él records was created in 1984 by Mike Alway. Alway was A&R man for Cherry Red signing artists such as Everything But the Girl, Monochrome Set, Felt etc. He left Cherry Red to help run Blanco Y Negro but soon felt constrained about the conservativism of the commercial music sector and left to set up his own label. él was described as »the most innately English record label there has ever been«.

Alway's mercurial approach was to take complete control of the repertoire, the philosophy of the releases and the titles of the songs in the manner of pop impresarios of the past. Alway became a curator, selecting, shaping and overseeing the records issued on él.

él had a unique flavour eschewing the traditions of indie music of the mid 1980s, exhibiting instead a taste for 1960s bubbelgum and chamber pop, the european chanson tradition, Latin rhythms and filmscores. The ethos of the label was decidedly un-macho and many of él's artists were female. Alway saw él as a celebration of elegance and beauty, »a pop world beyond leather jackets and jeans«.

»Bright Young Things« is the first book to tell the fascinating story of él.

»Britain's great musical secret of the 1980s.« - Jonathan Coe

»él was a three-year statement of intent.« - Alan McGee

Mark Goodall has written widely on music and film in both academic and commercial spheres. His books included The Beatles or The White Album (2018), Gathering of the Tribe: Music and Heavy Conscious Creation (2013; new edition due 2022) and Sweet and Savage: The World, Through the Mondo Film Lens (2009; second edition 2018). He co-edited New Media Archaeology (University of Amsterdam Press, 2018) and edited a special edition of Film International (2019). He has written for The Guardian, The Independent, The New European and Shindig! and plays with the group Rudolf Rocker whose song 'Voodoo Lady' was used in the BBC series The League of Gentlemen.