new wave and releasing their first record in August 1976. 415 Records enjoyed early and sustained support from Bill Graham and from David Rubinson, owner of The Automatt recording studio on Folsom Street. Bill Graham managed many top-name acts through his management and promotion agency, Bill Graham Presents, and from the start of the label he booked 415's artists as opening acts for major headlining bands to help them gain broader exposure. Queenie Taylor, long an employee of Bill Graham Presents, purchased Butch Bridges' share of 415 Records in 1979. Rubinson discounted fees for 415 label bands to record at San Francisco's The Automatt studios; sometimes recording them on speculation, such that the studio would share in the profits from those record sales. David Kahne, operating out of a closet-sized office upstairs at The Automatt, worked as 415's A&R director, performing artist development and in-house production and engineering there for 415 until 1982, when he left Automatt and went to work in Los Angeles as Vice President of A&R for Columbia Records. Even so, he continued to produce records for artists on the 415 label. 415's first release was a 1978 single by The Offs, entitled Everyone's a Bigot, with 0° on the B-side (cat#911-39, 1978). Subsequent early releases included 7-inch EPs by SVT (cat#S0005, 1979), The Nuns (cat#SUB01, 1979), and Pearl Harbor and the Explosions Drivin' (uncatalogued, 1979). Later records included a 7-inch by The Mutants (cat#34859, 1980), an album by The Units (cat#A0003, 1980), a 12-inch rpm album by Romeo Void (cat# 415A-0007, 1981), a mini-album by New Math (cat#A0008, 1981), and various other releases for many other bands. In 1981, 415 released Romeo Void's successful first LP, It's a Condition and then they built on that success by signing a co-branding contract with Columbia Records that gave Columbia first rights of refusal to produce, manufacture, and promote their artists' recordings. Many other independent labels would form similar alliances with major labels over the coming decades. 415 retained (nearly) full artistic control over which artists to sign, all recording, and the selection of songs and artwork. Columbia co-branded albums for Romeo Void, Translator, Wire Train, Until December and the Red Rockers under this arrangement; while outside the Columbia deal, Monkey Rhythm, the Pop-O-Pies, and The Uptones all recorded albums that were released and promoted independently by 415 Records. Like many other independent labels, 415 had struggled to reach