| Not Lame Recordings | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Founded | 1994 |
| Founder | Bruce Brodeen |
| Defunct | 2010 |
| Status | Defunct |
| Genre | Power pop |
| Country of origin | U.S. |
| Location | Ft. Collins, Colorado |
| Official website | www |
Not Lame Recordings was a Ft. Collins, Colorado based independent record label specializing in power pop music.[1]
The label was started by Bruce Brodeen in November 1994[2] It primarily focused on power pop, a form of guitar and harmony driven retro-rock.[3] Within this genre, the label quickly became the center of a small but ever expanding cult of power pop enthusiasts.
Not Lame released over 100 albums, including the annual 3-CD compilation of the International Pop Overthrow festival from 1997 through 2010 (with later years being brought out by Brodeen privately).[4] The label also released albums for artists like Tommy Keene, Dwight Twilley,[5] Doug Powell, and Mark Helm, as well as bands such as Myracle Brah,[6] The Deal,[7] Sweet Apple Pie, Hawks, and Wanderlust; and box sets for such notables as Jellyfish and The Posies.[2] The company's online store has sold over 15,000 different CD releases.[2]
After 16 years of operation, the label shut down on November 24, 2010.[8] The reasons Brodeen mentioned for his decision were a career switch he had undertaken, combined with decreasing music sales in recent years in an already small market for CDs in the power pop genre.[2][8] Rather than running a label, Brodeen introduced Pop Geek Heaven, an online interactive social media site, as a successor to Not Lame's role within the power pop community.
