Twin Tone

Twin/Tone Records
Founded	1977
Founder	Peter Jesperson, Charley Hallman, Paul Stark
Defunct	1994
Genre	Various, mainly alternative rock and punk
Country of origin	United States
Location	Minneapolis, Minnesota
Official website	http://www.twintone.com

Twin/Tone Records was a record label based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which operated from 1977 until 1994. It was the original home of influential Minnesota bands the Replacements and Soul Asylum and was instrumental in helping the Twin Cities music scene achieve national attention in the 1980s. Along with other independent American labels such as SST Records, Touch and Go Records, and Dischord, Twin/Tone helped to spearhead the nationwide network of underground bands that formed the pre-Nirvana indie-rock scene. These labels presided over the shift from the hardcore punk that then dominated the American underground scene to the more diverse styles of alternative rock that were emerging.

Twin/Tone originated in the Minneapolis punk rock scene, which included venues like Jay's Longhorn Bar. The label was begun by Peter Jesperson, local music and sports writer Charley Hallman, and Paul Stark. Releases by the pop/rock group the Suburbs were both Twin/Tone's first release (The Suburbs in 1978) and its last (Viva! Suburbs! in 1994). Jesperson signed the Replacements to the label immediately after the band's debut at the Longhorn Bar in Minneapolis. By 1984, the label had released 41 records and grown large enough to support three paid staff members, with its biggest-selling records including the Suburbs' debut and the first two discs by the Replacements. Other groups that signed with Twin/Tone include the Magnolias, Babes in Toyland, Agitpop, the Jayhawks, Poster Children, Soul Asylum, the Wallets, Curtiss A, and Pennsylvania-based Ween. British alternative-rock musician Robyn Hitchcock also released his 1990 solo album Eye through the label.

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