Mute

Allow me to take you back to the late seventies and early eighties, a time when record labels really meant something. Let's see how many notables I can remember off the top of my head: Stiff, 2-Tone, 4AD, Cherry Red, Factory, Mute, ZTT, Rough Trade, Virgin (really), Some Bizarre... the list goes on. These are (or were) all, as you may or may not have noticed, independent labels. 

I can't quite remember the definition of an independent label: I think maybe it was to do with distribution. But there was a clear enough definition that they had their own chart, I do remember that.

There were others I could have mentioned here - such as Fiction and Dindisc - but they generally only had one band to their name (The Cure and OMD respectively in these two cases). The key point was that those independent labels that I listed were what we might now describe as brands; you could buy from them with an idea of what you were getting, even if you hadn't heard the music.

Of all of these, Mute Records was my favourite, run by a chap called Daniel Miller (whom, a few years ago, I was delighted to meet, albeit briefly, at a Kraftwerk concert). The logo on the face mask in my photo is that of Mute Records, which I have always loved, although I have no idea what significance it has, if any.

I posted a variation of this photo on Instagram today, with the comment "#Mute". Superficially, it was a joke of sorts to those in the know but there was a more serious, if oblique, subtext to the post: until such time as Facebook are obliged to divest themselves of Instagram, I intend it to be my last post there. Similarly, I have also finished with WhatsApp (completing my transition to Telegram).

I know, I know; it can all seem a bit 'tinfoil hat' but, trust me guys, Facebook is far from harmless.

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-13.4 kgs
Reading: 'Troubled Blood' by Robert Galbraith