Everything about I R S Records totally explained
I.R.S. (International Record Syndicate) Records was a
record label, started in the
United States in
1979 by
Miles Copeland III along with
Jay Boberg and
Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of
Wishbone Ash,
The Police, and later,
Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records (UK).
I.R.S. releases were distributed by
A&M Records until
1985, by
MCA Records until
1990, and finally by
EMI (which bought the label in
1994) until the label folded in
1996.
Acts on I.R.S. included
Wishbone Ash,
English Beat,
Nuclear Assault,
R.E.M.,
Go-Go's,
The Fleshtones,
Oingo Boingo,
Squeeze,
Suburban Lawns,
Over the Rhine,
The Buzzcocks,
The Alarm,
Gary Numan,
Wall of Voodoo,
General Public,
Belinda Carlisle,
Camper Van Beethoven,
Dread Zeppelin,
Lords of the New Church,
Fine Young Cannibals,
Black Sabbath and
Concrete Blonde. An instrumental-only imprint,
I.R.S. No Speak, released albums by
Wishbone Ash, Miles' younger brother
Stewart Copeland (The Police) and
William Orbit. I.R.S. also produced the feature film
Shakes the Clown, which starred
Bobcat Goldthwait. They released
David Lynch and
Alan R. Splet's soundtrack to
Eraserhead in the 80s.
In 1985 Copeland brokered a deal to switch the label's distributor to
MCA Records. Under the agreement, A&M continued to release the label's pre-1985 catalog, much of which still can be found under the A&M banner.
In 1990, the band Green Day included a mock letter from then-I.R.S. college radio rep Lori Blumenthal in one of their last cassette releases for Lookout Records. The fictional letter expressed IRS' interest in signing the band to the label. A mock reply letter from Lookout, also included in the cassette artwork, deemed I.R.S. a "cheesy" and "washed up" record label.
"I.R.S." stood for "International Record Syndicate" (or "Independent Record Syndicate" on some early releases); it shouldn't be confused with the
Internal Revenue Service, the U.S.
income tax agency. However, the logo did feature a shadowy figure wearing a trench coat and hat.
The last IRS release was the 1996
Buzzcocks CD
All Set.
The Cutting Edge
From 1983 to 1987, I.R.S. Records sponsored a weekly MTV show called
The Cutting Edge, hosted by Peter Zaremba of
The Fleshtones. The series focused heavily on bands that recorded for the label.
I.R.S. Records - On The Charts
This was a 1994 compilation album that chronicled the acts of I.R.S. Records from 1979 to 1994.
Album Trivia
Stan Ridgway's "Camouflage" was remixed by William Orbit.
The record was distributed through the labels deal with EMI and had the catalogue number of EIRSCD 1069 or 7243 8 31835 2 4.
According to some sources, I.R.S. may be the initials for "Ilich Ramírez Sánchez" aka "Carlos the Jackal".Further Information
Get more info on 'I R S Records'.
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