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Ace Records is the leading reissue record company in the UK, specialising in Rock'n'Roll , Soul, Funk, Blues, Jazz, R&B, Garage Rock and Punk.

Digger asked the Managing Director of Ace Records, Roger Armstrong, some questions about the company and its huge, varied and impressive catalogue of artists.

Roger Armstrong

Digger: What is your background?

Roger: Social Secretary at Queens University in Belfast in the late 60s early 70s and went from there to live in Dublin and work with the Chieftains and later Horslips. Came to London in 1974 and managed an ill-fated band called St James’s Gate who made one unreleased album. The lead singer was Johnny Duhan (late of Dublin’s Granny’s Intentions) but he left and most of the rest of the band went on to become the second version of Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance. I then decided I wasn’t cut out for management and started to seek studio work.
 
Digger: Can you tell us how Ace Records started and how the company has evolved into what it is today?

Roger: Before I was offered a studio job, my old friend Ted Carroll, who had quit as manager of Thin Lizzy, had set-up a second market stall selling collectable records. This was in Soho and I took over managing until I got a job. Except I never did and soon we started Chiswick Records. In 1975 I produced an EP of a group called the Count Bishops, which Ted distributed from the back of his old Peugeot. He soon opened a shop in Camden – the legendary Rock On and we opened an office above the shop. Trevor Churchill, who actually had experience in Record Companies, joined us.
 
Punk soon descended and we signed up some bands. However it was records by Rocky Sharpe & the Replays and Sniff ‘n’ the Tears that got us a distribution deal in 1978 with EMI. We had hits with them and signed the Damned second time around and had further hits with them. This all ran out of steam in the early ‘80s as indeed did the music as far as we were concerned. We had had a re-issue label from the early days, but EMI did not want to distribute that and so we formed Ace to handle that aspect of the business. When we stopped going in search of hit records, we turned our attention to the catalogue end of the business. Through the 80s recorded and issued quite a few Garage Band records and also we were key players on the World Music scene.
 
We started various other labels during this period like Kent (60s soul) BGP (Acid Jazz then Funk) and Big Beat (mostly rock). We took on more consultants and gradually the company grew into what it is today.
 
Digger: How have you managed to bring together such a wide catalogue of genres and styles?

Roger: Initially because of the broad taste of the directors but also having a consultancy base of guys who are expert in different fields. It’s a team effort really with most everyone in the company having an input from time to time.
 
Digger: Why is retro and nostalgia so enduringly popular?

Roger: I’m not so sure the terms apply universally to what we do. In some case people are buying our CDs out of feelings of nostalgia, but the fact is that we have many younger people buying our records who weren’t born early enough to be suffering nostalgia. Also a lot of what we put out is either incredibly obscure or previously unissued so to even the more mature in years many of the tracks may as well be new ones. There are also the various tribes – Rock-a-billy, Northern Soul, Mod etc who are engaged in the music as part of a lifestyle issue.
 
We have first hand experience of our buyers and I am constantly surprised at how broad their taste is, which is down to the fact that they just like music – old or new. I think that especially with the advent of The Internet and the instant availability of just about everything, the line between old and new is blurred now and I see us as part of any intelligent music lover’s needs.
 
I don’t subscribe to the view that all new music is rubbish, but there is a lot more of the old stuff to get through.
 
Digger: What are the best sellers?

Roger: There are some records that have been in catalogue for 25 years now so obviously they have sold well. In terms of relatively recent releases we have done really well on Wanda Jackson, Lee Hazelwood, Pet Projects (Brian Wilson productions), Jack Nitzsche, Dion (Born to Be With You), James Carr, Doris Duke, Sonics, Zombies, Chocolate Watchband, Damned and Motorhead (first album).
 
As for the compilation series we run, Golden Age of American Rock ‘n’ Roll has been massively successful as has Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures, Super Funk and of course the recent Theme Time Radio Hour sets have done very well. 
  
Digger: What customer feedback do you get?

Roger: Generally favourable but, as you might imagine, dealing with obsessives can have its problems at times. But then as obsessives ourselves we generally understand. The fact that Bob Dylan’s voice was not on the Theme Time CDs lead to some of the more aggressive comments, even to threats of law suits. Sometimes it is useful feedback pointing out mistakes we have made. One chap noticed a bad edit on a blues CD we issued that had passed us all by. We re-pressed and sent him a few free CDs of his choice for pointing it out.
 
Digger: Why are Ace Records different?

Roger: Mostly because of the breadth of the musical genres that we re-issue. Also we are the king of the compilers and I think that in Golden Age, Deep Soul Treasures and Theme Time we have set very high standards.
 
Also we are the only Indie catalogue company with our own custom built studios and we care passionately about the sound on our records, going to inordinate lengths to make it as good as it can be.
 
The look and contents of the booklets has been directed by Carol Fawcett for 30 years now and it shows in the quality and attention to detail. I think we get the balance between looking ‘of the period’ and yet having a freshness that catches the eye now.
 
Finally our team of hand picked consultants bring their own expertise as well as individual taste to the ideas and to the content.

Digger: What are the best aspects of running Ace Records and what are your musical passions?

Roger: Same answer to both – a vast amount of different kinds of music to listen to and work with. Forced to pick one era and type of music it would be late 50s early 60s RnB when it was heading into soul.
 
Digger: What does The Internet mean to the Ace Records business?

Roger: We are revamping our website to be launched later in the year and with, I hope a new approach to downloads among other things. At the moment we sell quite well through the usual iTunes type channels, but we feel that they merely provide the music and not the accompanying mediated information that makes us what we are and makes the experience of listening to our music so much better.
 
Digger: What are your plans for Ace Records in the future?

Roger: Keep on doing what we are doing and constantly look for ways to expand it. Personally I would like to see more broad brush compilations like Theme Time where all sorts of music is compiled onto one or two CDs without it losing coherence. The 3 CD box set Take Me to the River: A Southern Soul Story 1961-1977 has been very successful, both creatively and commercially, so we are intending to do more in that format as it enables us to tell a bigger story. That’s what we do well – tell stories.
 

www.acerecords.co.uk