Irish. Mulligan was founded by musician and producer Donal Lunny in 1975, with financial assistance from Diane Hamilton; Seamus O'Neill was its managing director. It was based in the Republic but it qualifies for this site by virtue of the fact that some of its records received official distribution in Britain. Most were LPs, but, thankfully for our purposes, there was one single, 'I've Got You' b/w 'No Such Thing' by Dublin Punk band The Vipers (LUNS-718; 12/78). 'Music Week' of the 8th of May 1978 carried the news that Charmdale had reached an agreement with Mulligan to distribute its records in England, Scotland and Wales; those by The Bothy Band were excluded from the deal as they were licensed to another company, as also presumably were those by The Boomtown Rats, which were on Ensign over here. According to 'MW' of the 15th of July the intention was to release albums in batches of three, concentrating on one particular artist at a time. The agreement seems to have been cut short for some reason, as an advert for Mulligan in 'Music Week' of the 1st of January 1979 said that its products were now available through Spartan. Distribution appears to have shifted again before too long, as the 1980 edition of 'Music Master' gives a company called Jazz Services Unlimited as handling Mulligan. The Vipers single was described as 'The Mulligan label's first-ever UK release' in an article about the band in the New Musical Express of the 23rd of December 1978, but as the arrangement with Charmdale had been in place for several months by that time presumably that should have been 'The Mulligan label's first-ever UK single.' There doesn't appear to have been a second. Mulligan seems to have run into difficulties, including financial ones, in the early '80s. It stopped issuing records in 1982, though there was a brief revival in 1990-91. Thanks to James Denholm for alerting me to the fact that the Vipers' single was released here, and for providing the relevant NME and 'MW' cuttings.
Copyright 2025 Robert Lyons.