A Brief History of
Dangerhouse Records

by Thom White

Pat "Rand" Garrett and David Brown co-founded Dangerhouse Records in the summer of 1977.

Garrett, a punk rock fanatic who had just moved to Los Angeles from Oklahoma, was multi-talented, producing many early Dangerhouse records as well as singing and playing guitar for the Randoms, and drums for the Dils. Garrett and Brown both had day jobs in aerospace to pay the costs of making the records, and they soon brought in Black Randy, a charismatic performer, to arrange business for the label.

Dangerhouse released its first records in December 1977, six months after starting work, with 45s by the Randoms, the Avengers, the Dils, and Black Randy's "Trouble at the Cup." By early 1978, Dangerhouse had gained a name in the punk scene, especially for being able to make quality sound recordings under Pat Garrett's direction.

That spring, Dangerhouse released records by two of the biggest bands in LA at the time, the Weirdos and X. However, the release of these excellent records coincided with an external event that began to cause affairs to unravel for the label.

In March 1978, the Dickies, relative unknowns who had only begun playing in front of crowds five months before, signed to A & M Records and received $100,000 immediately as part of the deal. By 1979, the Dickies had sold thousands of records in the UK, toured Britain with the Jam, and come out with a full-length album.

There was now competition from major labels, and it became apparent that Dangerhouse's sales were bringing in very few dollars for the founders and the groups. According to David Brown, bands such as X and the Weirdos began to say that their involvement with Dangerhouse "should have been held off because there could have been some real money involved for them" if they had waited for an industry deal. Looking jealously on the Dickies, the Weirdos insisted that Dangerhouse produce 5,000 copies of their "We Got the Neutron Bomb" record, just because the Dickies, with their major label support, were putting out that many. Dangerhouse never sold more than 2,500 of those printed.

X's single "Adult Books" b/w "We're Desperate" received critical acclaim but "didn't take off as much" as they had hoped. Dangerhouse's reputation suffered in 1978 as a result of the low production and distribution capacity of the label (only 1200-1500 units were sold on an average release), along with Black Randy's negotiating shenanigans (Brown calls Randy, now deceased, a "con man" and a "complete liar").

In 1978-79, Dangerhouse released records by the Eyes, the Deadbeats, Howard Werth, and Rhino 39, along with one the label's finest productions, the Bags' "Survive." But by this time, the label was becoming too much of a money-losing proposition.

Dangerhouse Records closed for good in 1980 with the release of a Black Randy LP. Dangerhouse had a very bad reputation among LA musicians, many who were of the opinion that they did not receive fair monetary recompense for their work. Other contributing factors in the label's demise were the spike in oil prices in 1979-80 that drove up the cost of vinyl, Black Randy's drug addiction, and Pat Garrett's loss of interest in the whole enterprise.

CITIZINE REVIEWS
Dangerhouse: Vol. 1: Compilation 1977-1980

Dangerhouse Records Prime Resource

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