Late 70s/early 80s punk, synthpop/electrorock label based in San Francisco, California. The label primarily featured punk and new wave music from San Francisco bands although as the label grew they signed bands from other cities as well. The label name 415 is a reference both to the telephone area code for the San Francisco area and to the police code for "disturbing the peace."
415 was founded in San Francisco in 1978 by writer and promoter Howie Klein, Aquarius Records (San Francisco) store owner Chris Knab, and music retailer/collector Butch Bridges. In 1979, Butch Bridges sold his interest in the label to Queenie Taylor, a long time employee of the management and promotion agency, Bill Graham Presents, which helped book 415 acts opening for nationally touring bands such as Duran Duran. They signed a distribution deal with Columbia.
After Klein left 415, Levitin helped Klein run the label for 3 months until Sandy Pearlman (producer and manager of Blue Öyster Cult and Black Sabbath) bought the label, bringing in Tom Schedler to be head of the A&R department. Pearlman changed the name to Popular Metaphysics, and released records through its co-branding agreement with MCA Records for a diverse but small group of artists, including Love Club (4), Manitoba's Wild Kingdom, and World Entertainment War.
