Illegal Records was formed in 1977 by Miles Copeland (2) to release the debut single by his brother's band, The Police. Entitled "Fall Out"/"Nothing Achieving", the record sold out its initial pressing and went on to sell about 70,000 copies - an unprecedented feat for both an independent label and an "unknown" act.
Copeland went on to sign more artists and start several other indie labels including Deptford Fun City, Step-Forward Records and Total Noise , all under the blanket name of "Faulty Products". He also launched the foreign divisions, France & Netherlands, that released some of the same titles with different catalogue numbers, and some exclusive titles as well.
In 1979, Miles decided to launch an American version of his Faulty/Illegal operation, and started the I.R.S. Records label. Many I.R.S. releases were issued through Illegal for the UK & European market.
