island records

[STN]

I sort of agree with craner - but swap Warm Leatherette for Nightclubbing, and Kimono My House for Propaganda.

Also big STN love for Catch a Fire and Til Shiloh (though that was some subsiduary label). Was that Wally Badarou LP on Island?

Crackerjack, I am going to send you abusive PMs until you have a copy of For Your Pleasure.

 

[michael]

Also big STN love for Catch a Fire and Til Shiloh (though that was some subsiduary label). Was that Wally Badarou LP on Island?

Yeah, at least the only one I know of... the one with Mambo and stuff.

Edit: I'm pretty keen on this Island record, which has Mr Badarou all over it. Sly & Robbie doing disco beats with Larry Levan on the mix... all very oh-so-high cred I guess, but it'd be silly to care about that.

http://www.discogs.com/Gwen-Guthrie-Padlock/release/142196

 

[STN]

Oh was Padlock on Island. Big votes for that!

what about Lizzy Mercier Descloux, or whatever her name was?

 

[john eden]

Probably the Lee Perry Arkology set for me.

 

[john eden]

"congratulations Levi / you signed up to Island / I hope you make a million / but don't forget the I-man"

Tippa Irie - Lyric Maker

 

[martin]

Best Island release ever was "The Harder They Come"

 

[DannyL]

been looking for "all of us" by the (other) Nirvana for on the pink Island label for years... never turns up...

My current fave single is by Nirvana on Island - "Pentecost Hotel". Killer orchestral pop-sike. To judge from the lyrics, it appears to be about an underwater hotel with 7 sirens dancing in the lobby and so forth. It's f***ing aces.

I think you can get the album, it's just ludicrosly expensive. A mate of mine traded it to a local shop for some riciculously rare dub LPs. They may still have it if you want to fork out the big money!

 

[STN]

Probably the Lee Perry Arkology set for me.

I don't want to just hang around agreeing with people but by Jupiter you're right about this. I treasured that set, until a wretch nicked it off me to buy his nasty drugs. I made a tape edit of my favourite tracks which was THE soundtrack to whichever summer it came out. Really my introduction to reggae, having read a favourable review in mum's Guardian.

 

[DannyL]

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

I might be wrong, but weren't Harvest the kind of "designer" label? Wrong term, - "boutique" maybe? Anyway, several labels were created in the late 60s to promote the more intellectual/heavyweight end of rock music - progressive to coin a phrase. Vertigo is probably the most famous, and there's also Deram (Decca subsidary). Harvest was EMI's equivalent, I think.

 

[Client Eastwood]

A lot of my early reggae listening was on lsland, makes me feel old writing this list . .

Loads of BMWs - Catch a Fire, Burning etc
Max Romeo - War Inna Bablyon
Aswad - A new Chapter of Dub
Black Uhuru - Red
Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution
Grace Jones - Nighclubbing
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Dread Beat and Blood
Burning Spear - Dry and Heavy
Lee Perry - Super Ape

others err
Kid Creole and his wonderful cocunuts
ah
Orb prompted by a post on another thread
and oh
Tricky

 

[STN]

ooh, Cut by The Slits. Incredible stuff. Reading this thread, I realize that I'd never really appreciated how varied Island's output was... I think I weirdly assumed that they cheaply reissued stuff that was already proven good, rather than flying the flag themselves.

 

[mistersloane]

I don't care. I love this record.

 

[gumdrops]

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

its better than what virgin have done with the old frontline albums - the artwork for those is horrendous.

 

[STN]

Aha, at last an opportunity for disagreement. I really tried with Robert Palmer, hoping it would be a cross between the Faces and some decadent film in which Helen Mirren prances about in the altogether, but it just sounded like drab pub-rock to me...

 

[mms]

yeah that badarou album mambo was on island, he was the compass point all stars main man as well.
yep arkology and kid creole and the coconuts, shit!
I remember reading something about lee perry and robert palmer trying to work together, robert going to the ark, lots of heavy air freshner and weed, loads of deranged dreads trying to freak him out, getting him stoned and then giving him dry crackers, all this stuff.

Agreed on Robert Palmer, never really did much for me neither.

 

[mistersloane]

Aha, at last an opportunity for disagreement. I really tried with Robert Palmer, hoping it would be a cross between the Faces and some decadent film in which Helen Mirren prances about in the altogether, but it just sounded like drab pub-rock to me...

He's one of those artists that I'd in no way defend, I think he's mostly somewhere between meh and pish, but I LOVE that song. Love it, such a strange little tune and strange lyrics.

 

[john eden]

Best Island release ever was "The Harder They Come"

That is hard to disagree with, actually. All killer no filler, mass appeal, still ace, essential in-car listening from time.

Burning Spear - Marcus Garvey / Garvey's Ghost would be another of my picks.

I'm still annoyed they dropped* Papa Levi before he did an album, that would have been wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicked. Or wockard, in fact.

*Allegedly after some scatological comments about Maggie Thatcher went out live on Radio London. So fair play.

 

[crackerjack]

I'm still annoyed they dropped* Papa Levi before he did an album, that would have been wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiicked. Or wockard, in fact.

*Allegedly after some scatological comments about Maggie Thatcher went out live on Radio London. So fair play.

How unimaginative marketing depts were in those days - surely that would now be considered a selling point.

 

[john eden]

How unimaginative marketing depts were in those days - surely that would now be considered a selling point.

Well a bit of prime time vulgarity never did the Sex Pistols any harm, so draw your own conclusions!

 

[john eden]

"You know, that Chris Blackwell disgusts me, makes me want to vomit. He invited me to the opening of the Compass Point studio in Nassau and there I saw him drink the blood of a freshly killed chicken. He thought I was into all that voodoo and obeah (African magic for inflicting damage on enemies, much feared in the Caribbean) stuff, and offered me some. It was disgusting."