Cramps Records
Milan avant-garde label (1972-1980) whose Nova Musicha series brought John Cage and Fluxus-adjacent composers to Italian audiences alongside prog and punk.
Founded in Milan at the end of 1972 by graphic designer and cultural agitator Gianni Sassi with Sergio Albergoni, Tony Tasinato, and promoter Franco Mamone, Cramps Records (its name an acronym for Clubs, Records, Agency, Management, Publishing, Spettacoli) set out to give Italy’s musical avant-garde a home outside the conventional record industry. Its debut release, Area’s Arbeit macht frei (1973), established a house identity built around progressive and jazz-rock acts — Area, Arti e Mestieri, Demetrio Stratos — and unconventional singer-songwriters including Eugenio Finardi and Alberto Camerini. In 1974 Sassi launched the label’s Nova Musicha series with a self-titled John Cage LP gathering works from 1947 to 1971, going on to release recordings connected to Fluxus figures including Juan Hidalgo and Walter Marchetti across six further volumes. Cramps later became an outlet for Italian punk and situationist provocation through acts like Skiantos before closing in 1980; its catalogue passed through several owners after Sassi’s death before being acquired by Sony Music in 2013.