I.R.S. Records was one of the most
influential American record labels of the New Wave era. International
Record Syndicate was the brainchild of Miles Copeland III (older
bother of Police drummer Stewart). Copeland founded the British
record labels Illegal Records and Faulty Products in 1977 and 1978,
respectively. He had previously established a relationship with A&M
Records and in 1979 along with Jay Boberg and Carlos Grasso, made a
deal with them to distribute IRS Records.
I.R.S. was responsible for exposing the
general public at large with the likes of The Go-Go's, The Cramps,
R.E.M., The Fleshtones, Wall Of Voodoo, The Buzzcocks, Oingo Boingo,
The Fall and countless other alternative music acts of the late
1970's and 1980's.
Released in 1981, I.R.S. Greatest Hits
Volume 2 & 3 is a double-album sampler of then-current
recordings, released on the label. It personally introduced me to
several bands when I first heard it. Namely The Cramps, The
Fleshtones, The Buzzcocks, The Damned and The Stranglers. The album
features two songs by Stewart Copeland's pseudonym while he was in
The Police, rare single tracks from both Squeeze and The Police. It
features notable entries from somewhat obscure acts like Humans,
Fashion, Skafish, Payoloa$ and Patrick D. Martin. It also features
curiosities from ex-Velvet Underground cellist John Cale, ex-Damned
guitarist Brian James, ex-Squeeze keyboardist/BBC personality Jools
Holland, and BBC6 personality Tom Robinson. It contains great songs
by The Buzzcocks, The Damned, The Fall, The Stranglers, The Cramps
and The Fleshtones.
The album is inconsistently excellent
and overall is a pretty good representation of the music that I.R.S.
Records. It was a pretty important album in shaping my own musical
tastes growing up. There can't be too many better albums of it's
kind. It's a great alternative music sampler of the early 1980's.
Highly Recommended!
Here's the video review (including an awesome K-Tel-esque commercial) :
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