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Sarah Records

the official site

  • Sarah
    • Introduction
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      • Ivy
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      • General Label Press
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  • And…
    • Popkiss
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    • Shinkansen Recordings
      • Introduction
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Category Archives: Sea Urchins

Indie Charts, July ’88: Four New Entries

Sarah Records Posted on October 20, 2015 by MattOctober 20, 2015

Indie Charts, July 1988The Indie Charts from Melody Maker, 9th July 1988, with four new entries for Sarahs 7, 8, 9 and 10. I’ve no idea who most of the other people are. Though The Field Mice did once play with Fields of the Nephilim in Brittany. It was a sort of Field theme night. Note also Number 14. People used to make political records in those days…

Posted in Another Sunny Day, Golden Dawn, Images Other Artefacts, Sea Urchins, Springfields | Tagged Another Sunny Day, Golden Dawn, Sea Urchins, Springfields

Air Balloon Road (Simon Williams, NME)

Sarah Records Posted on October 5, 2015 by MattOctober 5, 2015

Air Balloon Road NME review

Posted in Action Painting!, Another Sunny Day, Press Action Painting, Press Another Sunny Day, Press Sarah Compilations, Press Sea Urchins, Sea Urchins | Tagged Action Painting!, Air Balloon Road, Another Sunny Day, Sea Urchins

Sarah Records launch gig (poster)

Sarah Records Posted on July 29, 2015 by MattNovember 26, 2015

Sarah Records launch gigA poster from October 1987 advertising what was essentially a launch gig for Pristine Christine and thus the label itself, with the Sea Urchins and Poppyheads supporting Bristol’s Groove Farm (who designed the poster – I keep meaning to have a word about that missing apostrophe in “Bristol’s”) at the Tropic Club down on Stokes Croft, which is now all craft beer and cupcakes but back then was mostly secondhand furniture shops and ciderpunks trying to cadge 10p for UHU and Bulmers outside the anarchist squat in the old Volkswagen showroom on the corner of Ashley Road (see also: Have You Got 10p?, debut single by The Ejected on Bristol’s Riot City Records, home of Vice Squad). I’m rambling, but I thought you might like some context. I know I would.

Posted in Images Posters, Poppyheads, Sea Urchins | Tagged Poppyheads, Sea Urchins
Sarah Records Posted on April 21, 2015 by MattApril 21, 2015

The Sea Urchins

A forest near Birmingham, 1987
l-r: Bridget, Robert, James,
Simon, Patrick, Darren

Posted in Images Sea Urchins, Sea Urchins | Tagged Sea Urchins

Kvatch poster

Sarah Records Posted on April 6, 2015 by MattApril 7, 2015

Kvatch posterA poster for the last issue of Clare’s pre-Sarah fanzine Kvatch, which came with a flexidisc featuring Cling Film by The Sea Urchins and Baby Blue Marine by Bristol’s Groove Farm (see here for a picture of the flexi in its handpainted sleeve). The Sea Urchins are the band in the bottom half of the poster. Of the other bands mentioned on the poster, Mighty Mighty’s Throwaway was on the first Sha-la-la flexidisc, and Friends of the Family morphed into Pram.

Posted in Before Sarah, Images Posters, Sea Urchins | Tagged Sea Urchins

Four bands at the Fleece & Firkin, Bristol, April 1990

Sarah Records Posted on March 11, 2015 by MattMarch 11, 2015

Sarah night at the Fleece & Firkin, Bristol, April 1990Bit of a legendary gig, this, partly because of our own mad decision to try to have a 4-band line-up on a Sunday night when licensing laws meant that everything had to be done by 10.30pm. It was only Brighter’s second-ever gig, the Field Mice played as a duo of Bobby and Harvey as Michael couldn’t make it, and Action Painting! (who were in the audience) got into a fight with the Sea Urchins who carried on playing even after the lights had gone up… pretty good entertainment for £2.50, I think you’ll agree. Happy days.

Click here for the review in local listings magazine Venue.

Posted in Brighter, Field Mice, Images Posters, Sea Urchins, St Christopher | Tagged Brighter, Field Mice, Sea Urchins, St Christopher

End of Sarah (Peter Paphides, Time Out, August 1995)

Sarah Records Posted on February 20, 2015 by MattFebruary 20, 2015

Sarah Records in Time Out

Posted in Another Sunny Day, Capitalism, East River Pipe, Field Mice, Harvey Williams, Heavenly, Press Another Sunny Day, Press East River Pipe, Press Field Mice, Press General Label, Press Harvey Williams, Press Heavenly, Press Sarah Compilations, Press Sea Urchins, Press Springfields, Press Sugargliders, Press Talulah Gosh, Press Wake, Sarah 100, Sea Urchins, Springfields, Sugargliders, Talulah Gosh, Wake | Tagged Another Sunny Day, East River Pipe, Field Mice, Harvey Williams, Heavenly, Sarah 100, Sea Urchins, Springfields, Sugargliders, Talulah Gosh, Wake

Four New Seven Inches for Summer (1988 poster)

Sarah Records Posted on February 12, 2015 by MattFebruary 12, 2015

Poster from summer 88 advertising 4 new Sarah Records singles

A poster to advertise the release of SARAHs 7, 8, 9 and 10 in the summer of 1988. Not quite sure what we’ve had done with this, to be honest, beyond sticking it on the wall in Revolver Records in Bristol…

Posted in Another Sunny Day, Golden Dawn, Images Posters, Sea Urchins, Springfields | Tagged Another Sunny Day, Golden Dawn, Sea Urchins, Springfields

The Sea Urchins & St Christopher @ The Fleece & Firkin, Bristol (Mike Gartside, Venue, April 1990)

Sarah Records Posted on February 2, 2015 by MattFebruary 2, 2015

Sea Urchins & St Christopher @ The Fleece & Firkin

Posted in Press Sea Urchins, Press St Christopher, Sea Urchins, St Christopher | Tagged Sea Urchins, St Christopher

Sarah Records launch @ the Tropic Club, Bristol

Sarah Records Posted on January 23, 2015 by MattJanuary 23, 2015

Sarah Records launch flyerA flyer for the the label’s launch gig at Bristol’s Tropic Club in October 1987 (i.e. the Sea Urchins and the Poppyheads supporting Bristol’s own Groove Farm) and the release of Pristine Christine the following month; the flyer was handed out at an earlier gig at the Tropic. Impressively, it seems, people were already calling us Bristol’s favourite label. Or maybe that was just us…

Posted in Images Posters, Poppyheads, Sea Urchins | Tagged Poppyheads, Sea Urchins

Sha-la-la and Kvatch flexidiscs

Sarah Records Posted on January 23, 2015 by MattApril 7, 2015

Sha-la-la flexis and Kvatch Sea Urchins flexiThese were the flexidiscs we released with our fanzines prior to setting up Sarah; the Sea Urchins appeared on two flexis, one with Kvatch (Cling Film), one with Sha-la-la (Summershine). The Orchids, Talulah Gosh and Poppyheads also had Sha-la-la releases (From This Day, I Told You So and the Postcard for Flossy EP respectively). It was important that all the flexis came in proper sleeves; they were throwaway, but weren’t meant to be thrown away. (In case you’re wondering, Sha-la-la was a flexdisc label, with the discs distributed via various fanzines, chiefly Are You Scared To Get Happy?, Simply Thrilled, Baby Honey and Trout Fishing in Leytonstone.)

Posted in Before Sarah, Heavenly, Images Other Artefacts, Orchids, Poppyheads, Sea Urchins, Talulah Gosh | Tagged Kvatch, Sha-la-la

Pristine Christine label artwork

Sarah Records Posted on January 22, 2015 by MattJanuary 22, 2015

Pristine Christine label artworkSARAH 1 set the pattern for the first ten 7″ labels: on one side a photo of Bristol reduced to b/w by repeated re-photocopying (these days, you’d just use Photoshop’s “threshold” filter), on the other a 2-colour flower. Sadly, no one told us this would mean printing each side separately and using two Pantone spot colours, for which there was a £90 setting-up charge on each pressing; printing the labels often cost more than recording the songs. (The photo here is of Sea Mills.)

Posted in Images Other Artefacts, Sea Urchins | Tagged Artwork

The Sea Urchins, Pristine Christine master tape

Sarah Records Posted on January 8, 2015 by MattJanuary 8, 2015

Pristine Christine master tape

The original (digital!) master tape for SARAH 1, recorded in September 1987 at Rich Bitch Studios, Selly Oak, Birmingham, and handed to us at a gig at Sinatra’s. Sadly, no one told us that printing the labels for each side on different coloured paper was not possible, and that each colour would need to be printed separately…

Posted in Images Other Artefacts, Sea Urchins | Tagged Pristine Christine, Sea Urchins

Sarah was a Bristol-based independent record label, active between November 1987 and August 1995. This site was launched in 2015 to archive photos, press, posters and other artefacts; it’s a work in progress.

May 2025

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Words and Pictures

My Secret World
a film about Sarah

Popkiss
a book about Sarah

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