Presto! 11 ’90s rock albums being re-released
Lowell native’s label will be available via YouTube and Spotify
Boston-based Presto Records is opening up its archives for a complete digital reissue of its entire music catalog.
Active from 1989 to 1994, Presto Records, founded by Lowell native Chris Porter, put out 11 albums by eight Boston bands. including Miranda Warning, Classic Ruins, Miles Dethmuffen, and The Trojan Ponies.
Starting May 5, the albums and singles will be re-released on YouTube and Spotify over the course of eight weeks. Other platforms may be added at a later time, and all releases will eventually be made available for licensing.
“The Presto catalog is a time capsule for the Boston music scene in the early ’90s,” said Porter, who grew up in Belvidere and graduated from Lowell High School in 1983. “Night after night, this is some of the music you would be hearing at venues like the Middle East, The Rat, Chet’s Last Call and TT’s. I’m very happy to have this material available and accessible to the public again.”
Starting in 1985, Porter, then a college radio DJ and student, managed Boston rock band Classic Ruins. The band was a staple of the local music scene, having had releases on prominent local labels as well as performing at clubs all over the Boston area. Despite a lot of great press, radio and notable shows throughout the northeast region, by 1988, Classic Ruins found themselves without a label as the company they had been working with folded.
At that time, the band had a number of recordings ready to be packaged, and Porter set out to entice labels throughout the country to sign the band to a contract. After almost a year of no results, Porter had a growing interest in starting a label himself. It felt like it could be a good time for such an endeavor under the circumstances.
After raising some money and doing a lot of research, Porter took the plunge in 1989 and started Presto Records. The name of the label paid homage to his grandfather’s long-running
restaurant, called the Presto, located in Lowell for a number of decades in the mid-1900s.
The first release for Presto was
Classic Ruins’ second full-length album, “Ruins Café.” Soon after the release, more bands were signed to the label. Most of the catalog focused on Boston-based acts like Miranda Warning (another band that Porter managed at the time), Miles Dethmuffen, The Visigoths, Evol Twin and The Trojan Ponies. Cleveland band The Terrible Parade was also added to the roster.
Presto Records produced 11 releases in a five-year period. By 1994, Porter was immersed in talent buying and promoting club-level shows at the Middle East Club in Cambridge.
Between that work and his continued focus on artist management, there was not enough time and energy to spend on the label, so he suspended Presto Records.
Now, 27 years later, the label is being revived for the digital releases of its entire catalog. Original pressings of some of the products will be made available later in 2021.
Porter, through his company, Porter Productions, has gone on to produce festivals across the country, including Bumbershoot in Seattle and LoDo Music Festival in Denver.
Currently, his focus is on a number of festival projects, including Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in San Francisco, South Lake Union Block Party in Seattle, and The Town and The City Festival in his native Lowell.