FUTURE LEGEND RECORDS - history
Future Legend Records was launched in 1993. The label has had an active impact on the music industry and is acknowledged and respected for setting new music trends and inventing new genres of music.
FLR was started and run by former DJ and record shop manager Russell C. Brennan who has been acknowledged by many as one of the most innovative record producers of his generation. His A&R skill was exceptional, resulting in the discovery of over 70 artists. (For those who don't know what A&R is, it's discovering new talents and putting them together with the right material, the right artistic image etc.) Brought up in Brixton in London UK, Russell was a Mod, with a deep love of film soundtracks, pop, Motown, ska and alternative innovative music. A book about his early days as a DJ and record shop is just out and signed copy can be acquired via us. Click on paypal drop down menu and if you are in UK or outside UK. Another book about the 30 year history of the record label is available on out main page.
His first discovery, whom he later married, was Mod icon Eleanor Rigby. He wrote and produced all her recordings which were initially released on the first record company label they set up together, Waterloo Sunset Records. Eleanor Rigby was a very influential figure in the indie pop world and some said she could have been as big as Madonna. She attracts new fans daily and her records still sell even though she is not available to promote them, Check out her interesting story here: Eleanor Rigby.
FLR is well known for Film and TV Theme albums and for starting the Cult Themes trend. So how did that happen? When Russell was working in a record shop as a young lad he noticed a big demand for singles and albums of cult TV and film themes. No singles were available at that time and any themes albums available were bland, orchestrated, easy listening affairs. Added to that none had the right track listings of the most popular themes all together on one album. He decided that if ever he got his own label he'd put out just the right album of only the very best cult themes.
Rather than release the original tracks, many of which were next to impossible to get hold of (and expensive to license), Russell decided the next best thing was to help break new artists by making new and exciting versions of the themes and get the acts a bigger public profile (and hopefully boost their career). After forming Future Legend Records, he started off with Themes from the 60s Vol 1 and several more albums followed.
Feedback was good. Fans and reviewers said that many of the new versions were much better than the originals. Russell did a BBC radio show with composer John Barry about the Cult Themes and Barry said that he liked the FLR covers of his work best of all the cover versions he'd heard. He especially liked Moonraker, saying it was better than his. He loved the FLR version of The Persuaders and he really rated Eleanor Rigby.
The production and arrangements of the album tracks were innovative, but the key ingredient was the track listing. It was spot on.
Feedback was good. Fans and reviewers said that many of the new versions were much better than the originals. Russell did a BBC radio show with composer John Barry about the Cult Themes and Barry said that he liked the FLR covers of his work best of all the cover versions he'd heard. He especially liked Moonraker, saying it was better than his. He loved the FLR version of The Persuaders and he really rated Eleanor Rigby.
The production and arrangements of the album tracks were innovative, but the key ingredient was the track listing. It was spot on.
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The first two film and TV themes albums on Future Legend Records were Themes from the 60s Volumes 1 & 2.
The original B&W artwork was hand drawn to scale to fit a 12" vinyl album cover. They were released on vinyl, CD and cassette.
The original B&W artwork was hand drawn to scale to fit a 12" vinyl album cover. They were released on vinyl, CD and cassette.
Not only did the first themes albums prove popular, they appeared to spark a cult themes music and lifestyle trend in the 1990s, with cult theme club nights springing up at famous London club Madame Jo Jo's and many other venues. People went dressed up as their favourite characters and a lot of fun was had by all. Other labels caught on and started to release themes albums of their own, and eventually the trend developed into an easy listening scene (ironically diametrically opposed to the original idea of our themes albums). FLR eventually released 7 albums spanning cult film and TV themes across 3 decades.
A huge movie fan and cult TV show lover, Russell knew exactly which tracks would appeal the most to film and TV afficionados. In addition to the main themes, he sometimes chose some lesser known themes eg those shown at the end credits rather than the beginning, or at certain parts of the film where the best action took place. These secondary themes were unlikely to be found outside of the whole original soundtrack, that's if it had ever been released. The main criterion for selection was it had to be a great theme with the potential for a good cover version.
Many artists made leaps in their careers after appearing on the cult themes albums. The albums also helped bring fresh attention to some million selling acts, including '60s number one hit band The Honeycombs, Mod '70s band The Lambrettas and '60s star Glenda Collins, who came out of retirement to sing tracks on some of the albums.
FLR didn't only concentrate on theme tunes though. Although Mod singer Eleanor Rigby's music had originally been released on Waterloo Sunset Records, much of it was out of print and unavailable. Fans had been asking for the material to be re-released, so Russell put together a compilation of her best songs on The Best of Eleanor Rigby album, and this was released in 1994 through Future Legend Records. Interestingly, this had a knock on effect on cultural music trends and on a lot of other artists.
A DJ at London's famous Mod club Blow Up started playing The Best of Eleanor Rigby album alongside many other Mod sounds. He coined the phrase Britpop to describe this kind of music. You see, the term 'Mod music' still had a certain anti-establishment stigma attached to it whereas the term Britpop did not. Britpop as a term stuck with the public and the media, and the music took a hold on radio airplay lists, in student bars and in venues all over the UK. Eleanor Rigby became influential, and Britpop acts who were up and coming at that time, such as Blur, Garbage, Oasis and Saint Etienne, have all name checked Eleanor as a positive influence on them and their music.
A DJ at London's famous Mod club Blow Up started playing The Best of Eleanor Rigby album alongside many other Mod sounds. He coined the phrase Britpop to describe this kind of music. You see, the term 'Mod music' still had a certain anti-establishment stigma attached to it whereas the term Britpop did not. Britpop as a term stuck with the public and the media, and the music took a hold on radio airplay lists, in student bars and in venues all over the UK. Eleanor Rigby became influential, and Britpop acts who were up and coming at that time, such as Blur, Garbage, Oasis and Saint Etienne, have all name checked Eleanor as a positive influence on them and their music.
The Best of Eleanor Rigby album (Volume 1)
The most popular track on the album by far was Eleanor Rigby's cover of the Bond theme You Only Live Twice, which hit the Number One spot in Italy's music charts. It was thought to be the most likely track to have success in the UK and was released as a CD single in 1993. In advance of the release a big push was made to promote it through many different channels. There were write-ups in magazines, adverts, emails to the fan base, it was getting lots of airplay on the radio and a real buzz was on.
FLR had signed a manufacturing and distribution deal with major distributor Sony for the single and kept them fully informed about the time scale of the promotion, asking them to get the single into the shops by a certain date. However their sales branch ILC delayed getting the single shipped to retail outlets until well past the critical 4 week promotion time point. The fans were unable to buy it in the shops when they wanted it and all the impetus so carefully built up by promotion and airplay was lost.
When the single finally got to the shops the main demand was over, and although it got sales they never really picked up. FLR parted company with the distributor after that but it was too late, the damage had been done. Since Eleanor had already bowed out of the music scene by then the chance of live promotion to get a success in the UK (and elsewhere) was over.
FLR had signed a manufacturing and distribution deal with major distributor Sony for the single and kept them fully informed about the time scale of the promotion, asking them to get the single into the shops by a certain date. However their sales branch ILC delayed getting the single shipped to retail outlets until well past the critical 4 week promotion time point. The fans were unable to buy it in the shops when they wanted it and all the impetus so carefully built up by promotion and airplay was lost.
When the single finally got to the shops the main demand was over, and although it got sales they never really picked up. FLR parted company with the distributor after that but it was too late, the damage had been done. Since Eleanor had already bowed out of the music scene by then the chance of live promotion to get a success in the UK (and elsewhere) was over.
The You Only Live Twice CD cover shows two
images of Eleanor in a Bond style point and shoot pose
images of Eleanor in a Bond style point and shoot pose
FLR band Ministry of Ska, who'd provided several ska tracks for the themes albums, released their cheeky ska debut album Rarin' To Go in 1995. Also some exciting new music came to FLR with Russell's band Box Office Poison (BOP) which introduced a new genre to the music scene. At that time Russell was writing moody, film noir type pop music that he termed Pop Noir, and with the promotion of Box Office Poison's pop noir debut album this term entered into public perception for the first time.
Box Office Poison's debut album Beyond the Twilight Zone was released in 1995, and the second album Heavy Breathing Decade came out 3 years later in 1998.
It took at least 5 years before bands like Portishead, Goldfrapp and Mono caught on to pop noir. Some bands took pop noir influences either into their music (eg The Blue Violets, Lowe) or by using the genre's name in other ways. For example, Montreal rock band The Dears released an EP in 2001 called Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique, a Los Angeles based British indie duo took Pop Noir as their band name to break into the US in 2004, and Norwegian band Blackroom's 2009 alt pop rock album was entitled Pop Noir. The term had definitely gone public.
Box Office Poison's debut album Beyond the Twilight Zone was released in 1995, and the second album Heavy Breathing Decade came out 3 years later in 1998.
It took at least 5 years before bands like Portishead, Goldfrapp and Mono caught on to pop noir. Some bands took pop noir influences either into their music (eg The Blue Violets, Lowe) or by using the genre's name in other ways. For example, Montreal rock band The Dears released an EP in 2001 called Orchestral Pop Noir Romantique, a Los Angeles based British indie duo took Pop Noir as their band name to break into the US in 2004, and Norwegian band Blackroom's 2009 alt pop rock album was entitled Pop Noir. The term had definitely gone public.
Some sleeves of releases made around that time: Ministry of Ska's debut album Rarin To Go and three Box Office Poison singles.
Rarin' To Go (Ministry of Ska)
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Checkmate (Box Office Poison)
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Alien/teenage sex (Box office poison)
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think for yourself & lady grinning soul (box office poison)
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In 2003 FLR was taken over by a new owner, Annie Bygrave. The record company continued to keep things interesting during the 2000s with a series of Limited Edition releases & collectable vinyl, particularly of Eleanor Rigby's back catalogue. However, distribution to the shops for retail sale was a constant problem and after a decade of difficulties with distributors and constantly escalating costs, a financial decision was taken by FLR to stop manufacturing physical formats that required external distribution.
FLR continued to sell the remaining physical stock by mail order, but inevitably some records went out of stock and were discontinued. Things were changing in the record industry. As the power of the internet grew, sales of physical formats began to fall, and traditional record companies started going out of business. The profits from downloads and streaming were not great enough for them or the artists they represented for all of them to survive.
FLR continued to sell the remaining physical stock by mail order, but inevitably some records went out of stock and were discontinued. Things were changing in the record industry. As the power of the internet grew, sales of physical formats began to fall, and traditional record companies started going out of business. The profits from downloads and streaming were not great enough for them or the artists they represented for all of them to survive.
At that time the social media phenomena of MySpace and YouTube were encouraging a whole new generation of music artists. Through these sites and through online fanzines, social media sites and online music press, it became easier for worldwide fans of FLR artists to continue to grow, particularly those of Eleanor Rigby. Used and new CD and vinyl copies of her work started selling for good money on the collectors market and eBay. In addition the digital revolution was taking off with many new music download sites being set up, starting with iTunes and Amazon. FLR's absence from the active record scene seemed to add to its reputation, and demand built up for many of its previous discontinued releases. Although the label continued to sell the CDs and vinyl that were still in stock, it became time for FLR to move into the 21st century by also going digital.
Several music download companies had shown interest in FLR due to the company's extensive back catalogue, particularly of the cult themes, but it was important to choose one that was aligned with FLRs indie label status, that championed independent artists and already had the online infrastructure in place. A digital distribution deal was finally agreed with the Independent Online Distribution Alliance (IODA), a subsiduary of Sony that had been set up in 2003 for the music distribution of independent artists. The FLR back catalogue could then be made available for download via iTunes, Amazon, e-music and a raft of other download sites.
Once this was proved to be working well, it seemed the right time to start releasing new material via the download route, giving fans more choice and value while at the same time not over-stretching the labels limited finances. The first new download release was the album The Themes Bond....James Bond, The Alternative Bond Themes. This came about at the request of many Bond fans who said they wanted all the FLR Bond theme covers on one album.
Once this was proved to be working well, it seemed the right time to start releasing new material via the download route, giving fans more choice and value while at the same time not over-stretching the labels limited finances. The first new download release was the album The Themes Bond....James Bond, The Alternative Bond Themes. This came about at the request of many Bond fans who said they wanted all the FLR Bond theme covers on one album.
The Themes Bond...James Bond - 1st download release
In 2012 the online distribution company IODA was merged with The Orchard, also a subsiduary of Sony aimed at independent artists. To this day music continues to be regularly released by FLR on download through The Orchard, giving fans the choice to buy previously sold out or deleted works as well as new ones.
We do still put out the occasional special release on CD. The last themes album Cult Themes Forever is on CD format as well as download. Psykick Holiday's debut album Forever Pop Noir was on CD, and the band's follow up album Sensory Art will likely be on CD too. Glenda Collins is still very big with fans who are into '60s music, and her planned album Second Chance should also come out on CD. Please check out the New Releases page to find out more.
We do still put out the occasional special release on CD. The last themes album Cult Themes Forever is on CD format as well as download. Psykick Holiday's debut album Forever Pop Noir was on CD, and the band's follow up album Sensory Art will likely be on CD too. Glenda Collins is still very big with fans who are into '60s music, and her planned album Second Chance should also come out on CD. Please check out the New Releases page to find out more.