Beat Records

Beat Records was an independent record label established in California by nightclub promoter Stephen Zepeda, also known as Steve Zepeda. The label operated during the concentrated 1978–1980 period when Los Angeles was developing a highly active network of punk, power-pop, new-wave, and alternative-rock performers, clubs, promoters, and small record companies. Rather than functioning as a large catalog-driven music corporation, Beat Records appears to have been a local, artist-centered imprint whose significance rests on a small number of releases connected to the Los Angeles rock community. The label’s documented roster included Gary Valentine, a musician associated with Blondie; The Furys; and The Plimsouls, the Los Angeles band featuring Peter Case. Its releases included Valentine’s 1978 single “The First One” backed with “Tomorrow Belongs To You,” The Furys’ 1979 single “Moving Target” backed with “We Talk We Dance,” and The Plimsouls’ 1980 Zero Hour E.P. The latter was a 12-inch release containing “Great Big World,” “Zero Hour,” “Hypnotized,” “How Long Will It Take?” and “I Can’t Turn You Loose.” These records place Beat Records within the independent-label infrastructure that documented emerging Los Angeles acts outside the major-label system. Beat Records’ history is closely tied to Zepeda’s wider role as a Southern California music promoter. He later became especially associated with booking Bogart’s nightclub in Long Beach, a venue that became a prominent alternative-music hub during the late 1980s and early 1990s. That later venue work helps explain the label’s place in the region’s broader live-music ecosystem, although the documented Beat Records catalog itself belongs to the earlier 1978–1980 period. The available reference material does not establish a continuing corporate operation, a successor owner, a current catalog administrator, or an official active website. Beat Records is therefore best understood as a historical independent label rather than an active contemporary music company.

Beat Records emerged in California in 1978 under the direction of Stephen Zepeda, a nightclub promoter who was also known as Steve Zepeda. Its formation coincided with a formative period in Los Angeles music, when independent promoters and small labels played an important role in bringing local rock, punk, and alternative acts to audiences. The label’s documented activity was concentrated between 1978 and 1980, and its catalog indicates a focus on individual singles and compact releases rather than a broad, long-running commercial program. The first documented release was Gary Valentine’s 1978 45 rpm single “The First One,” backed with “Tomorrow Belongs To You.” Valentine was associated with Blondie, linking the label to musicians moving through the wider New York and Los Angeles rock networks. In 1979 Beat Records issued The Furys’ “Moving Target,” with “We Talk We Dance” on the reverse side. The following year it released The Plimsouls’ Zero Hour E.P., a 12-inch record featuring five tracks: “Great Big World,” “Zero Hour,” “Hypnotized,” “How Long Will It Take?” and “I Can’t Turn You Loose.” The Plimsouls featured Peter Case and were part of the Los Angeles power-pop and rock scene. These releases give Beat Records a modest but identifiable place in the history of late-1970s Los Angeles independent music. The label’s importance is less a matter of catalog size than of its connection to artists and scenes that were developing outside the major-label mainstream. Small imprints such as Beat Records could provide a practical route for issuing recordings while also reflecting the local club circuits on which many bands depended. Zepeda’s later work expanded his role in Southern California music promotion. He became best known for booking Bogart’s nightclub in Long Beach, which was a significant venue for alternative music in the late 1980s and early 1990s. This later association is part of Zepeda’s biography and the region’s live-music history, but it occurred after the documented Beat Records release period. The available sources do not identify a formal continuation of the label, a merger, a parent company, or a current owner. On the evidence available, Beat Records is treated as a defunct historical independent label whose surviving identity is principally represented by its small group of late-1970s and 1980 releases.

1. 1980The Plimsouls Zero Hour E.P. released

   The label issued The Plimsouls’ five-track 12-inch Zero Hour E.P., featuring Peter Case.

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2. 1980Documented label activity concludes

   The available reference material places Beat Records’ documented operating period at approximately 1978–1980.

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3. 1979The Furys single released

   Beat Records released The Furys’ “Moving Target,” backed with “We Talk We Dance.”

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4. 1978Label established and first release issued

   Stephen Zepeda established Beat Records in California, and the label issued Gary Valentine’s 45 rpm single “The First One” backed with “Tomorrow Belongs To You.”

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A small, artist-focused independent label documenting Los Angeles rock and adjacent alternative music at the end of the 1970s.

• The First One / Tomorrow Belongs To You45 rpm single1978

  Gary Valentine’s 1978 Beat Records single, issued in 45 rpm format. It paired “The First One” with “Tomorrow Belongs To You” and represents the label’s earliest documented release.

• Moving Target / We Talk We Dance45 rpm single1979

  The Furys’ 1979 single on Beat Records. The release presented “Moving Target” as the primary title with “We Talk We Dance” as the accompanying track.

• Zero Hour E.P.12-inch extended play1980

  A 1980 five-track 12-inch E.P. by The Plimsouls, the Los Angeles band featuring Peter Case. Its listed tracks are “Great Big World,” “Zero Hour,” “Hypnotized,” “How Long Will It Take?” and “I Can’t Turn You Loose.”

1. Beat Records