The Smallgoods
*Smudge
* Sneeze
*Spdfgh
* Swirl
*Swayback
*Tendrils
*The Triangles
*The Trouble Dolls
*Vermishus
*Warmer
*We Grow Up
*Whopping Big Naughty
*the Wild Cherries See also
*
List of record labels References
*"Stranded: The Secret History of Australian Independent Music 1977-1991", Clinton Walker, Pan MacMillan, 1996, ISBN 0-7329-0883-3.
* [http://www.evandando.co.uk/interviews/nicdaltoninterview0605.htm Interview with Nic Dalton] by Roo Simpson, June 2005, at evandando.co.uk
External links
* [http://www.halfacow.com.au Official site]
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