Background During the fall of 1984
Larry Livermore (née Larry Hayes), a resident of the small town of
Laytonville, California, of countercultural proclivities, felt the urge to opine about the problems of his community and the world in a
small-circulation periodical. Thus in October of that year was launched a circulation magazine called
Lookout, the first issue of which was typed and photocopied with a "press run" of just 50 copies. Opposition emerged to the controversial local topics upon which Livermore opined and so he turned to the theme
punk rock, a form of music he had followed in the late 1970s. Livermore began to reacquaint himself with the ongoing punk music scene by listening to the
Maximum Rocknroll (MRR) radio show, broadcast weekly from
Berkeley and featuring prominent scenester and future fanzine publisher
Tim Yohannan and his cohorts. Livermore also decided to start a band, drafting a 12-year-old neighbor to play drums — given the
punk rock name "
Tré Cool" by Livermore. He also began living part-time in the
San Francisco Bay Area, splitting his time between the city and his home in the mountains of
Mendocino County. The Lookouts began playing out more in San Francisco and Berkeley and began to develop a fan following and to make the acquaintance of other local bands, including a melodically friendly group called
The Mr. T Experience. A vibrant local scene began to congeal, based around the
Gilman Street Project, an all-ages venue inspired, bankrolled, and coordinated by the popular
Maximum Rocknroll, launched the night of December 31, 1986. Early in 1987, Livermore decided that it was time for The Lookouts to release a record. Livermore chose to take the
Do It Yourself route to create such an album, self-releasing the one-off LP under "Lookout Records." At the same time, the new bands emerging around the vibrant 924 Gilman Street venue, including
Operation Ivy,
Crimpshrine,
Sewer Trout,
Isocracy, and others were documented for the first time by local scenester
David Hayes on a 17-song double 7-inch compilation entitled
Turn It Around, released through
Mordam Distribution on the Maximum Rocknroll Records label. The duo would soon join forces as co-founders of a permanent label.
Establishment Both Lawrence Livermore (née Larry Hayes) and David Hayes (not related) were deeply inspired by the energetic East Bay punk rock scene and sought to further document its leading bands. David Hayes initially wanted to start a new label of his own for the purpose, to be known as Sprocket Records, with a view to a first release for the band
Corrupted Morals. Livermore, a columnist for
Maximum Rocknroll (MRR) who knew Hayes as a so-called "shitworker" for the publication, convinced the latter that a partnership was in order to advance their common goal. The company's iconic "beady eyes" logo was the early creation of David Hayes, who also handled much of the artwork for the label's early sleeves and LP jackets. With Hayes's Corrupted Morals project moving forward as LK-02, a 7-inch EP entitled
Chet, Livermore and Hayes jointly worked to bring about a third release later in 1987. This would be yet another 7-inch EP, a record by raw-edged
ska-punkers Operation Ivy called
Hectic. This third release proved to be an aural document of the right band at the right moment, with the release by the high energy local favorites selling through its first pressing of 1,000 copies within a month. In an effort to make a splash, four 7-inch vinyl records were released simultaneously, including also releases by popular 924 Gilman bands Crimpshrine (LK-04) and Isocracy (LK-05). Appelgren attended a show held at
Humboldt State University in
Arcata, California played by Lookout Records bands Operation Ivy, Crimpshrine, Isocracy, and The Lookouts and was wowed by what he saw, meeting Livermore for the first time and making the acquaintance of
Tim "Lint" Armstrong of Op Ivy — later a leading member of
Rancid.
Departure of David Hayes Livermore and Hayes began to become estranged from one another, and the label's projects began to be bifurcated between the two principals — "Larry's bands" and "David's bands," with the eclectic Hayes next turning to releases by
post punk band
Plaid Retina and country punks
Sewer Trout. In addition to differences in musical taste which became more apparent over time, the pair were temperamentally ill-suited, with Hayes understated and reserved and Livermore boisterous and gregarious. In addition, Hayes and Livermore differed greatly with respect to commercial motivation. In a 2015 memoir, Livermore recalled that Although the winds of change had begun to blow even in 1988, David Hayes would remain very active with Lookout through the summer of 1989, albeit with dissatisfaction regarding the label's direction growing, and his expressed desires of departure becoming more frequent. Hayes had gradually come to find working with Livermore to be insufferable and sought peace and artistic freedom through formation of his own record label. The anti-commercial Hayes flatly rejected this proposal with the declaration that "there's too much golden light around Lookout right now," adding that work on his label of love had come to feel "too much like a job." With a quiet determination, Hayes declared that his departure would take effect on January 1, 1990, adding "I don't want anything more to do with Lookout, and I don't want anything more from Lookout." The speechless Livermore was left with full ownership and control of the label on the very eve of its commercial success. David Hayes would go on to start his own label,
Very Small Records, releasing dozens of records over the coming decade that ran the gamut of punk styles, maintaining fidelity to his artistic and ethical vision — while the label that he exited would go on to become a multimillion-dollar commercial enterprise.
Punk rock rising (1989–1993) Many different punk rock bands, such as Green Day, were signed to Lookout in this time. Green Day released their debut EP,
1,000 Hours, in 1989. Green Day also released
39/Smooth (1990),
Slappy (1990),
Sweet Children (1990), and, with their new drummer,
Kerplunk! (1992). After the breakup of Operation Ivy, some of the members formed Rancid. They released their debut EP,
Rancid, in 1992 with Lookout Records. Screeching Weasel released their third and fifth to seventh albums,
My Brain Hurts (1991),
Wiggle (1993),
Anthem for a New Tomorrow (1993), and
How to Make Enemies and Irritate People (1994). Many other Bay area punk bands were getting signed by Lookout Records, giving them a start to a career.
"Golden years" (1993–1997) Lookout became famous for releasing albums that featured a very distinctive "Ramonescore" pop punk sound including bands such as Screeching Weasel, The Mr T Experience, The Queers, Crimpshrine, Green Day, Sweet Baby, Squirtgun, The Wanna-Bes and others. In the spring of 1994 Lookout principal Larry Livermore made a very public break with Tim Yohannan and his
Maximum Rocknroll, for which Livermore had written since 1987. The label also switched its long time distribution affiliation with Mordam to RED Distribution. In 1998, the label signed Palo Alto-based band
The Donnas and would release 3 albums from the band between 1998 and 2001 as well as reissue their debut album. With decent sales and heavy coverage of the band from mainstream media outlets, The Donnas would depart for Atlantic Records in 2002. Other veteran acts such as the Queers, Pansy Division and Avail would depart in the early 2000s citing poor promotion and the label's increasing attention and spending on new acts. By 2002, Lookout began to shift focus from its East Bay pop punk roots to a more diverse sound by releasing albums from bands such as
Pretty Girls Make Graves,
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, the Oranges Band and Neuman's own band Bratmobile. The shift in direction and new releases from veteran acts like the Smugglers and the Mr. T Experience could not offset declining album sales and financial mismanagement including unprofitable showcases at the Warped Tour and CMJ. By 2004, the label had closed its retail store on University Avenue in Berkeley.
Demise (2005–2012) On August 1, 2005, Green Day followed Avail, Blatz, Filth, Operation Ivy, Screeching Weasel, Riverdales, Lillingtons and Enemy You in announcing they had rescinded the master rights for their Lookout Records material. They cited continuing
breach of contract regarding unpaid royalties. This led to the label laying off six of nine staff members. Appelgren told Punknews.org that the label would carry on in a scaled back form. The label officially closed in January 2012. The label returned any remaining inventory, masters and artwork to the bands. Appelgren said he hoped bands would "... revisit their Lookout releases, with interesting and cool results." ==Artists==