Bizarre Records was founded by
Frank Zappa and his manager,
Herb Cohen, in 1968 as a recordings extension of their company Bizarre Productions after MGM Records passed up a contract option with the duo.
The
Bizarre Records label was created as an outlet for Frank Zappa's own productions and for artists discovered by Zappa who's performances were a little more 'bizarre' than the 'straight' acts recorded on the company's sister label
Straight, created in the spring of 1969.
Both labels were distributed by Warner Reprise*. Whilst the latter Straight label had its own catalog ID the
Bizarre Records releases are normally identified by the
Bizarre logo on the cover art and (usually) a Reprise label & catalog ID from their 2000 & 6000 series.
*Initially
Bizarre Records was distributed by Verve and marketed in the UK by Polydor until Zappa contracted to Warners.
In the UK the label was distributed by WEA using their "K" catalog prefix.