David Bowie reissue pioneer fronts new CD-only catalogue record label

Jeff Rougvie, who helmed Rykodisc’s exemplary David Bowie ‘Sound + Vision’ back catalogue programme back in the early nineties, has launched a new record label, Supermegabot Music Concern, with a remit to reissue ‘great records.’

Working with former Ryko colleague Thomas Enright, the label will reissue music that spans many genres, with initial releases including punk, power-pop, art-rock, new wave and eighties funk. Those dismayed at the current propensity for all things vinyl, might be pleased to hear that Supermegabot won’t be issuing any of its titles on LP and will be showing some loyalty to the humble CD, by issuing exclusively on that format. That should also keep the releases relatively affordable and perhaps encourage fans to ‘take a chance’ on something that piques their interest.

Six releases are planned before the end of this year, but what are they? In an effort to engage immediately with knowledgeable music fans, the label is launching without actually announcing any of the titles! Instead, we are encouraged to compete in the ‘Supermegabot Challenge‘ and try and guess the releases. The reward for the person who accurately guesses correctly will be a copy of all of the label’s releases in year one.

Rougvie explained this quirky launch strategy by saying “We’re music obsessives launching a label for music obsessives – so we want to reward one of them for proving their depth of knowledge. A contest seemed like a fun way to launch and engage music fans at the same time”.

Most releases will feature bonus tracks and the aim is to get the artist involved, wherever possible. The titles should be available from various channels, although the focus will be largely online (Supermegabot website, Amazon, Pledge etc.).

SDE will of course keep readers informed when releases are announced, but in the meantime head over to the Supermegabot website for more information and of course give that challenge a go!