Safety Net Records was founded by Miami Herald music critic Bill Ashton,[1] and is co-owned by Jimmy Johnson.[2] Safety Net released South Florida classics such as The Essentials' "Fast Music in a Slow Town" EP and The Chant's "Two Car Mirage."[3] In 1988, Safety Net released "The Wilderness", an album by Charlie Pickett & the MC3.[4]
According to Greg Baker, "Safety Net, like so many entities of the early 1980s scene, was a co-op project that put music first and money fourth or fifth. In fact, back then there was little of the enmity and competition so common in today's rock scenes, including Miami's. Wimmer and Ashton each had record labels, yet the two often worked together. If Open didn't have the resources to put out a record everyone knew deserved release, Safety Net would. And vice versa. For instance, when Open couldn't release an EP by The Bobs, Safety Net simply slapped on its own label. (The Bobs, with their evocatively clever lyrics and funky arrangements, were a far cry from the better-known soft-rock a cappella group with the same name). Later, the Bobs's Bob Rupe would produce a number of local records and get signed by national labels as a member of two cutting-edge bands." [5]