DO-IT Records was launched in 1977 by Robin Scott, Max Tregoning, Kathy Doherty and Linda Witham with Ian moving back to London and joining the following year. All of the early releases (Roogalator, Comic Romance, The Sinceros and Nick Plytas) were produced by Robin and were pretty standard fare, to be honest.

In 1978, Robin relocated to Paris where he discovered an underground world of eastern-bloc operators. He called the project ‘M’ from the ubiquitous Paris Metro logo and started writing new material. As a sideline, he supported himself writing porn soundtracks. One of the new songs ‘Pop Muzik’ stood out immediately but it took months of recording to get it right. The first floaty acoustic guitar version was a bit too cupcake and the second heavy metal attempt was a jumbled clunky mess. It wasn’t until Robin met John Lewis at Electrophon Studios in London that the electronic magic happened. However, the mounting recording costs were eye-watering, close to £14,000 which was unheard of for an independent in 1978. There was a critical fall-out between Max and Robin about these costs which lead to the inevitable and very expensive court case. As the saying goes “where there’s a hit, there’s a writ”.

Following a chance meeting between Ian and Adam Ant in May 1979, DO-IT signed ADAM AND THE ANTS and released the excellent Zerox and Cartrouble singles. In November that year, the monumental DIRK WEARS WHITE SOX album was unleashed which topped the Indie charts for a solid 18 months. In 1980, Pete Dolan joined the company and brought his immense retail experience from Virgin Records. He also Introduced Ian to the world of Ralph Records, The Residents and their brand new signing YELLO.