During the 1970s, the label released albums by Earth Quake, Greg Kihn, Jonathan Richman, and The Modern Lovers, the Rubinoos, and the Tyla Gang.
[1] The label was founded by Matthew King Kaufman,[2] along with members of the Bay Area band Earth Quake.
After experiencing frustration at what he saw as A&M's incompetence in handling the band,[3] and winning some compensation for the unauthorized use of Earth Quake's music in the movie The Getaway, he set up Beserkley Records, in 1973.
[2] Kaufman produced virtually all of Beserkley's output throughout its existence, often in association with Glenn Kolotkin, less frequently with Kenny Laguna.
In 1976, Kaufman licensed those recordings, together with the ones the band had made around the same time with producer John Cale for Warner Bros., and released them on Beserkley as the acclaimed album The Modern Lovers.
"[4] Beserkley's major breakthrough came with Greg Kihn, who sang backup on Earth Quake and Richman records before forming his own band.
Kihn's early 1980s albums Rockihnroll (1981), Kihntinued (1982) and Kihnspiracy (1983) all reached the top 40 on the LP charts, and his 1983 single "Jeopardy" became Beserkley's biggest-ever hit, peaking at US No.
The label name was briefly reactivated in 1988 for a lone new album by Mrs. Green, produced by Kaufman and released only in the UK and Germany.