ON THE PASSAGE OF A FEW PEOPLE THROUGH A RATHER BRIEF MOMENT IN TIME: él RECORDS
40 years since the start of él Records there is now a burst of activities commemorating Mike Alway’s pop-art label él Records. Stefan Zachrisson talks to Mark Goodall about his new book Bright Young Things. The Art and Philosophy of él Records.
”If él wasn’t a label it would be a restaurant or a bar, one of those old bars where there’s no music at all, loads of good conversation, where you have this special relationship with the barman – though not too pally – the idea of something private and delicately euphoric.” A very Buñuel influenced Mike Alway quote from a lengthy Sounds feature on él Records in 1986.
The people hanging around at this metaphorical bar during five years in the mid to late 1980s would other than Alway be such eccentric aesthetes as Philippe Auclair, Nick Currie, Simon Fisher Turner, Bid, Nick Wesolowski, Cat Rees, Julia Gilbert, Matt Lipsey, Jessica Griffin, Vic Godard, Richard Preston, Karl Blake and Kevin Wright, to name just a few. During that brief time this group of people contributed to what became a really special record label.
él founder Mike Alway loved 1960s pop culture but, like many of the él musicians, came out of the post-punk era; an environment where pretentiousness and curiosity really could thrive. He was a&r for Cherry Red in the early 1980s, releasing the classic Pillows & Prayers compilation, introducing Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt to each other, and generally introducing ”light music” as a way forward.
Many of the él influences came from film; the name is from a Buñuel movie and directors Powell & Pressburger and Orson Welles were constantly mentioned as influences by Alway. When ”indie” was at its most mundande in the late 1980s Alway instead used él to create a kind of parallel fantasy world – in an admittedly low-budget way – suggesting personas, concepts and titles for the musicians. Some of the results were glorious failures but mostly it really did work.
What is the legacy of él today? Most people cannot name one record that él released. But like many of the best independent record labels of yore él was about more than actual music, even though a lot of great records came out of it. It’s a kind of fleeting spirit, which for me, regarding él, has lived on not only through a great influence on Japanese pop but also with the stylish playfulness of someone like Tyler, the Creator.
So él may seem obscure but it’s not completely forgotten: Spring of 2025 sees the release of two major retrospectives: Mark Goodall’s book Bright Young Things. The Art and Philosophy of él Records and the compilation The Rubens Room. Él Records: In Camera. Furthermore, several former él artists are releasing new music and doing concerts (Louis Philippe, Momus, Hotel Artesia, The Monochrome Set, Would-Be-Goods), while él as a name has for some time been re-activated as an archival/reissue label.
To highlight these happenings I interviewed Mark Goodall about his book. Goodall’s also the author of Sweet and Savage, a book about mondo films, and Gathering of the Tribe about music and the occult. He co-produced and directed the film Holy Terrors based on the stories of Arthur Machen, and is the singer/guitarist in the group Rudolf Rocker. (Text and inteview: Stefan Zachrisson)
Chickfactor: It’s a book about él – how would you describe your relation to
the label and its music?
Mark Goodall: It was only through conceptualising the book that I realised the scope of él records. Up to that point I had loved bits and pieces of their output – the first Momus LP, the Flair 89 LP, The World in Winter – and of course The Monochrome Set before that. I loved the post-punk/new wave scene and thought it was the most innovative period in pop music history since the 1960s.
What was your main motivation writing the book, the point you wanted to make?
With the book I wanted to explore the unique qualities of the label. There were lot of indie labels, but only one él. To me, the label had a ‘philosophy’ rather than just a modus operandi that stood it apart. That came of course from Mike Alway.
How would you, in short, describe that kind of “philosophy”?
The él philosophy to me seems to be:
1. The aim to create great (musical) art by synthesising other art forms, especially film, fashion and graphic design
2. The idea of creating new music by re-inventing 1960 pop sounds into a new wave
3. To combine the hit factories of the 1960s with Andy Warhol’s ‘Factory’ into a creative form of collaborative practice
This is kind of what my book is trying to explore.
Was there something surprising that you realized while writing the
book, some new insight/understanding?
Through interviewing almost everyone involved in the label, I learned more about the working methods of the label and the artists. The collaborative nature came across in a way that was not evident. Through assembling the records as a distinct body of work, the beauty of the visual aspect of the label became more apparent.
How was it for those involved to look back and talk about their él past? Did anyone say no to being interviewed?
It was forty years ago so memories were somewhat frayed! I think the timing was right – not so long that those involved were no longer around, but long enough for any resentments to have mellowed. I think it was mostly an enjoyable experience and a confirmation of the excellence of the work that they did. The only person who did not respond to an interview was Julia Gilbert (Anthony Adverse).
If you’d pick one él artefact – a song, a record, a cover, a lyric, an image, etc – as the pivotal one, what would it be and why?
Difficult to choose as there are so many classic LPs of course – The Camera Loves Me, Choirboys Gas, Royal Bastard – but probably for me the Marden Hill Cadaquez LP is the most extraordinary combination of originality, variety and skill. In short form, the 7-inch and 10-inch sets are incredible.
él was influenced by things like the past, art, movies etc and created something new. Is there anything going on culturally today that you’d say function a bit like él did?
No, it was totally original, unique, because of that combination you mention, and while the spirit is evident in other labels and artists there is nothing like it today and probably never will be. The world has changed and could certainly do with another ‘él’ but I can’t see it. It was a product of particular historical moment…
A Q&A with Mark Goodall and Louis Philippe about the book takes place at the Rough Trade shop at Denmark Street in London on April 14.
The 25-track compilation album The Rubens Room. Él Records: In
Camera is released by Tapete Records on April 11.
New albums by former él artists this Spring: Louis Philippe, The Road to the Sea, Momus, Quietism, and Hotel Artesia, Everywhere Alone.
