Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (February 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Thee Sheffield Phonographic Corporation, or Thee SPC, is an independent record label based in Sheffield, UK. It is one of the most influential labels in the Yorkshire area, having given early breaks and support to many bands in the so-called New Yorkshire scene. The label was formed by Markie Mofo, Rob Chuck, Darren Chuck and Missy Tassles; all one-time members of bands including Velodrome 2000, The Motherfuckers and Chuck, Mark went on to be in The Parallellograms and The Mini Skips whilst Missy has continued in bands Flying Wing, Black Light Ray,^[1] The Sleazoids^[2] performed briefly with The Wedding Present and solo as The Girl Next Door. The SPC label has an extensive catalogue; their trademarks are thick, coloured vinyl and sleevenotes written in a comical Victorian style. They used to broadcast a weekly radio show on the internet station Sheffield Live.

Thee SPC has released singles and albums by various Sheffield-based bands and released two compilations CDs, one of Sheffield guitar bands with the title A Box of Odd, and one of Sheffield electronic music with the title Thee Sheffield Radiophonic Workshop. Their only non-Sheffield-related release to date is an album of songs by American chicken farmer Charles E. Cullen. Another notable release was the novelty single "Who The Chuff Are The Mardy Bums?", an affectionate parody of Arctic Monkeys.

Their irregular fanzine Thee Humbug always includes a CD of tracks by the featured artists. The second issue is now a collector's piece, changing hands for relatively large sums on eBay, as the CD features an early track by the then unknown Arctic Monkeys and some rare Long Blondes material.

Some recent single releases have been released on CD as well as vinyl. "Virtual vinyl" is also available from the label's website, in the form of free downloads, often giving a taste of album releases.

The label has featured in Britain's biggest-selling music weekly NME, in an article about small record labels, as part of a feature highlighting the upcoming Sheffield and Leeds scenes, and as the subject of a short article in a series about record labels.