URC

Japanese independent record label specialising in folk, co-founded in February 1969 by Hayakawa Yoshio (早川義夫), guitarist for the psychedelic band Jacks. It is frequently described as the first independent label in Japan. URC stands for Underground Record Club (アングラ・レコード・クラブ), as the label was run originally on a subscriber mail-order basis. The mail-order model was soon supplemented with a conventional distribution model using commercial record companies --- first, from 1969 to 1976, via ELEC Records (URC catalogue series URL-, URH-, URG-, URT-, and URZ-), then, following ELEC's bankruptcy, through Toho Records (URC catalogue series UX-) from 1976 to 1977. The label ceased operating in the late 1970s, but since then its material has been reissued by many companies including SMS, Kitty Records, Toshiba EMI, Avex Io, Greenwood, and Pony Canyon. -- Source: エレックレコードの時代―かつて音楽を動かした若者たちの物語 幻のエレックレコード編 by 門谷 憲二 (2006)