Hospital Records is the brainchild of Chris Goss and Tony Colman. The label was started in early 1996 from their West London studio / HQ primarily as a vehicle for their own music.
Tony and Chris have been working toogether since 1993. A brief pre-history: Tony’s last band was the London street-soul/jazzfunk combo IZIT, which funked it’s way round the world’s live clubs + decks from 1988 to 1995. Chris used to work in Soho’s Soul Jazz record shop. Tony started the label Tongue and Groove in 1992, and Chris joined the label in 1993 as label manager, following a freelance sleeve-design job. Chris and Tony didn’t make any music together until 1994, when they produced the eccentric ‘Caterpillar’, accredited to Mustardspoon. They closed T+G in 95 and formed two labels, Hospital and Galactic Disco Music. GDM was a London house/funk label and home of Future Homosapiens, Orkestra Galactica and Funky Nasa – all monikers for Tony + Chris’s prolific house output between the years 1996 and 1998. However, when Hospital took off in 1998, GDM was put on hold.
Hospital’s early drum and bass output earned the label an undeground fanbase, but it was London Elektricity’s "Song In The Key of Knife", released in Spring 1998 that really captured the imagination of the whole scene. As London Elektricity, Tony and Chris’ first long player "Pull The Plug" released in the summer of 99, received much critical acclaim and is still widely regarded as a classic album, far removed from the overlong and pretentious drum and bass albums of the time.
In 2000 the label shifted up a gear. Tony and Chris compiled and released the first in a series of freestyle compilations, Out Patients, signalling the fact that Hospital was no longer "just" a drum and bass label. This was followed by the debut album from their prodigal son, Tim Land aka Landslide, whose ‘Drum+Bossa’ set attracted a whole new audience from the jazz, breakbeat and 2-step scenes. That summer saw the signing of Danny Byrd, whose vocal r+b stylings found immediate favour with Fabio. The year finished with another signing, a certain welsh producer (at the time unknown to the d&b world) Link Barrett, aka High Contrast.
Since 2002 Chris has withdrawn from the studio in order to meet the demands of running one of the countries most successful independent labels, leaving Tony to carry the mantle of London Elektricity. Hospital has gone on to become a byword for quality soulful breakbeat thanks to a series of unfailingly consistent releases; from compilations (such as the Plastic Surgery and Outpatients series) to some heavyweight artist albums High Contrast’s amazing Debut ‘True Colours’ and London Elektricity’s fast soul classic ‘Billion Dollar Gravy’.
In 2004 ‘Live Gravy’ took the L.E sound to the next level as Hospital continued to bravely push the boundaries of Drum and Bass. "The Future Sound Of Cambridge" unearthed some golden talents in Nu-Tone and Logistics and the hot signing of Cyantific provided another glimse of good times ahead. Elsewhere High Contrast’s second album ‘High Society smashed it with the ‘Basement Track and ‘Racing Green’ getting rinsed everywhere from daytime Radio 1 to the Notting Hill Carnival.
Hospitality, (Hospital’s self styled club night) whilst being well at home at ‘Herbal’ London also represented in Cardiff, Brighton and as far as Berlin. Now established as one of the worlds biggest drum & bass nights Hospitality has launched a quarterly residency at super club Heaven, playing host to the likes of Andy C, LTJ Bukem as well as of course the NHS’s own bad boy selectors. The signing of Syncopix from Germany and the release of ‘The Future Sound Budapest’ confirming Hospital’s International status. Meanwhile Tony went back to studio to unleash London Elektricity’s 3rd album ‘Power Ballads’ in Autumn 2005. A gruelling tour followed as the band performed in front of hundreds of thousands of people throughout 2005, the album launch at London’s ‘Scala’ will never be forgotten by those who were there.
2006, 10 years on… Amazing debut albums from Q-Project, Logistics and Cyantific have expanded the label’s sound. Hospitality events have reached another level at super club ‘Heaven’ and beyond. Hospital is also fronting the digital age, recently winning best Podcast at the BT Digital Music Awards 2006. There are amazing things to look back on, so much to look forward to, bring on 20 years!
Hospital projects :
London Elektricity
High Contrast
Nu:Tone
Logistics
Cyantific
Q-Project
Phuturistix
Landslide
M*A*S*H
Hospital Mix
Plastic Surgery Compilations
Out Patients Compilations
The Ledger (Lakeland, FL) February 7, 2005 Byline: Mary Toothman Feb. 7–LAKELAND — Professor Dick Foglesong took on Mickey Mouse when he published “Married to the Mouse: Walt Disney World and Orlando” in 2001. go to site disney animal kingdom
A politics professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Foglesong drew considerable attention with the book, which has been well-received. Published by Yale University Press, it drew favorable reviews from The New York Times and favorable mentions in The Wall Street Journal and The New Yorker.
The hardback edition went into its second printing in six months, and a paperback edition appeared in 2003.
“I am pleased by the number of sales, as well as by the book’s crossover success,” Foglesong said. “It is used in college courses, but also sells well in airport bookstores.” Foglesong, 56, a resident of Maitland, has taught political science at Rollins since 1984. He was named the George and Harriet Cornell Professor of Politics at Rollins last year and has been honored as the inaugural winner of Rollins’ distinguished scholarship award.
A native of Oklahoma, Foglesong earned a master’s and Ph.D. in political science at the University of Chicago. Before coming to Rollins, he taught at Amherst College in Massachusetts.
Foglesong is married to Suzanne Foglesong, who formerly taught at Rollins, and has two sons, 27 and 22. Both were summer employees at Disney while in high school.
Disney has a Polk work force of about 5,000, making it the county’s second-largest private employer.
With the annual Disney shareholder’s meeting coming up Friday in Minneapolis, The Ledger posed Five Questions for Foglesong:
QUESTION: Why did you write “Married to the Mouse”? Are you planning a sequel?
ANSWER: When I moved to Orlando in 1984, Disney was the biggest story in town. Twenty years later, that’s still true. When the Mouse sniffles, Orlando catches a cold. Besides wanting to know how Disney transformed Orlando, I was curious about the governmental powers the state granted to Disney in 1967.
What happens when you give powers and immunities to a private business corporation without a sunset provision or performance requirement? Obviously, it generated economic development, but did it create other problems? Did it thwart growth management later on? Did it lead to abuse of power? After research, my answers were yes. I am currently writing a biography of a major political figure in Florida. After that, it may be time for a Disney sequel. website disney animal kingdom
Q: Have you heard any response from Disney about the book?
A: Not directly. In researching the book, I gained access to the Disney archives at their Burbank corporate headquarters. There, I learned all about their site-selection process and their scheme to acquire government powers in Florida. I was also able to interview officials — they are technically public officials — at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, which is Disney’s private government. I’m told they know the book well, know the pages where they are quoted. The only response from the company came when they sent someone to appear with me on a Fox-TV network interview about the book. Off-camera, he called the book fair and factual.
Q: What is the future of Walt Disney Co. with Chief Executive Michael Eisner?
A: Eisner did more to transform Orlando than Walt Disney did. Remember, Walt died in 1966, five years before the Magic Kingdom opened here. When Eisner became CEO in 1984, only Epcot had been added to the park. Since then, they have built Disney-MGM, Pleasure Island, Downtown Disney, Animal Kingdom and Celebration. They’ve also become the region’s largest hotel owner.
Having made the company profitable, Eisner has now become a public-relations liability, I think. His pushy, arrogant reputation matches the company’s dark image among critics. I’m guessing the Disney board will replace him before his contract expires in September 2006.
Q: What is the impact of the Michael Ovitz lawsuit?
A: Regardless of the legal outcome, the suit has badly sullied Eisner’s reputation. After Disney President Frank Wells died, Eisner tried to run the company by himself. He clearly dislikes power-sharing. Finally, under pressure from his board, he selected a replacement president, turning to his good friend Michael Ovitz, a golden-boy talent agency executive. Then, 14 months later, Eisner summarily fired Ovitz, though not before arranging a $140 million severance package for him.
The lawsuit was brought against the company by dissident shareholders, led by Walt’s nephew, Roy Disney, who accused Eisner of being too generous with Ovitz. The facts presented at trial make Eisner look terrible, I think. He exercised bad judgment in hiring Ovitz, who was ill-suited for the job. Then he compounded the problem by arranging a golden parachute with shareholder money — to avoid hurting Ovitz’s feelings.
Q: What does the future hold for the Walt Disney Company?
A: The Comcast bid to buy Disney sounded a warning bell. The company’s modest profits made it vulnerable to takeover. While profits have improved, state lawmakers remain concerned about the possibility of a change in ownership. That’s because Disney’s governmental powers rest in the hands of the landowner.
If the company were sold, a new landowner, possibly without a strong public image, would control Disney’s government powers. I’m talking about the power to build an airport, license the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages, provide police and fire services, even to build a nuclear power plant — all without state oversight. That’s why state legislators authorized a study of Disney’s powers in the last session. Their thinking seems to be: “Better the devil you know…”
Hospital Records is the brainchild of Chris Goss and Tony Colman. The label was started in early 1996 from their West London studio / HQ primarily as a vehicle for their own music. 
