ZTT Records - History of The Label

History of The Label

ZTT is an initialism of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti's sound poem "Zang Tumb Tumb". The word "Tuuuum" is also featured on the cover of the original publication of the poem in book form.

The majority of the creative team at ZTT had first assembled when Horn produced the acclaimed album The Lexicon of Love for British pop band ABC.

A precursor to ZTT was the short-lived Perfect label, spun off from the newly founded Perfect Songs publishing subsidiary of Trevor Horn and Jill Sinclair's company. Perfect Recordings only released the Buggles' Adventures in Modern Recording and the singles derived from it.

ZTT enjoyed considerable success in the 1980s with the composer Andrew Poppy, bands such as Propaganda, Art of Noise, and the chart-topping Frankie Goes to Hollywood. In 1987 and 1989 respectively, Propaganda and Frankie Goes to Hollywood frontman Holly Johnson went to court to be released from their contracts. Propaganda's case was settled out of court; Johnson won his outright. In the Holly Johnson case, the court chastised Horn for production cost over-runs. It has since become common knowledge that Horn's perfectionism can be expensive. (The sleevenotes of the Pet Shop Boys’ Discography compilation make good natured references to Horn's methods).

In the 1990s, ZTT became a successful dance label once again, with major names on their roster including Seal and 808 State.

Over the years, the label has continued to dip into its well of 1980s material by constantly reissuing material by Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Propaganda and Art of Noise in various formats - from remix albums, to straight reissues.

ZTT Records is now owned by the SPZ Group, which stands for Sarm Perfect ZTT: Sarm Studios, Perfect Songs publishing and ZTT records. From the beginning, the majority of ZTT releases were published by Perfect Songs and recorded at Sarm Studios.