Fade Away and Radiate: The Chrysalis Records Story

Musician Fellowes (Don’t Breathe the Air) recounts the evolution of Chrysalis Records as an oral history. He begins with British college students Chris Wright and Terry Ellis, who first booked blues/rock acts for English universities. They soon became managers of the bands Ten Years After and Jethro Tull and launched Chrysalis (combining “Chris” and “Ellis”) in 1968. Charting the meteoric growth of the company, the book focuses on the nonstop efforts of the ambitious Ellis, who started a pop-oriented American offshoot of the UK label with such mega-platinum acts as Billy Idol, Huey Lewis and the News, and Pat Benatar. Fellowes shows how the team adapted to changing musical tastes after the punk onslaught, when they signed the politically active the Specials, the pop-punk Blondie, the romantic movement groups Spandau Ballet and Ultravox, and eventually influential hip-hop acts Gang Starr and Arrested Development. The book ends with Ellis’ departure in the mid-’80s, the label’s last success with Sinéad O’Connor (Shuhada Sadaqat), and its folding into EMI Records by 2005.