ZTT

ZTT Records was founded in 1983 by NME journalist Jill Sinclair. The label was named after Italian futurist FT Marinetti's "Zang Tumb Tuum", a book describing war where zang tumb tuum is an onomatopoeic description of the sound of a machine gun.

Label Code: LC 4281.

Early ZTT releases, distributed via Bob Kraushaar) created endless 'diversions' (aka remixes) of every track produced, a pioneering concept back then.

"ZTT's business is the puzzle, not the explanation", said Morley in '84. To this end he wrote oblique wordy sleevenotes, referencing the likes of JG Ballard and Goethe. Sometimes remixes were issued in the same sleeve as the original mix, with identical catalogue numbers or identical mix names. To further the confusion, catalogue numbers were divided into four groups - the Propaganda were all chart successes.

By the late 80s both Propaganda and Frankie Goes To Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson were taking the label to the courts, and winning. Morley moved on, and in 1988 ZTT entered a new phase. It signed a distribution deal with WEA and started reinventing itself as a more conventional electronic/dance label. Between 1989 and 1997 it had chart hits with Seven Records (UK), appeared in 1994.

ZTT split from WEA in 1997 and went independent. Morley returned to ZTT for a year or two to oversee marketing again, and with Horn and Dudley reformed The Art Of Noise. As an independent ZTT tried to recapture their edgier past, but bad / rockist A&R choices and lower budgets meant that many projects ed unnoticed. Two more dance sub-labels, Vision, came and went.

ZTT entered the new millennium primarily focussed on exploiting its extensive catalogue of landmark 80s and 90s releases.

ZTT is owned by Horn and Sinclair's SPZ Group, which also owns Perfect Songs (the S and P in SPZ).

ZTT bought Universal Music in Dec. 2017. The deal also transferred the entire ZTT recording catalog, Perfect Songs publishing, and portions of the Stiff recording catalog.

Common cat# prefixes, Island era (1983-1988):
ZTAS - singles, Action series
ZTIS - singles, Incidental series
ZTPS - singles, Perfect series
CERT - singles, Certain series
CTIS - cassette singles
ZTTIQ - albums
ZCIQ - cassettes
CID/ZCID/ZCIDQ - CDs / CD singles

Common cat# prefixes, WEA era (1988 - 1997):
ZANG - singles
ZTT - albums (ZTT1 to ZTT12, thereafter albums use generic WEA codes)
SAM - promos (part of WEA's generic promo catalogue)

Common cat# prefixes, indie era (1998 - 2009):
ZTT - used for both singles and albums, from ZTT98 upwards

Common cat# prefixes (2010 - 2019):
Element - used for reissues in the “Element Series”, released in partnership with BMG.

Common cat# prefixes (2020 - present):
ZTDS - used for reissues in the “Definition Series”, released in partnership with UMC.