Recreational Records


Recreational Records was a British record label set up in 1981 by the Bristol record shop and distributor Revolver Records. Originally formed as an independent record label with its own distribution as part of the Cartel.

Revolver Records and the Cartel

Revolver Records was a long established record store based at The Triangle, Clifton, Bristol, and in the 1970s was a hangout of Mark Stewart, Nick Sheppard, and other local musicians. It also had a distribution arm, which allowed it to distribute its own records and those of other Indie labels via its participation in the Cartel.
The Cartel was a co-operative record distribution organisation in the United Kingdom, set up by a number of small independent record labels to handle their distribution to record shops. By pooling their resources it allowed them to compete with the larger distribution operations of the major record labels, and also to gain access to the larger shop chains. The association of regional distributors included some of the most notable labels of the 1980s UK post-punk and indie scene: Backs, Fast Forward, Native, Nine Mile, Probe, Revolver, Red Rhino and Rough Trade.

Artists

The Recreational catalogue listed singles with the Sport prefix, apart from The X-Certs 7" single Together/Untogether, which is listed as Play 1.

Singles

Reissues on other labels

are currently providing Recreational back catalogue tracks for download, through the usual outlets.