About
Parasol
Urbana-Champaign, Illinois-based Parasol Records and associated
labels (Mud, Spur,
Hidden Agenda, Galaxy
Gramophone, and Reaction)
were a natural outgrowth of Parasol
Mail Order, which opened its mailbox in 1991 and is considered
the premier US mail order for independent pop music. Owner Geoff
Merritt began Parasol Records by releasing his friends’
CDs and 7" singles. The majority of these artists played
guitar-driven pop music as evidenced by releases from Velvet
Crush, Three Hour Tour, and Brian Leach.
When Merritt wanted to document the post-Nirvana Urbana-Champaign
music scene of the early-mid 1990s he created the Mud
Records imprint for more rock-oriented titles. Early Mud
singles from Hum and Hardvark pre-date those bands' respective
major label experiences, and more recently Mud has released
CDs from highly touted indie-rock bands Braid, Sarge and Absinthe
Blind.
When scene stalwart Steve Pride was looking for a label to release
his country-tinged 1997 CD "Haint," Merrit launched
a third label, Spur. And, later
in 1997, with A&R direction of Parasol employees Jim Kelly,
Lisa Bralts and Bill Johnson, a fourth label, Hidden
Agenda, was added to the roster. Hidden Agenda's mission
was to release one-off CDs and 7" singles from higher profile
artists. The Posies' Ken Stringfellow obliged by offering for
release his first solo CD "This
Sounds Like Goodbye." Since then HA has teamed up with
Elephant 6 to put out the Gerbils debut CD, and has licensed
titles by Quickspace, Club 8, the Green Pajamas and Bettie Serveert.
Hidden Agenda’s biggest success to date has been Sweden’s
The Soundtrack of Our Lives whose three full-length CDs on Warner
Music Sweden were released first in the U.S. by Hidden Agenda,
prior to the band’s deal with Universal and their Grammy
Award nomination for “Behind the Music.” Prior to
The Soundtrack of Our Lives Parasol was best known for releasing
a 4-song CD single in 1996
by then unknown band White Town. The BBC picked up on that EP's
lead track, "Your Woman," and the band was signed
to EMI for the world and had a #1 hit in seven countries.
In 2002 Parasol’s Geoff Merritt collaborated with Velvet
Crush’s Ric Menck to form a new re-issue imprint, Reaction
Recordings. The label’s first release was The Action’s
“lost” recording “Rolled
Gold,” followed in early 2003 by a Merritt labor-of-love,
Walt Kelly and Norman Monath’s 1956 classic “Songs
of the Pogo.” Since then Reaction has re-issue the
work of early-80s local guitar band The
Vertebrats, 80s Boston/DC outfit Crippled
Pilgrims, and the 1985 solo album from former-Televison
guitarist Richard
Lloyd.
Parasol's
Declaration of Independence
The
Parasol front-page serves to highlight our favorite releases.
Although many music retailers - from the big guys to the small
fries -have found that selling product positioning on store
shelves, on-line shops, e-mail marketing messages, and listening
stations is a lucrative money generator, no money has been
exchanged between Parasol and the bands or labels involved
for this consideration.
Our featured releases are profiled because of the impact they've
made upon our ears, hearts and minds - not because of a desire
to improve our advertising revenue. For us, this is still
a labor of love, not money. Rest assured that if we tell you
we love a particular record, that it is a genuine recommendation
for a fan, not a sales pitch that has been sold to the highest
bidder.
Furthermore, we are not members of the RIAA (Recording Industry
Association of America) or any buying coalitions. We are not
beholden to any outside interests, but are bound solely to
our valued customers, our personal tastes, and an addictive
yearning to find new music.
Parasol
Purity. Payola free since 1991. No additives. More real cheese
flavor.
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