Stir It Up

Following on from last week's Studio One post, today's post focusses on the premier UK reggae label, Trojan Records. The label was instrumental in introducing reggae to a global audience and by 1970 had secured a series of major UK chart hits from the likes of Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff and The Maytals. Pick up any reggae compilation album and you'll instantly see the influence of Trojan. Founded in 1968 when Lee Gopthal, who operated the Musicland record retail chain and owned Beat And Commercial Records. pooled his Jamaican music interests with those of Chris Blackwell's Island Records, the label was also a huge influence on the skinhead culture of the 60's and 70's. As with Studio One, the success of bands such as The Specials and Madness sparked a renewed interest in Trojan in the late 70's that brought many of their classic tunes to a new audience.

Reggae without Trojan would be likes soul without Stax, with a back catalogue to match any label. The cultural impact of Trojan has shaped the world we live in and thankfully most of the music released on the label over the years is still available thanks to those lovely people at Sanctuary Records. 

One of the earliest releases on Trojan was The Wailers, with the original version of the classic Stir It Up. Released in 1968, it was an early indicator of just how good The Wailers would become. Written for his wife Rita, after Bob's eight-month absence from Jamaica in 1966, staying with his mother in Delaware, it went on to become one of their most loved songs, in no small part due to their spellbinding appearance on The Whistle Test. 

 

 

 

Studio One

Known to some as the Motown Of Jamaica, Studio One was was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. Studio One discovered many reggae artists that went onto to become legends throughout the world, most notably The Wailers whose early recordings were released on the label founded in the early 60's by the one and only Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd. 

Also on the label were The Skatelites of  Guns Of Navarone fame. They were also the house band, playing on releases by the likes of Prince Buster and on The Wailers debut single Simmer Down. Like many others of a certain age my introduction to The Skatelites was through The Specials, in particular the Too Much Too Young E.P. Fast forward a few years and I was discovering these wonderful old reggae and ska songs that had such an influence on the 2 Tone bands here in Britain. Through John Peel and Ital Riddims in Glasgow I was hearing, and starting to buy, these records that were made thousands of miles away in Jamaica but spoke to something in me. 

The world of music owes a huge debt to Clement Dodd, without whom much of this music may never have seen the light of day, and to the 2 Tone bands of the 80's who revitalised it for a younger generation.

 

Lone Ranger

One of the first and finest of the dancehall toasters, Lone Ranger first appeared on the reggae scene in the early 80's with songs that drew heavily from the legendary Studio One days. He began his own recording career at Studio One and by the early 80's every producer in Kingston was literally queuing up to work with him. '82 was the year of Lone Ranger with the release of 3 albums, "Badda Dan Dem", "Hi Yo Siver Away !" and the one he is probably most well known for, "M16". And all achieved without Tonto at his side....

The Answer