Blast First



Blast First is a sub label of one-time independent record label Mute Records, founded in approximately 1985. The label was founded by Paul Smith to give UK release to albums by Sonic Youth, a US band with which he was then working closely. It went on to feature more hardcore rock bands than the master label of its synthpop-oriented parent company.

(Read more at Wikipedia.)

Links to Peel
Peel was a huge fan of Blast First during the label's early years, when it became known particularly for giving UK releases to a dynamic new generation of US alternative bands. Writing in the Observer at the end of 1988, the DJ endorsed “almost anything on the Blast First label” in his best-of-year roundup. The DJ was also widely quoted as describing Blast First as the “most important label of the age”.

Generous airtime was given to landmark albums of the late 1980s by bands including Big Black, Butthole Surfers, Dinosaur Jr and Sonic Youth, with many of Blast First’s American artists recording sessions while on tour in the UK. In October 1989, Peel’s Radio One show featured competitions to win copies of Blast First compilation “Nothing Short Of Total War (Part One)” and the related 10 x 7" box set “Devil's Jukebox”, with the DJ even playing a track by the band Arsenal despite his strong dislike for the football team of the same name.

The strength of the early Blast First roster rested heavily on label founder Paul Smith’s ties with Sonic Youth, who introduced many bands they knew from the American alternative circuit, but the New York outfit eventually departed to sign to a major label and other US bands followed their example. With Peel’s focus across the Atlantic also shifting to the emerging grunge scene on the Seattle-based Sub Pop label, fewer Blast First releases were subsequently heard on his shows, although there were later sessions for Labradford and others.

Sessions
Blast First artists who recorded Peel sessions. List includes sessions when the artists were not on Blast First.


 * AC Temple: (1 session, 1987)
 * Afghan Whigs: (1 session, 1994)
 * Band of Susans: (2 sessions, 1988-89)
 * Big Black: (1 session, 1987)
 * Butthole Surfers: (2 sessions, 1987-88)
 * Dinosaur Jr: (3 sessions, 1988-92)
 * Erase Errata: (1 session, 2003)
 * Head of David: (4 sessions, 1986-89)
 * Kaito: (1 session, 2001)
 * Labradford: (1 session, 1996)
 * Liars: (2 sessions, 2002-04)
 * Lunachicks: (1 session, 1989)
 * Mekons: (6 sessions, 1978-87)
 * Panasonic: (1 session, 1995)
 * Raincoats: (3 sessions, 1979-94)
 * Sonic Youth: (3 sessions, 1986-89)
 * Stretchheads: (1 session, 1991)
 * Terrashima: (2 sessions, 2002)
 * UT: (2 sessions, 1984-1988)

Festive Fifty


The list below covers Festive Fifty entries on Blast First; it does not include entries by Blast First artists on other labels.


 * Butthole Surfers: 22 Going On 23 1987 Festive Fifty #44
 * Dinosaur Jr.: Freak Scene 1988 Festive Fifty #05 / Just Like Heaven 1989 Festive Fifty #12
 * Sonic Youth: (I Got A) Catholic Block 1987 Festive Fifty #37 / Schizophrenia 1987 Festive Fifty #13 / Silver Rocket 1988 Festive Fifty #29 / Teenage Riot 1988 Festive Fifty #19

Compilations
Plays by Peel from various artist (v/a) releases on Blast First.

(LP - Nothing Short Of Total War (Part One))
 * 16 October 1989: Sonic Youth: Come And Smash Me Said the Boy With The Magic Penis
 * 18 October 1989: Dinosaur Jr: Bulbs Of Passion
 * 30 October 1989: Dinosaur Jr: Bulbs Of Passion
 * 01 November 1989: Big Black: He's A Whore

(10 x 7" box set - Devil's Jukebox)
 * 17 October 1989: UT: Evangelist
 * 17 October 1989: Sonic Youth: Magic Wand
 * 17 October 1989: Head Of David: Bugged
 * 17 October 1989: Arsenal: Little Hitlers
 * 24 October 1989: Sonic Youth: Come & Smash Me Said The Boy With The Magic Penis
 * 24 October 1989: Butthole Surfers: Jimi
 * 25 October 1989: Big Stick: Devil's Jukebox
 * 04 November 1989 (BFBS): Sonic Youth: Come & Smash Me Said The Boy With The Magic Penis
 * 11 November 1989 (BFBS): Dinosaur Jr: Bulbs Of Passion
 * 20 November 1989: Sonic Youth: Come And Smash Me Said The Boy With The Magic Penis

(CD - Sonic Mook Experiment 3: Hot Shit)
 * July 2003 (FSK): Erase Errata: Other Animals Are No.1

Links

 * Wikipedia
 * The Blast First Story (Juno, 2015)
 * The Rise Of Blast First (Quietus, 2012)