Smiley, PJ, DJ Daddy & DJ Hype had built a sound system called Heatwave. They broke into many buildings to start their own illegal raves back in 1986. Smiley & PJ were rappers on the sound system but were also trying to get a record deal. No one would sign them up, and so they started their own label, Shut Up And Dance Records. The name came from the title of one of the songs on their demo tape.

Their first release was a track titled "5,6,7,8", which was sold straight out of the boot of PJ’s Ford Escort, with follow-ups such as "£10.00 To Get In", "£20.00 To Get In", "Lamborghini", & "Derek Went Mad" (Dance Before The Police Come album), which were all massive underground anthems. The follow up album Death Is Not The End contained such monsters as "Raving Im Raving" & "The Green Man". Success brought expansion, and expansion brought artists such as Ragga Twins, The (Reggae Owes Me Money-Album), Nicolette (Now Is Early-Album), Peter Bouncer And Ad’e to name a few. All the above artist were produced by Shut Up & Dance and soon other artists were signed to the label who produced their own music: Codine, MC Duke, Cedrick Winkelburger etc.

Smiley & PJ also started other labels, such as Red Light (2) (Drum & Bass), Ruff Quality Recordings (Experimental Breaks) & the more recent New Deal Recordings, which is a 2 Step/Garage breakbeat outlet responsible for such classics as True Vip & Holdtight .

The SUAD label is the foundation which holds it all together.