Tue Oct 30 2001 at 15:57:00
Beggars Banquet is the name of an indie record label here in the UK. Based in southwest London since it was founded by Martin Mills and Nick Austin in 1972, Beggars Banquet started out as a small chain of record shops in 1972.
They were soon renting out basement space to local groups, as practice space. This then led to the staff at the shops managing the bands, and organising gigs for them. When the time came to release any of their groups records, there was a distinct lack of enthusiasm from the established record companies, so Beggars Banquet released the singles themselves, after striking a distribution deal with President. The companies first release was punk band The Lurkers' "Shadow/Love Story" 7-inch, in 1976, which was soon followed by their first album. This early flirtation with punk, which included The Stranglers, Generation X and The Damned, made the label a pioneer of the genre.