Music like James Dean Driving Experience

él is an English independent record label based in London that was founded by Mike Alway, later becoming a subsidiary of Cherry Red Records. Their musicians were characterized by a strong English sensibility, as well as the French influence stemming from in-house writer/producer Louis Philippe. During its original run, él received much press interest, but little sales—except in Japan, where the label became an enormous influence on J-pop acts like Cornelius and Pizzicato Five. The label closed in 1989. In 2005, it was revived as a reissue label.

Alway, who cut his teeth in the late seventies working with The Soft Boys and promoting clubs and concerts in Richmond, London, joined Cherry Red Records in 1980 to work alongside the company's founder, Iain McNay.