Twin/Tone Records

In 1984, The Replacements released Let It Be.

It was on Twin Tone Records, and it moved them away from fast punk into more of a mature indie rock sound.

Did not hit the commercial charts, unfortunately, but it did have the songs Androgynous and I Will Dare.

In 1984, the Swedish extreme metal band Bathory released their self-titled debut album.

When you look at the Bar None discography, it's clear that there wasn't really a distinct label sound.

Let's say you associate with Postcard or Sarah or SST or maybe even Twin Tone.

But there was definitely a label identity.

What qualities did you really look for in artists to bring on the Bar None roster?

Yeah, right.

Um, uh, Peter Jesperson, you know, Twin/Tone founder, Replacements manager, and Vic.

Mm-hmm.

Right? So the rock critic, uh, troublemakers were me and Michael Azerrad.

AllMusic called the album one of Mekon's finest efforts, writing that, The Mekons supported the album with a North American tour.

And as the group's profile grew, they struck a deal with U.S. independent label Twin Tone.

In 1987's next album, Mekon's Honky Tonkin became their first album to be released in America.

Later that same year, the cassette-only ROIR label issued a collection of recordings from a U.S. tour under the title New York.

So the next album was the Mekans Honky Tonkin.

It was released in 1987 on Syn Records in the UK.

It was the first album released in the US on Twin Tone and the band's third country music-influenced album, which was part of these mid-'80s works.

The band supported the album with another North America tour, and the album was produced by the band.

Think of The Replacements.

Their first album came out on Twin/Tone after they were discovered by WFU DJs who had played their demos extensively.

The record got a cult following, and then a bigger label like Rykodisc released later material in larger territories with better distribution.

But that path wouldn't have existed if the station didn't play those raw recordings on tape.