island records

M

mms

sometimes
that's funny listening to one world by john martyn now after seeing a documentary about him last night, which chris blackwell was in.
he's right there are so many points, i love alot of the 70's stuff, the reggae, the compass point all stars kinda stuff, then you got pj harvey, tricky, it does seem to be a bit of mess now though.
They're a good argument for record labels thats for sure.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
Roxy+Music+-+For+Your+Pleasure.jpg


Without doubt.

This comes second:

2490189121_16b308a96b.jpg


Good thread.
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
What am I talking about??

This:

sparks_kimonof.jpg


Obviously!

These fuckers turned up on J. Ross the other night.
 
empty mirror

empty mirror

remember the jackalope
good call on the sparks
and of course the upsetters (and burning spear)

for me it has to be fairport convention/richard & linda thompson/fotheringray (plus nick drake, and john martyn)
that family of sound just does it for me

and of course, impossible to ignore the roxy/eno nexus
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
mms said:
it does seem to be a bit of mess now though.
They're a good argument for record labels thats for sure.
Click to expand...

Does the modern version even have an identity any more? It's just one of several company logos on the back of the better US R&B/hip hop albums (Badu/Q-Tip).


Been playing early Roxy a lot lately and that album is the only one of the first three I haven't got.:(

Did you go any of Sparks' month-long album shows? I love them more than I like their music, just an incredible relationship with their fanbase. Good recent song about Morrissey too.
 
M

mms

sometimes
crackerjack said:
Does the modern version even have an identity any more? It's just one of several company logos on the back of the better US R&B/hip hop albums (Badu/Q-Tip).


Been playing early Roxy a lot lately and that album is the only one of the first three I haven't got.:(

Did you go any of Sparks' month-long album shows? I love them more than I like their music, just an incredible relationship with their fanbase. Good recent song about Morrissey too.
Click to expand...

well just reminded me that roxy and sparks were on the label too.
they've been swallowed by a conglomerate now yes, who have destroyed their identity, or at least the identity of the label is now pre conglomerate, shit really.
big business kills everything.
 
Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
Nice article, it always slips my mind how much of the stuff I like is actually on Island. They were def one of the labels running tings in the 70s.
 
Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
Harvest and Virgin were in similar territory at the time, weren't they? But off the top of my head, neither were quite as great. Time to consult some wiki lists methinks.
 
Tentative Andy

Tentative Andy

I'm in the Meal Deal
petergunn said:
virgin didn't start til 73, but harvest was similar for sure...
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Yeah, just looking through their wiki article, had a lot of significant artists:
Pink Floyd
Deep Purple
Syd Barrett
Edgar Broughton Band
Third Ear Band
Roy Harper
Kevin Ayers
ELO
Roy Wood/Wizard/The Move
Be-Bop Deluxe
Wire
And to my surprise, early output from Duran Duran and Iron Maiden. (!)
Not all of those artists fully to my taste, but obviously all 'important' in their period in different ways.
Still can't quite match up to Island though. Having a read up on their releases as I type, fuuuck they put out a lot records....
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
Tentative Andy said:
Harvest and Virgin were in similar territory at the time, weren't they? But off the top of my head, neither were quite as great. Time to consult some wiki lists methinks.
Click to expand...

Wasn't Harvest just an EMI subsid? They had some top stuff, but didn't span the spectrum like island.
 
P

petergunn

plywood violin
decent sort of afro-rock/funk fusion thing on Island from 72... guy played in Traffic as well, but this record is sort of like a lighter Fela vibe...

reebop72.jpg
 
D

don_quixote

Trent End
yeah kimono my house is great. i tried to tell you in the night! that a girl like you could do without guided tours. you tried to tell me in the day! that your leading exports were textiles and iron ore.

but different class...
 
Leo

Leo

Well-known member
surprisingly decent Q&A with chris blackwell in the latest edition of interview magazine (the mag's actually not so bad now that glenn o'brien is at the helm), lots of insight into the early days of the label, him hanging in kingston with the reggae stars of the day. oddly, he always seemed pretty down-to-earth, even after moving on to the international rockstar jet set.

funny story about how he decided to go for broke and throw every dollar the label had into the making of robert palmer's "addicted to love" video (the one with all the identical models as his backing band), which went on to be early video hit and massive moneymaker via palmer's subsequent record sales. island had a lot more cred with other artists, but palmer (and later, u2) paid a lot of bills.
 
Benny Bunter

Benny Bunter

Well-known member
One thing I could never figure out was why Island decided to use that crappy generic back cover on all their cd reissues. Rubbish...

On a positive note i'd like to put in a good word for that great trilogy of Tom Waits albums. Swordfishtrombones, Rain dogs and Frank's Wild Years.

...and the numerous £3.99 reggae primers that litter my collection, saving me much time, effort and cash :)
 
craner

craner

Beast of Burden
Ha, true - but the generic vinyl inner sleeves, with pics of all the back-cat classics, levels it out.
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Yeah, I loved that too. Buying these records second hand from charity shops in Leeds during my Uni years, I used to pore over these inner sleeves. Also picking up early Simple Minds, Spandau Ballet, Heaven 17, Duran Duran records for pennys and playing them at parties to total rapture...much fun in 1997. My house was much better than the drum n bass clubs.

Cracker, you need to get For Your Pleasure right now, you nutter!
 
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