Texas Revolution: the record label that attempted to put the news on vinyl
Have you ever wished that the ten o’clock news could be pressed onto vinyl instead of broadcast on television? The resounding ‘no’ that presumably follows that question is likely why you have never heard of Texas Revolution, a short-lived record label that sprang up in the 1970s.
Over the years, a plethora of well-meaning independent labels have come and gone without much fuss. Especially after the DIY ethos of punk music became more widespread in the late 1970s, small independent record labels sprang up everywhere. While labels like Rough Trade, Mute and 4AD remain popular among music fans to this day, the list of independent labels who put out a handful of unsubstantial releases before folding is much greater.
Texas Revolution, meanwhile, had the pioneering idea to press records which detailed recent newsworthy events. Essentially, the label wanted to create audio newspapers as a kind of retro-futurist replacement for the mainstream press. The idea behind the label was summed up by Mayo Thompson, who released a solo album on Texas Revolution in 1970. He said: “We were going to put the newspaper to music, and sell it on street corners. Like make it in one day, press it, and sell it the next week. Topical songs, sold out of the back of a truck.”
Presumably the result of some stoner brainstorming, these musical newspapers were never fully realised. The label was the brainchild of Walt Andrus, who was notable for being a sound engineer on various sessions by The 13th Floor Elevators, and he seemingly failed to realise that newspapers are much cheaper to print than vinyl records. The nature of paper means it is not only cheaper but also easier to dispose of than a polyvinyl chloride disc, which will likely outlive humanity as a whole.
Creating topical vinyl records nowadays would be a near-impossible task, given the lack of pressing plants and long waiting lists, but you would have to think that it cannot have been easy in 1970, either. After all, making a record is a much longer process than simply writing a newspaper article. Reading the newspaper on a train is an important part of any commuter’s day, so you can’t help but feel that those commuters might be unwilling to lug an entire turntable with accompanying speakers onto a train to get their news fix.
Robert Burns once said, “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry”, and while there is a lot of truth in that statement, it is difficult to argue that the plans laid by the Texas Revolution resembled anything that had been thought through at all. However, despite its failure to achieve the goal of creating musical newspapers, the Texas Revolution was not a complete failure.
The label managed to release a handful of singles from local garage rock groups such as Liquid Blue or 1900 Storm, but their high point came with the release of Mayo Thompson’s only solo LP, Corky’s Debt to His Father. Gaining notoriety for his role in the avant-garde rock group Red Krayola, Thompson’s solo work has since amassed a cult following. The album was pressed on Texas Revolution, but as a result of tight budgets and the desire to become an all-vinyl version of CNN, Thompson’s record did not receive much distribution, and the label soon joined the countless other independent labels that folded just as quickly as they sprang up.
