él records was created in 1984 by Mike Alway. Alway was A&R man for Cherry Red signing artists such as Everything But the Girl, Monochrome Set, Felt etc. He left Cherry Red to help run Blanco Y Negro but soon felt constrained about the conservativism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. él was described as »the most innately English record label there has ever been«.
Alway's mercurial approach was to take complete control of the repertoire, the philosophy of the releases and the titles of the songs in the manner of pop impresarios of the past. Alway became a curator, selecting, shaping and overseeing the records issued on él.
él had a unique flavour eschewing the traditions of indie music of the mid 1980s, exhibiting instead a taste for 1960s bubbelgum and chamber pop, the european chanson tradition, Latin rhythms and filmscores. The ethos of the label was decidedly un-macho and many of él's artists were female. Alway saw él as a celebration of elegance and beauty, »a pop world beyond leather jackets and jeans«.
»Bright Young Things« is the first book to tell the fascinating story of él.
»Britain's great musical secret of the 1980s.« – Jonathan Coe
»él was a three-year statement of intent.« – Alan McGee