K Records | THE NORTHWEST MUSIC ARCHIVES (2024)

LOCATION: Olympia, WA.
OWNER: Calvin Johnson
MISC NOTES: K Records was an independent record label based in Olympia, Washington. It was co-founded, owned, and operated by Calvin Johnson. The label launched in 1982 with the great bulk of its early releases on the cassette tape format, making the label one of the longest lasting reflections of the cassette culture of the 1970s and early 1980s. K emerged in Olympia at a time when other creatives were launching enterprises including the Lost Music Network (LMN), and OP magazine. Punk rodk lore maintains that Johnson simply named his project with the letter that preceded those of LMN and OP in the alphabet. Although itself releasing primarily offbeat pop music and indie rock, the K label is regarded as one of the pioneers of the 1990s second wave of American punk and the riot grrrl movement. Johnson started K Records originally with the simple intention of making his friends' music available to the world, but over time its reputation grew. The great bulk of the label's early releases were made on the medium of cassette tapes, as Johnson noted: "A cassette is great for a local scene like Olympia because a band can release a cassette and not have to spend their would-be savings. If they were to press 500 records, there goes their savings. But if you do a cassette you make up as many as you need, they're cheap, and if you don't sell them you just use them." This passel of local cassette-only releases was built into a mail order distribution business, which eventually become a full-time job for Johnson. A newsletter was put out in support of the mailorder operation, which in 1986 had a circulation of about 2,000. The K motto is "exploding the teenage underground into passionate revolt against the corporate ogre since 1982." The label has been so influential in anti-corporate indie music and underground DIY punk culture, particularly in the Olympia music scene, that it was the subject of a documentary directed by Heather Rose Dominic titled The Shield Around the K, with a tagline of "Do It Yourself."

SERIAL

ARTIST

TITLE

DATE

#IPU 6

GIRL TROUBLE

"Tarantula" / "Old Time Religion"

1987

MISC NOTES: Catalog number not listed on disc or picture sleeve.

LOCATION: Olympia, WA
RECORDING PERSONNEL:
RECORDING STUDIO: Yo Yo Studios
RECORDING ENGINEER: Tim Olsen, Calvin Johnson, Patrick Maley [A side only]

FORMAT: disc
SIZE: 7"
SPEED: 45 rpm
DISC NOTES: black vinyl, released with picture sleeve.

A-SIDE STAMPER CODE: BLACK ..K L28201
A-SIDE COMPOSER: Girl Trouble

B-SIDE MATRIX:
B-SIDE STAMPER CODE: WIDOW L28201-X ..K
B-SIDE COMPOSER: Girl Trouble

#IPU 31

THATCHER ON ACID

"Yo Yo Man" / "26 Letters" "Grindstone Cowboy"

MISC NOTES:

Artsy, non-photo picture sleeve

LOCATION:
RECORDING PERSONNEL:
RECORDING STUDIO:
RECORDING ENGINEER:

FORMAT: disc
SIZE: 7"
SPEED: 45 rpm
DISC NOTES:

A-SIDE MATRIX: IPU 31A
A-SIDE STAMPER CODE: IPU - 31 - A L - 40293 (etched)
A-SIDE COMPOSER: Not Listed
A-SIDE PUBLISHER: Not Listed