Genre Indie Location Washington, D.C. Founder Mark Robinson | Country of origin United States Official website teenbeat.net Founded 1985 | |
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Artists Unrest, Air Miami, Tuscadero, Versus, +/‑ Albums Self‑Titled Long‑Playing Debut Alb, Tink of SE, The Serpentine Similar, You Are Here, Pup Tent Profiles | ||
Teen Beat is an American independent record label, originally based in Arlington, Virginia, now based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was founded by Mark Robinson (of Unrest) in 1984 at Wakefield High School, along with Phil Krauth (of Unrest), Andrew (Riley) Beaujon (of Eggs), Tim Moran (of Unrest), and Ian Zack (Thirsty Boys).
The label was originally set up like a lending library. Only one copy of each album existed and high school classmates of the founders could borrow one for a few days. The albums were mostly unedited Unrest rehearsals and were not numbered but lettered (A, B, C, etc.). Only one of these early albums is known to still exist: Unrest's This Side, Numskull; catalogue number "J" (the 10th TeenBeat release); dated December 14, 1984.
The first public release was a compilation cassette called Extremism In the Defense of Liberty is No Vice on February 23, 1985. This was catalog number "TeenBeat 1". This audiocassette was dubbed into multiple copies by Andrew (Riley) Beaujon and Mark Robinson.
Teen Beat (or "Teen-Beat" or "Teenbeat") has been home to a number of prominent indie bands, including Unrest, +/-, Versus, Gastr del Sol, Eggs, Aden, True Love Always and a large number of other bands and side projects. Along with Dischord Records, TeenBeat was an important early independent label; while Dischord focused on punk and hardcore, TeenBeat's bands were more typically guitar-based "indie-pop". Both labels almost exclusively work with bands from the Washington, D.C. area.
As with its influence Factory Records, Teen Beat prominently numbered its releases, with some releases known only by catalog number (e.g., the TEENBEAT 100 compilation, 1993); numbers have also been assigned to non-musical items, including T-shirts, coffee mugs, events, its offices, and interns.