http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recommended_Records
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recommended_Records_Sampler
http://www.squidco.com/rer/ReR.discog.html
I'd love to hear anyone name a more influential 80's independent label for experimental music. Though many of the records in their first 50 were reissues, Recommended had a curational focus that kept these records in print through the dark ages of the 80's -- ReR is one of the biggest reasons why we now take these records for granted as classics. Growing up in the 80's, Cutler's handwritten / typewritten distribution catalogs with lengthy and frequently critical reviews of each of the albums were some kind of annual bible.
Who knows what kind of results this will get, I just wanted to see a bunch of these titles all lined up. Dates given are for date of the ReR reissue, not of original release. The post-90's list is very very subjective and missing dozens of amazing albums, and I dropped or simply lost track of many other vital 80's ones while cobbling this together from 3-4 scattered online archives, but this gives a sense of the range
Poll Results
| Option | Votes |
| The Homosexuals - The Homosexuals Record, 1984 | 4 |
| This Heat - Deceit, 1991 (These) | 4 |
| Slapp Happy - Acnalbasac Noom, 1981 | 4 |
| Faust - The Faust Tapes, 1980 | 3 |
| Various Artists - The Recommended Records Sampler, 1982 | 2 |
| Art Bears - The World As It Is Today, 1981 | 2 |
| This Heat - This Heat, 1991 (These) | 2 |
| Art Bears - Winter Songs, 1979 | 2 |
| Ground-zero - Revolutionary Pekinese Opera (Ver 1.28), 1996 | 2 |
| Arcane Device - Engines of Myth, 1988 | 1 |
| Iancu Dumitrescu - Medium III (EDMN), 1991 | 1 |
| AMM - AMMMusic, 1989 | 1 |
| Peter Blegvad - Downtime, 1988 | 1 |
| Faust - So Far, 1979 | 1 |
| The Necks - Drive By, 2003 | 1 |
| ZNR - Barricade 3, 1981 | 1 |
| Bob Drake - The Skull Mailbox (and Other Horrors), 2001 | 1 |
| Fat - Automat Highlife, 1991 | 0 |
| Biota - Tumble, 1989 | 0 |
| ZGA, Riga, 1989 (Points East) | 0 |
| Roberto Musci & Giovanni Venosta - Urban and Tribal Portraits, 1988 | 0 |
| After Dinner - After Dinner, 1984 | 0 |
| Christian Marclay - More Encores, 1997 | 0 |
| John Oswald - Discosphere, 1991 | 0 |
| Tod Dockstader & James Reichert - Omniphony, 2001 | 0 |
| Thinking Plague - In This Life, 1992 | 0 |
| the (EC) nudes - Vanishing Point, 1994 | 0 |
| Thomas Dimuzio - Headlock, 1998 | 0 |
| Sun Ra - Foundation Maeght Nights, 1981 | 0 |
| 5uu's - Hunger's Teeth, 1994 | 0 |
| Steve Moore - A Quiet Gathering, 1988 | 0 |
| The Last Nightengale (Miner's Strike Benefit EP), 1984 | 0 |
| Unrest - Work & Play, 1984 | 0 |
| David Thomas - Winter Comes Home, 1983 | 0 |
| Lindsay Cooper - Rags, 1983 | 0 |
| Wha Ha Ha, 1983 | 0 |
| Univers Zero, Ceux du Dehors, 1982 | 0 |
| Art Zoyd - Phase IV, 1982 | 0 |
| Faust - Faust, 1979 | 0 |
| News From Babel - Work Resumed On The Tower, 1984 | 0 |
| Mnemonists - Horde, 1984 | 0 |
| Boris Kovak - Ritual Nova 2, 1988 (Points East) | 0 |
| Jon Rose - Violin Music For Restaurants, 1987 | 0 |
| Roberto Musci & Giovanni Venosta - After Messages on Desert Sands, 1987 | 0 |
| Kalahari Surfers - Sleep Armed, 1987 | 0 |
| Jaroslav Kreck - Raab, 1986 | 0 |
| Katzer / Krauze / Kreck - Aide Memoire, 1986 | 0 |
| Cassiber - Perfect Worlds, 1986 | 0 |
| Kalahari Surfers - Living in the Heart of the Beast, 1985 | 0 |
| Art Bears - Hopes and Fears, 1978 | 0 |
― Milton Parker, Thursday, 17 January 2013 20:36 (twelve years ago)