Label Guide: Kuckuck

Kuckuck Schallplatten (Cuckoo Records) was the first independent German record label, founded on April 1, 1968 by Eckart Rahn. The Munich-based label did groundbreaking work for German-language rock music, progressive rock and electronic/experimental music at the time. Most of these early releases were commercially unsuccessful and Kuckuck expanded its roster to include American and Canadian artists.

Kuckuck won a distribution deal with German major Deutsche Grammophon (DGG) that lasted from January 1970 to November 1974. Original pressings of that time can easily be identified by the 'Deutsche Grammophon' reference on the label rim text.

After DGG dropped Kuckuck in 1974 the label almost went out of business, but Eckhart Rahn managed to keep it alive with artists like Deuter, Kitaro and Paul Horn, and as Kuckuck still exists today it is now the longest-surviving independent record label in Germany, possibly the world.