An independent label from the Punk era. Rabid was based in Manchester, and was run by Tosh Ryan. It boasted John Cooper Clarke and Slaughter & the Dogs on its roster of artists, but its most succesful record was a distinctly weird single, 'Jilted John', by Jilted John which got into the charts after EMI licensed it and reissued it on their EMI International label. Rabid itself doesn't seem to have lasted into 1980, despite the fact that legendary producer Martin Hannett worked on several of its releases. It issued fewer than a dozen singles, in a TOSH-100 numbering series. Some, at least, were distributed by Lightning Records; some were pressed by Polydor / Phonogram and came with injection-moulded labels in various colours; one was pressed in France (4). Singles from TOSH-110 onwards had their own individual label designs; they can be seen on the 45cat site. Thanks to Tony Macey for the first and fifth scans (the fifth is of a re-pressing), and Robert Bowes for the second.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.