ShowUp Records

ShowUp Records is a German record label from Hamburg founded in 2007 by Michael Schütz. It serves as a sub-label of the mainly Pop and Indie specialised PopUp Records and publishes obscure European Grooves, mainly through compilations. Schütz has been feeding his passion for 60s Funk and Rare Groove since 25 years, and has long carried the idea around with him to cobble together a collection of treasured pieces: »The concept, to blend known and unknown artists from various fields like Krautrock, Jazz, Pop, hit songs and Library music, and to wrap them all up under the common denominator Funk, is exciting and promising for us!«. So this is how the successful debut »German Funk Fieber Vol. 1« arose, which to this day provides the blueprint for most of the ShowUp releases (the only exception is the available soundtrack »Die Kette« by Disco stud Dieter Reith and his Tender Aggression, which was incomplete up until 2014). The multiple compilations, which are roughly released annually, dedicate themselves to German Funk, especially Library music – either with a focus on electronic experiments (»Cosmic Future Grooves«) or on celebrated British labels like Bruton, DeWolfe, KPM, or Themes International (»Dramatic Funk Themes). »I am a perfectionist and kept busy for an impossibly long time digging up and choosing the fitting title for the respective compilations. The amount of time and work you put into it, is no relation to the pocket money you get out of it!« The fact that compilations are more elaborate and less profitable than simple reissue albums makes sense; you always have to reference multiple sources in order to license individual tracks, which ultimately leads to increased license fees and research efforts. »In particular the clearing of the rights is insanely expensive, since in the case of the old titles, the rights holder changes often and you are sent back and forth from A to B. With German Funk Fieber 1, the clearing took almost a year«. This devotion only underlines that for ShowUp it’s a matter of a labour of love. But Schütz would not only like to excavate unheard music, but rather also churn out a complete album: »With compilations, I find it thrilling to draw a bow between the individual tracks, so that a homogenous, exciting album is created – without gaps. Including the funky escapades of Howard Carpendale, Hugo Strasser, Udo Lindenberg and Klaus Wunderlich next to Rare-Groove-insiders’ tips like Heinz Kiessling,Gus Brendel or the Rainbow-Orchestra.