Poptones is a record label formed by
Alan McGee in 1999 after his stake in his previous label,
Creation was bought out by
Sony who had previously owned 51% of the shares.
McGee is one of the few maverick, music-oriented record execs in the business, and during his time at Creation helped forge the careers of bands such as Oasis, Teenage Fanclub and Primal Scream. Creation also had a subsidiary, Rev-Ola, which put out reissues of albums by everyone from William Shatner to Ivor Cutler.
Both these sides are now included in Poptones, which has a catalogue that includes critically acclaimed acts such as Arnold and the Cosmic Rough Riders as well as more 'unusual' acts such as El Vez - a Mexican Elvis impersonator who sings Mexicanised versions of the King's back catalogue.
Perhaps Poptones' most valuable side however is in its back catalogue department, which continues work started at Rev-Ola by putting out long lost albums by the circle surrounding Gary Usher and Curt Boettcher. These albums have so far included Gary Usher's symphonic tribute to Brian Wilson, Boettcher's California Music project (featuring Usher, Wilson, Bruce Johnston and Terry Melcher among others), The Byrds' Preflyte, and albums by Curt Boettcher, Sandy Salisbury, The Millennium and Sagittarius among others.
All poptones releases are packaged distinctively in a brightly-coloured cardboard fold-out sleeve, with a house style that crosses over all artists.
See www.poptones.co.uk