Enigma Records

Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a famous rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s. The Residents were signed to Enigma briefly in the late 1980s, and the brand funded their Cube-E tour. The Residents moved to East Side Digital in 1990, a year before the company went defunct.
== History ==
Enigma was formed in December of 1981 after the crew behind Mötley Crüe's Leathür Records decided to develop a label of their own. Initially, the brand was owned by Greenworld Distribution. Their first release was the hardcore punk album 'Indoor Fiends' by Hypnotics, and their second was a single by minimal wave group Polyphonic Size. They then bought distribution rights for the Berlin mini-album, Pleasure Victim, which proved to be a top 40 hit.
In 1983 they signed their first notable act, 45 Grave, and released their debut album, Sleep in Safety. And continued to expand from there and eventually signed Stryper, a Christian Rock band that recorded several gold albums for Enigma.
Eventually, in the late 1980s, Enigma began signing more adventurous alternative acts, like The Dead Milkmen, Devo, and The Residents.
Enigma released and funded The Residents' seventeenth studio album, The King & Eye. The King & Eye was infamously recorded outside The Residents' studio and was instead recorded at Different Fur. It is possible that the recording and release of The King & Eye was a requirement for Enigma to allow The Residents to tour Cube-E. A similar thing had happened years earlier to Devo when they signed to Enigma. They attempted to tour in 1986 but were blocked by the label for not having an album yet, which kickstarted the Total Devo sessions.
The Cube-E tour ran from September 1989 to November 1990, and in October, Enigma began distributing Torso's Cube-E Live in Holland album. Two months later, The Residents were signed to East Side Digital, which released their eighteenth studio album, Freak Show, in December of 1990. Enigma went defunct in 1991. Restless Records purchased its catalog.
== Residents Releases ==
* The King & Eye (1989, CD, LP, Cassette, 73547)
* Cube-E (The History Of American Music In 3 E-Z Pieces) - Live In Holland (1990, CD, Cassette, 73608)
== Further Reading ==
* Enigma Records on Wikipedia
* The King & Eye on Discogs
* The King & Eye on RYM
Category:Record labels
Category:The King & Eye
Category:Cube-E