Lookout! Records

About

Independent punk rock label based in Berkeley, California, USA. Lookout! has released early work from a number of punk rock giants including Green Day, Rancid, & Operation Ivy as well as steadily releasing music from other punk rock favorites such as Avail, Screeching Weasel, Tilt, The Queers, Ted Leo and a ton of others. Lookout! Records was founded by Lawrence Livermore and David Hayes (2) in 1987. The label was named after both Livermore's band, the Lookouts, and his fanzine, Lookout Magazine. To this day, Livermore insists that the label name was simply supposed to be "Lookout Records" and not "Lookout! Records". In 1989, Hayes quit the label to form Very Small Records. Livermore was later joined by Christopher Appelgren and Patrick Hynes, who would eventually become partners in the label. By the mid 1990s, Livermore had become disenchanted with the more business-like direction the label was taking, and in 1997, he and Hynes retired, with Appelgren, his wife, Molly Neuman, and Cathy Bauer taking over the label. In 2001, Lookout purchased Panic Button Records from Ben Weasel and John Pierson. The new owners of Lookout shifted the label's focus away from the pop-punk sound that it made famous towards more garage and indie rock bands. Unfortunately, Lookout did not find the same success with its new direction that it had in the past. By the mid 2000s, royalty payments went missing and many of the label's biggest names (Screeching Weasel, Green Day, Operations Ivy, The Queers, Avail, and others) began pulling their back catalogs from the label for reissue elsewhere. The label stopped releasing new material in 2006 but continued to maintain its back catalog until December 2011. In January 2012, it was announced that Lookout had ceased all operations. In October 2018, Lookout records announced that it was returning, releasing its first new album since 2006; The Lookouting! A Celebration of Lookout Records. Laytonville address was valid until mid of 1990: Cat. No. #35 has first pressings with the Laytonville address only. It was recorded in April, 1990. Cat. No. #36 is the first Cat. No. with a mentioning of the 94701 Berkeley address. Laytonville address still on center labels. It was recorded in May, 1990. 94701 Berkeley address, P.O. Box 11374, from mid 1990 on: Cat. No. #37 first release which has the 94701 Berkeley address only. It was recorded in June, 1990. Cat. No. #76 has 94701 Berkeley address. Released in late 1993. 94712 Berkeley address, P.O. Box 11374, from (early) 1994 on: Cat. No. #77 CD release has first mentioning of 94712 code on back cover and inlay. 94701 code on CD. Released in 1994. Cat. No. #81 has 94712 Berkeley address. Released in July, 1994. 94704 Berkeley address, P.O. Box 117374 [might have been typos]: Cat. No. LK-134 mentions 94704 code with P.O. Box 117374. Mastered October 31, 1995. 94712-2374 Berkeley address, P.O. Box 11374, from early 1997 on: Cat. No. LK-170 has first mentioning of 94712-2374 code with P.O. Box 11374. Released in 1997. Cat. No. LK-171 was released in February, 1997. Cat. No. LK-185 was recorded in May 1997.