Stars' radio archive recordings to be released

Recordings of stars such as U2 and Rod Stewart unearthed from radio archives are to be released for the first time in a multi-million pound record deal announced today.

The stack of material, thought to be the biggest collection outside the BBC, will be released by the Universal record label.

More than 600 recordings were found when Scottish Radio Holdings tried to track down lost tapes of broadcasts from big name acts from the 1970s and 1980s.

The live shows and studio sessions were recorded for Radio Clyde, one of SRH’s stations.

“These totally unique recordings were usually only broadcast once or twice within a radio marketplace and then left to gather dust,” said a company spokesman.

Artists and record labels have given their blessing to the release of the material.

The BBC tapped a demand from fans many years ago by releasing its studio and live recordings.

Cult acts who performed sessions for John Peel and Janice Long such as The Wedding Present, Extreme Noise Terror and The Cardiacs had many recordings issued on the Strange Fruit label.

The SRH archive includes material from Roxy Music, Elvis Costello, Madness, Thin Lizzy and Simple Minds.

And the company has formed its own label, River Records, through which the recordings will be channelled, and which will also release some of them.

SRH chief executive Richard Findlay said: “The artists we have been in touch with so far share our enthusiasm and with the support of Universal, whose labels represent a large part of the archive, we believe something of considerable importance can be created.”

Nigel Haywood, UK commercial director of Universal, said: “In many cases, these recordings have been unknown to fans, music retailers and music lovers. Consequently, their resurrection from the vaults of time will be eagerly anticipated.”