A Punk / New Wave label. Rough Trade started life as a record shop in Portobello, run by Geoff Travis; it progressed from distributing small independent labels to issuing its own records. The first Rough Trade singles appeared in 1978, using RT-000 catalogue numbers and a variety of different label designs. The label became independent from the shop in 1982. As a record company and as a distributor Rough Trade followed its own distinctive path throughout the '80s, releasing an eclectic range of material and making a host of other labels widely available to the public. It folded in 1991, but was relaunched in 2000 as part of the Sanctuary Records group. Thanks to Simon Hughes for the first two scans and to Robert Bowes for the third and fifth. The discography below only covers the 1970s.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.