Unclean Records was conceived in Boulder, Colorado sometime in 1981. It was developed simply as a tool to release 45s by Boulder punk band Lepers. The late Laz Beeken, who was bassist of Lepers, came up with the moniker. After Roger Morgan left the band and Boulder in the summer of 1984, he relocated the operation to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unclean became a real label and released 7"EPs by Tulsa's N.O.T.A., El Paso's Rhythm Pigs, Boulder's Anti-Scrunti Faction and Salt Lake City's Massacre Guys.
During a roadtrip with N.O.T.A. to Austin, Texas, Morgan decided that Unclean would be more useful in a thriving music scene so he relocated in the summer of 1986. A brief distribution deal with upstart Mordam Records boosted sales and led to 12" releases by Fresno's Capitol Punishment and Boulder's Dead Silence.
In the late 1980's, the distribution deal with Mordam ended and the Austin music scene went into hibernation. Morgan took a job at local indy record store The Sound Exchange. During the early '90's several indy labels evolved from The Sound Exchange (including Frank Kozik's Rise Records, Undone and Bunkhouse) and the resurrection of Unclean Records became a reality. Dozens of full length CDs, LPs and 7"ers followed mostly from Austin and San Antonio punk acts. A second N.O.T.A. full length titled Give 'Em Enough Dope was also released.
Finally, in the last couple of years of the 20th Century, the dream bubble burst and Unclean went belly-up. What remains on this website are leftover catalog items and used records and cds from different sources. For more info about Unclean Records check out the links below: Unclean Thoughts by Rob Patterson 1996 Article in the Dallas Observer
Complete Discography 1981-1997 (COMING SOON) |