ZE RECORDS

168,571 listeners (1,824,821 plays)

Share

2 shouts

Michael Zilkha (b. 1954) was a British-born Oxford graduate of Lebanese descent, the son of the owner of Mothercare, a major UK retail company, and the stepson of Lord Lever. In the mid-1970s he was working in the New York publishing industry.

Michel Esteban (b. 1951) was the French owner of the Paris punk shop Harry Cover (a pun on “haricots verts” ) and the magazine Rock News, and, with his partner Lizzy Mercier Descloux, had moved to New York to become part of the punk and emerging post-punk music scene.

In 1977, Zilkha and Esteban were introduced to each other by John Cale. The music which they were listening to was a mixture of the New Wave of Talking Heads and Television, together with the disco-funk music being played in the New York clubs, at a point at which music, art, cinema, literature, and fashion were closely integrated. The pair decided to set up ZE Records, a name taken from the initials of their surnames, to record the new music emerging. The genre later became known generically as No Wave – the title of one of the company’s first compilation albums.

Within a short time, ZE Records became one of the more hip labels of its time, signing up such new talent as James White and the Blacks, Was (Not Was), Kid Creole and the Coconuts, Bill Laswell’s Material, together with more established performers including John Cale and Suicide. Many of its releases were first played at the Paradise Garage club in New York, starting point of Garage music.
Read more… Edit wiki

Top Albums

See more

Weekly Top Tracks

1
239
2
119
3  
105
4
104
5  
90
6
83
7  
79
8
78
9  
73
10
60
See more

Shouts

Leave a comment. Log in to Last.fm or sign up (it’s free).
See all 2 shouts

Listeners

See more

Events

See more

Recent Activity

Connected Groups

See more