American. Tabu was started by Clarence Avant in 1976, following the demise of his Sussex label (q.v.). 'Billboard' of the 27th of November reported on the launch, saying that two artists had already been signed and that Avant intended to keep the numbers of staff on the company low, as more than five gave him headaches. Distribution was to be by RCA. Tabu had a fairly slow 1977 with a small roster of artists but began to pick up pace in 1978 after a move from RCA to CBS. It went on to enjoy considerable success as a mainly Disco / R&B concern in the 1980s, with the S.O.S Band and Alexander O'Neal registering repeatedly in both the Hot 100 and the UK Charts. In the '90s Tabu suffered distribution difficulties in the States, moving from Sony to A&M and then Motown; it shut down in 1999.
Tabu made a relatively late appearance in Britain. A couple of singles by Brainstorm came out on other labels: 'Wake Up And Be Somebody' b/w 'We Know A Place' on RCA in 1977 as PB-0811 (15th April), and, two years after it had been issued in the States, 'Lovin' Is Really My Game' b/w 'Stormin'' on Miracle in 1979 as M-5 (6th April) - the labels of the latter had the Tabu logo added to them (1). Tabu made its debut in its own right just a month after the Miracle release, and was handled by CBS (2). Its singles were given a TBU prefix; their numerical series was shared with the other CBS family singles. Just the one single appeared here in our decade: Brainstorm's 'Hot For You' b/w 'Don't Let Me Catch You With Your Groove Down' (TBU-7341; 5/79). Between the start of 1980 and the end of 1983 Tabu managed just six more singles, all of them by the S.O.S. Band, but its release schedule got fuller from 1984 onwards. Promo copies of the Brainstorm single were marked in one of the usual CBS ways of the time, with a large hollow 'A' and the release date (3).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.