Love Rock Revolution K Records & the Rise of Independent Music

Punk isn't a sound--it's an idea! In its history, K Records has fostered some of independent music's greatest artists, including Bikini Kill, Beat Happening, Built to Spill, Beck, Modest Mouse, and the Gossip. In 1982, K Records released its first cassette and put its own spin on punk's defiant manifesto: You don't need anyone's permission to make music. Thirty years later, the label continues to operate in the underground while rightfully claiming a role as one of the most transformative engines of modern independent music. It has also galvanized the international pop underground, helped create the grunge scene that took over pop culture, and provided a launching pad for the riot grrrl movement that changed the role of women in music forever. Love Rock Revolution tells the story of how it all happened, recounting the early journeys of K Records founder Calvin Johnson from the punk mecca of London to the hardcore clubs of Washington, D.C., in the late-'70s, the creation of K Records in the '80s, the label's role in revolutionizing independent music in the '90s, and its struggle to survive that revolution with its integrity intact.

"No novelist, short of Ayn Rand, could come up with a character as iconoclastic and idealist as Calvin Johnson, which is one reason Love Rock Revolution is a compelling book. Mark Baumgarten methodically details every nuance of K Records, and in doing so has written the best book yet on the Olympia, Washington scene. Whether you're a fan of Beat Happening, Bikini Kill, or Nirvana, this book will help you understand a scene that changed music history." Charles R. Cross, author of Cobain Unseen

Punk isn't a sound — it's an idea! In 1982, K Records released its first cassette and put its own spin on punk's defiant manifesto: You don't need anyone's permission to make music. Thirty years later, the label continues to operate in the underground while rightfully claiming a role as one of the most transformative engines of modern independent music. In its history, K Records has fostered some of independent music's greatest artists, including Beat Happening, Built to Spill, Beck, Modest Mouse, and the Gossip. It has also galvanized the international pop underground, helped create the grunge scene that took over pop culture, and provided a launching pad for the riot grrrl movement that changed the role of women in music forever.

Love Rock Revolution tells the story of how it all happened, recounting the early journeys of K Records founder Calvin Johnson from the punk mecca of London to the hardcore clubs of Washington, D.C., in the late-'70s, the creation of K Records in the '80s, the label's role in revolutionizing independent music in the '90s, and its struggle to survive that revolution with its integrity intact.

Punk isn't a sound; it's an idea. That is the lesson that Calvin Johnson took from the '70s and brought into the '80s, when he created K Records, a modest cassette-only record label that would become one of the most transformative engines of underground culture in the twentieth century. Here is the first book to tell the story of K Records, the Olympia, Washington, record label that was integral to the rise of the international independent music movement of the '80s.

Thirty years ago, a teenager named Calvin Johnson started a record label that would change the world of music with a revolutionary manifesto and a love of rock and roll. Love Rock Revolution tells the whole story, from the punk pioneers of the 1970s that shaped Johnson's worldview, through K Records' rise in the '80s, to its struggle to stay true to its revolutionary spirit after Kurt Cobain, another Olympian, brought the underground to the masses in the '90s.

Punk isn't a sound--it's an idea! In 1982, K Records released its first cassette and put its own spin on punk's defiant manifesto: You don't need anyone's permission to make music. Thirty years later, the label continues to operate in the underground while rightfully claiming a role as one of the most transformative engines of modern independent music. In its history, K Records has fostered some of independent music's greatest artists, including Beat Happening, Built to Spill, Beck, Modest Mouse, and the Gossip. It has also galvanized the international pop underground, helped create the grunge scene that took over pop culture, and provided a launching pad for the riot grrrl movement that changed the role of women in music forever. Love Rock Revolution tells the story of how it all happened, recounting the early journeys of K Records founder Calvin Johnson from the punk mecca of London to the hardcore clubs of Washington, D.C., in the late-'70s, the creation of K Records in the '80s, the label's role in revolutionizing independent music in the '90s, and its struggle to survive that revolution with its integrity intact.

Mark Baumgarten is a Seattle-based music writer. Mark serves as the editor-at-large for City Arts Magazine, and was formerly the music editor for Williamette Week in Portland, Oregon. His work has been featured in Seattle Weekly, Twin Cities Metropolitan, Lost Cause, and Sound Magazine. Mark received an honorary mention in De Capo's Best Music Writing 2009 for his profile of The Dandy Warhols' lead singer, Courtney Taylor Taylor. The author lives in Seattle, WA.