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Hi All,
 
This year marks the 30th anniversary of Lisa Fancher's Frontier Records, which introduced the world to Suicidal Tendencies, The Adolescents and The Circle Jerks, TSOL, the Weirdos and more.  That's a hell of a long time for any record company to survive, let alone one that has been financed literally out of the pockets of a single person.  

Words like "legendary", "boundary-breaking" and "pioneer" tend to be tossed around lightly these days but in Lisa Fancher's case, however, all three are true. There just aren’t that many labels started by a woman who has played by her own rules in the male-dominated world of indie and punk music for over three decades - period. And let’s not forget – she’s released seminal records to boot!

It's been a labor of love, sweat and beers. So why not let Lisa tell you about it - call me to set up an interview today.

Best,
 
Tracy
 
***
Tracy Blackburn
It's Alive! Media & Management
6381 Hollywood Blvd. #540
Los Angeles, CA  90028
323-464-6315
tracy@itsalivemedia.com
www.itsalivemedia.com

 
FRONTIER RECORDS CELEBRATES 30TH ANNIVERSARY AS
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA’S PREMIER INDEPENDENT LABEL
 
Seminal Punk Releases from Circle Jerks, the Adolescents, The Weirdos and Suicidal Tendencies Reside Next to Young Fresh Fellows, Heatmiser, American Music Club, Christian Death and The Long Ryders
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
 
LOS ANGELES, CA (Thursday, July 22 2010) – Frontier Records (http://www.frontierrecords.com/), the independent Los Angeles-based record label founded in 1980, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year with their 100th release, YES L.A., scheduled for later this year. Owned and operated by Lisa Fancher, Frontier is instrumental in releasing classic punk, alternative country, paisley underground, goth and pop records that are considered classic ‘must-haves’ to critics and serious music collectors alike.
 
Among the first to tap into the Los Angeles punk scene, Frontier Records’ initial success was releasing the classic Circle Jerks record Group Sex. This was later followed by Orange County's Adolescents’ debut known as the Blue Album TSOL's Dance with Me and Christian Death's Only Theatre of Pain. However, it was the eponymous debut LP from Suicidal Tendencies that spawned the unexpected MTV smash “Institutionalized" that put Frontier on the map. If you caught the Don Johnson vehicle Miami Vice episode featuring Suicidal, you’d know the mainstream finally caught up with the underground.
 
In light of these early successes in punk rock, it is easy to overlook the fact that Frontier has also released well-known records from bands from a variety of genres:  The Long Ryders, Thin White Rope, The Three O’Clock, Young Fresh Fellows, American Music Club and Heatmiser, Elliott Smith's first band. All of these groups and more released full-length-albums on Frontier Records that were as important to the labels evolution as any punk rock angst the label is best known for.
 
Perhaps most importantly, a woman starting her own independent record label in an overwhelmingly male dominated music industry in 1980 was key in shattering the notion that ‘chicks can’t rock’.  Simply put, women didn’t start their own record labels then, especially in the testosterone-drenched L.A. punk rock scene. For founder Lisa Fancher to have survived as an indie label for thirty solid years on, having seen her fair share of record distributors go belly up and put her label in financial jeopardy, makes its survival almost as impressive as its inception.
 
“When I founded Frontier Records in 1980, I had no idea what running a record label entailed, I just wanted to turn other people onto the local bands I loved,” said Frontier Records founder Lisa Fancher. “It’s pretty cool to have outlasted so many independent – and major – labels thirty years later but what really still makes me want to continue is to continue to release great music that still needs to be heard. Especially now!”
 
Having begun her music career as a teenage clerk at the Bomp Records store on Magnolia Blvd in North Hollywood— concurrently fan club president for L.A.’s The Dickies and publisher of Biff!Bang!Pow! fanzine—  Lisa learned the ropes on how to jumpstart an indie label from the best possible mentors a person could have, Greg and Suzy Shaw at Bomp Records. While her first success came from releasing soon-to-be classic punk titles by new bands, Fancher gradually delved into the world of reissuing out-of-print catalog as well, including Born Innocent from Redd Kross, two legendary slabs of punk vinyl from The Weirdos: Weird World Vol. 1 & 2, Dangerhouse Vols 1 & 2 featuring crucial 45s by X, The Avengers, Weirdos, Black Randy, et al.), the Adolescents’ Complete Demos 1980 – 1996 and The Middle Class' compilation Out of Vogue.
 
In late 2010, Frontier will re-release the digitally remastered Christian Death classic Only Theater of Pain with Rozz Williams' original artwork as well as Dangerhouse’s Yes L.A. compilation and other nuggets soon to be announced. Additionally, Frontier has always been a vinyl-oriented label, which considers the limited edition colored vinyl LP their calling card – so expect more colored wax reissues in the coming months.
 
A 30th anniversary event honoring Frontier Records is in the works and will be announced shortly.
 
ABOUT FRONTIER RECORDS

Frontier Records was founded in Los Angeles, CA. 1980 by Lisa Fancher and is celebrating their 30th anniversary this year. Frontier was one of the first independent labels to document the nascent L.A. and O.C. hard-core punk rock scene before branching out into other scenes and sounds such as the so-called "Paisley Underground" and (always) guitar-based bands along with genres such as goth, alternative country, pop and more. Bands releasing records on Frontier include: Circle Jerks, Adolescents, The Weirdos, TSOL, China White, Redd Kross, Thin White Rope, Heatmiser, Young Fresh Fellows, Christian Death, Dharma Bums, American Music Club, The Long Ryders, The Three O’Clock, The Pontiac Brothers, Naked Prey, Flop and many more. They are quickly closing in on their 100th release.
 
 
For More Information, please contact, Joshua Mills, 323-464-6314, josh@itsalivemedia.com, www.itsalivemedia.com
 
 
 

It's Alive! Media & Management
6381 Hollywood Blvd., Suite 540
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-464-6314