Touch and Go Records Totally Explained

Everything about Touch And Go Records totally explained

Touch and Go Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, USA, which began life in 1979 in East Lansing, Michigan as a magazine put out by Tesco Vee and Dave Stimson. Vee was bored with the punk sounds of the day, and captivated by the emerging hardcore movement in America. Inspired, he put out records by the Necros, The Fix, the Meatmen, and Negative Approach. In 1981, Necros bassist Corey Rusk joined with Tesco to run the label. In 1983, Tesco handed Touch and Go over to Rusk when he left Michigan for Washington DC. With the label under his ownership, Rusk hired Terry Tolkin who signed the Butthole Surfers and Virgin Prunes to the label, and also produced the "Gods Favorite Dog" compilation. Soon Corey Rusk relocated the label to Chicago, Touch & Go released material in the mid-'80's to early '90s by bands such as the Butthole Surfers, who no longer have their catalog on the label (see below), Big Black, the Jesus Lizard, and continued into the new millennium with artists on their roster including Shellac, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio (the latter two are no longer on the label), Arcwelder, CocoRosie, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, and the Black Heart Procession. Rusk continues to run the label.
They are well known, partly because of the influence of their catalogue, partly for their approach to recording contracts, pioneered (probably) by Factory Records. The deal was characterised by:

50/50 deals. 50% of profits to artists after label recoups promotion and production costs;
Oral contracts, a "handshake deal"

Due to the law suit filed by the Butthole Surfers, Touch and Go now asks bands to sign a 1-2 page memorandum of intent.
In 2006, Touch and Go celebrated its 25th anniversary. To commemorate this occasion, the label held a three-day block party event

at Chicago's Hideout venue on September 8-10, 2006. Several seminal bands, including Big Black, Scratch Acid, the Didjits, Killdozer, Negative Approach, and Man...or Astro-Man? reunited and performed at the event.

Dispute with Butthole Surfers

Their approach to contracts was challenged in a court case, brought by the Butthole Surfers in 1999, who purported that Touch and Go wasn't marketing their catalog effectively. They argued that due to the silent nature of duration in T&G's contract, it could be terminated. Touch and Go argued that existing US copyright law held that they controlled the copyright to the band's recordings for a minimum of 35 years, due to sec. 203 of the Copyright Act of 1976 which they argued gave them 35 years of ownership of the copyright.
The US Court of Appeals Seventh Circuit ruled in favor of the band, determining that "when a contract is silent as to its length, it's implicit that it can be terminated by either side." And "that allowing terminations under Illinois law doesn't conflict with sec. 203, but rather is, in fact, in keeping with the intent of sec. 203."

Catalogue

!!!

Angry Red Planet

Arcwelder

Arsenal

Bedhead (reissued back catalog)

Big Black

Blight

The Black Heart Procession

Blonde Redhead

Brainiac

Brick Layer Cake

Butthole Surfers

Calexico

Cargo Cult

Cash Audio

Chrome (reissued back catalog)

CocoRosie

Daddy Longhead

The Delta 72

Didjits

Dirty Three

Don Caballero

The Effigies

Enon

The Ex

The Fix

Flour

The For Carnation

Girls Against Boys

The Jesus Lizard

Die Kreuzen

Killdozer

L-Seven

Laughing Hyenas

Lee Harvey Oswald Band

Man or Astro-man?

Monorchid

Naked Raygun (reissued back catalog)

Necros

Phono-Comb

P. W. Long

Pinback

Polvo

Quasi

Rachel's

Rapeman

Red Stars Theory

The Rollins Band

Scratch Acid

Seam

Shellac

Silkworm

Silverfish

Skull Kontrol

Slint

The Standard

Storm & Stress

Supersystem

Tar

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

Three Mile Pilot

Sally Timms

TV on the Radio

Urge Overkill

Uzeda

Various Artists - Gods Favorite Dog

Violent Apathy

Virgin Prunes

Wuhling

Yeah Yeah Yeahs Further Information

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