Status closed in 1980 Genre Indie Rock Location New York City | Distributor(s) I.R.S. Records Country of origin United States Founded 1977 | |
Founders John Cale, Michael Zilkha, Jane Friedman, Michel Esteban | ||
Craw 1993 1997 6lp box set on northern spy records
SPY Records was a New York based independent music label created in 1977 by John Cale and Jane Friedman.
Contents
History
The label was created in 1977 by John Cale and Jane Friedman, who was the manager of Patti Smith, and Cale's girlfriend at the time. It was housed in Cale's 250 West 57th Street office.
The concept of the label that all artists were to be produced by Cale. The label was distributed by I.R.S. Records Its logo was designed by Michel Esteban, using an image of Cale's eye from his Fear album cover. Cale introduced Esteban to British-born entrepreneur Michael Zilkha, and in 1978 Esteban and Zilkha left SPY records to found their own label, ZE Records.
SPY Records closed in 1980. John Cale then released three albums on ZE Records: Music For A New Society (1982), Caribbean Sunset (1983) and Comes Alive (1984).