Cherry Red grew from the rock promotion company (similarly named after the song "Cherry Red" by
The Groundhogs) founded in 1971 to promote rock concerts at the
Malvern Winter Gardens. In the wake of the independent record boom that followed the advent of
punk rock, founders Iain McNay (who remains company chairman) and Richard Jones released the label's first single, "Bad Hearts" by punk band
The Tights in June 1978. Cherry Red's early roster included releases by
Morgan Fisher under various
pseudonyms, using a small studio installed in his
Notting Hill flat, as well as material licensed from
The Hollywood Brats,
Destroy All Monsters and
The Runaways. The latter was the label's biggest seller until McNay invested $10,000 in the recording of the debut studio album by
San Franciscan political punk band
Dead Kennedys.
Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables (1979) and its attendant singles sold well worldwide. New
A&R head Mike Alway had promoted the Snoopies venue in
Richmond, London and been involved with the Scissor Fits, and signed groups including
The Monochrome Set,
Everything But The Girl,
Eyeless in Gaza,
Felt, and
Five Or Six. McNay aspired for Cherry Red to be a label that offered a space for artists who would otherwise not fit the image of some of the more succinctly defined and stylised independents. "Cherry Red Records was always about musical individuality, diversity, character, commitment and passion," he stated in 2008. It also marketed other smaller independent record labels, like Bristol's
Heartbeat Records, which recorded the
Glaxo Babies. Cherry Red's role as one of the keynote labels of the early 1980s independent scene was confirmed by the success of a budget compilation album compiled by Alway and released at Christmas 1982. Retailing for 99p,
Pillows & Prayers topped the independent charts for several weeks. The label also released several albums from
Adrian Sherwood and his ON-U Sound Label in the early 1980s. Cherry Red continued to sign contemporary artists but increasingly moved into the
reissue market from the late 1980s onwards. It has a number of subsidiary labels dealing in genre-specific releases, curating many "critically unloved" musical genres, in partial continuation of McNay's earlier advocacy of the unfashionable. The label began to acquire the rights to many independent labels from the 1970s and 1980s, including No Future, Flicknife, Rondelet, Midnight, Temple and In Tape - this spawned the "Collector" series of releases, which saw punk, psychobilly, goth and metal genres covered. Another "Collector" series that proved popular was the label's football releases, which released over 60 CDs of collections of club and country football songs. The company has also signed agreements with a number of specialist reissue labels, which operate with a degree of autonomy using Cherry Red's logistical and financial support. Mark Stratford's RPM Records label focuses on pop music from the 1960s to the advent of punk.
Esoteric Recordings, headed by Mark Powell, specialises in
progressive rock and
folk catalogue. Mark Brennan heads 7T's Records, which reissues albums by that decade's
glam/
glitter generation. (Brennan originally helped Cherry Red form one of its first subsidiary labels, Anagram, covering punk, Psychobilly and Goth, which remains active). él Records continues under the auspices of Mike Alway (but purely as a re-release label), alongside other labels including Poker, Giant Steps, Mortarhate, Now Sounds, and Ork. The Cherry Red label group continues to house reissues, but is also active in the release of new studio material by established artists such as
Suzi Quatro,
Marc Almond,
Red Box,
Van Der Graaf Generator, Jah Wobble & Keith Levene,
Squackett (a collaboration between
Steve Hackett and
Chris Squire), Hussey-Regan (a collaboration between
Wayne Hussey and
Julianne Regan),
Hazel O'Connor,
The Christians and
Ken Hensley. Still headed by McNay, a fan of
AFC Wimbledon, alongside managing director Adam Velasco, Cherry Red also has interests in
football-related releases, with the most complete catalogue of soccer-related songs extant. In 2007, the company launched a
streaming television service,
cherry red TV. It also publishes an in-house magazine and an 'in-house' publishing division, 'Cherry Red Songs'. Cherry Red's previous music publisher, Complete Music, was acquired by
BMG Music Publishing in 2006. In early 2015, Cherry Red Records and
PWL reissued the first four Kylie Minogue albums,
Kylie,
Enjoy Yourself,
Rhythm Of Love and ''Let's Get To It'', as deluxe CD/DVD and LP boxsets. Cherry Red also released a plethora of prestigious frontline albums by established artists that year, including Marc Almond's
The Velvet Trail, The Zombies'
Still Got That Hunger, Sarah Cracknell's
Red Kite, Andy Bell of Erasure's
Torsten The Bareback Saint, Jimmy Somerville's
Homage, The Fall's
Sub-Lingual Tablet and
Wolfgang Flür's
Eloquence. In 2016, Cherry Red had its highest chart position, with the new studio album from
Hawkwind,
The Machine Stops, reaching No. 29 in the
UK Albums Chart in April 2016. It also announced the release of the latest studio album from
Van Der Graaf Generator in September. In 2017, Cherry Red confirmed it will be representing several label catalogues and artist discographies, including
Procol Harum, The Residents, Arthur Brown, Captain Oi, Glenn Hughes and Tim Blake. It also acquired 13 artist catalogues from
Warner Music Group as part of the major's divestments to independent labels, including Howard Jones,
Kim Wilde, Marc Almond,
Third Ear Band,
Dinosaur Jr.,
Mel & Kim,
Fourplay (shared with Evolution Media Group),
Renaissance (except their debut album, which remained with
Elektra Records),
Be-Bop Deluxe and
Curved Air. These catalogues will be distributed worldwide through Absolute Label Services. The 2017 BPI yearbook
All About The Music included Cherry Red in the 20 Market Share By Corporate Group at number 15, which explained the chart-eligible album sales of all record labels. In 2018, Cherry Red acquired the extensive catalogue of Witchwood Media, home to the music of the Strawbs and a roster of other related artists. In late 2019 and early 2020, Cherry Red acquired more label and album catalogue, including Safari Records (Toyah, Jayne County), Emerald Music, Genesis' debut album,
From Genesis to Revelation, and Chapter One Records. Cherry Red have also acquired the catalogue from numerous independent labels including Inevitable Records (Dead Or Alive), Attrix Records (Peter & The Test Tube Babies) and Native Records (Screaming Trees). Artist catalogues acquired in 2020 included Glenn Hughes and Trapeze, rock band The Stairs and Edgar Jones, psychedelic rock band July, heavy metal band Sir Lord Baltimore, psychedelic rock band Outskirts Of Infinity, NWOBHM band Spider, guitarist Paul Brett, record producer and musician Tom Newman and Canadian pub rocker Philip Rambow. In late 2020 Cherry Red acquired producer
Joe Meek's "Tea Chest Tapes" collection - a host of quarter-inch tapes kept in 67 tea chests. 2021 saw the label acquire the Dissonance Productions label and catalogue from Plastic Head Distribution. The extreme metal label has a catalogue of approximately 130 releases including At The Gates’ Gardens Of Grief, Holy Terror’s Terror & Submission, Nifelheim’s Servants Of Darkness and Ascension Of The Watchers’ Apocrypha. In 2021 and 2022 it released new albums by Agent Steel, Lawnmower Deth and Tokyo Blade. Notable catalogue acquisitions for the label in 2021 included deals for the catalogue of independent labels such as Golf, Abstract, Planet Dog and Peer Music. Artist catalogue the label now wholly or partially represent include Edward Ball (of The Times), Jah Wobble, Ron Geesin, Suzi Quatro, Miki Dallon and Dead Or Alive’s early recordings. In 2023 Cherry Red acquired Peter Hammill's Fie! catalogue from the Van Der Graaf Generator frontman. The Fie! imprint was an output for Hammill's solo material and Cherry Red began a reissue campaign through the Esoteric Recordings imprint. In late 2023, Cherry Red announced a partnership with MVD Entertainment to represent the physical rights to Jay Records; a record label specialising in theatrical recordings of classical and musical theatre. In 2024 Cherry Red began to represent the catalogue of Christian rap artist
Manafest. Cherry Red released
Kim Wilde's studio album
Closer on 31 January 2025. A sequel to Wilde's 1988 album
Close,
Closer reached No. 27 in the UK Albums Chart. In May 2025 Cherry Red acquired the UK contemporary soul label
Dome Records, which represents music from artists such as a Lulu, Beverley Knight, Incognito, Hil St Soul, the James Taylor Quartet, Shaun Escoffery and US artists including Brenda Russell, George Duke, Anthony David, Jarrod Lawson and Andrew Gold. In December 2025, it was announced that Cherry Red had acquired the catalogues of
Gull Records,
State Records and Uproar Entertainment. The acquisitions transferred ownership of the master recordings and associated publishing rights for a range of pop, rock, soul, disco and comedy releases. ==Notable awards and prizes==