Future Legend Records was launched at the start of 1993. The label had an
active ten year impact on the music industry and is acknowledged and respected
for setting new music trends and inventing new genres of music.
FLR was run
by former D.J and Record shop manager Russell C. Writer who is also acknowledged
as one of the most innovative record producers of his generation. His A&R
skill was also exceptional discovering over 70 Artists. For those that dont Know
A&R is, it is about discovering Talent and putting them together with the
right material.
His first discovery who he also married was excellent Mod
Icon Eleanor Rigby. He wrote and produced all her recordings as well as wrote
some before FLR was around.
She has one of the most interesting stories in
Pop and could have been as big as Madonna. She still sells today even though she
is not around and attracks new fans daily. Check out more of her Story in our
Artists Section.
However the main thing F.L.R are well known for is the Cult Themes albums and
trend. When Russell was working in a record shop he noticed a big demand for
Singles and Albums of 'Cult T.V and Film themes'. No singles were available and
any albums available were just easy listening affairs and none had the right
track listings. He thought if ever he got his own label he'd put out just the
right album of Cult themes.
Rather than just license the original tracks he
thought it would be a great idea to do new versions to help break new artists
and so a new hybryd album was born.
Far from turning fans off many fans were
saying many were better than the originals. It also helped a few acts get a much
bigger profile. But the key ingrediant was the track listings. They were spot on
'JUST THE RIGHT CULT THEMES'.Full details of all releases on our Cult Themes
page
Not only did it prove popular and sell well it started a music and
life style trend and three volumes of 60's two of the 70's and one 80's themes
followed (All with just the right track listings). Clubs night at Madam Jo Jo's
and other sprang up playing mostly these themes, people stated dressing like
James Bond, Lady Penelope and the Man from Uncle and alot of fun was had by all.
It then split into an easy listening scene which F.L.R had little to do with.
Hits were generated and many artist made giant leaps in their careers after
appearing on a cult themes album. These album also helped bring attention to
some previous hit acts like The Honeycombs, The Lambrettas and Glenda Collins to
name but a few.
The most successful cult theme was 'You only live twice' by
Eleanor Rigby which hit number one in Italy. It could have done the same in the
Uk but for a few major cockups by Sony, F.L.R's distributor.
Because of the
Succes of Eleanors Single FLR released a compilation of her best loved tracks
and almost by accident a D.J playing this album at the 'Blow Up' Club' coined
the phrase Britpop to describe Eleanors and others music he was playing at the
time because Mod Music had a certain stigma to it.
As Britpop took hold acts Like Blur and St Eittiene were name checking
Eleanor as an Influence.
Always ahead of the game rather than just set trends
FLR set about finding a new music genre to excite people. That came in the shape
of the band Box Office Poison who Invented a new music genre called 'Pop
Noir'*See their page to read about this new music genre. It took at least 5
years before the likes of Goldfrapp, Mono and others caught on and even
Portishead and Madonna were influenced in certain parts of their careers by this
music genre.
B.O.P preferred to remain pioneers and cutting edge and have
released a number of stunning records (See their page). After Changing their
Name Briefly to 'POP Noir'in 2001 They called it a day in 2002. Psykick Holiday'
have now taken up the Baton of 'Pop Noir'
Another new music genre coming out from FLR was 'Ska Surf' Pioneered by 'Ministry of Ska (See thier Page). As well as new trends and genres FLR Kept things interesting with a series of Limited Edition Releases & Collectable vinyl. They also gave a last hurray to some big selling Cult Acts(See Artist Page).
After 10 years in 2003 after being let down by distributors Universal a
decision was taken to no longer release any new releases. This is not to say FLR
will never release anything ever again but for now you can still get all the
previously releases via this site on CD & Vinyl (Unless deleted) and get
them via Download via Itunes and other download stores.
If you want to buy
back catalogue releases at special low prices just vist our new record shop
page. The rest of this site gives you in depth information about all the Artists
we put out and track listings. You can also here tracks and see Videos.
Although not putting out any new releases you can get information about new releases connected to FLR released by other labels on the news page.
