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Trojan Records

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Trojan Records
Image:Trojan Records logo.png
Parent company Sanctuary Records Group
Founded 1968
Founder(s) Lee Gopthal
Genre(s) ska - rocksteady - reggae
dub - dancehall - soul
Country of Origin United Kingdom
Website Official site of Trojan Records

Trojan Records is a British record label specialising in ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dub music. The label operates under the Sanctuary Records Group.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Beginnings & heyday

Trojan records, founded in 1968, was one of many labels in the United Kingdom that fed the ska, rocksteady and reggae craze sweeping the country. Founder Lee Gopthal had collaborated with Chris Blackwell of Island Records on mail order sales, which prompted Gopthal to start a record store called Musicland (which became part of the Muzik City Record Shops chain). Trojan's name comes from the Leyland trucks that were used by Duke Reid in Jamaica, which had Duke Reid - The Trojan King of Sounds painted on the sides. Reid's sound system became known as the Trojan Sound, which became synonomous with the new and hip music.

By 1970, Trojan artists that were making headway into the pop music charts included: Lee Perry's Upsetters, Bob & Marcia, The Cimarons, Desmond Dekker, Bruce Ruffin, Nicky Thomas and Dave & Ansel Collins. (Note: a common misconception is that Dave & Ansel Collins were brothers, although Dave Barker was a stand-alone artist and not related to Ansel Collins.)

Trojan's main function was not to develop new artists, but to serve as a sister label for Island Records. Monetary success came from releasing Jamaican music supplied by producers such as Duke Reid, Byron Lee and Leslie Kong into a series of popular, budget-priced compilations such as, Tighten Up, Club Reggae and Reggae Chartbusters.

[edit] Decline

In 1972, Island Records pulled out of its partnership with Trojan Records. Around the same time, there was a declining interest in Jamaican music among British youth subcultures such as the mods, skinheads and suedeheads — who at first strongly embraced the reggae sound, but ventured towards other genres when Rastafarian lyrics entered the music. In 1974, Trojan had made attempts to Anglicize the reggae on the label, by re-mastering and overdubbing string arrangements over the original Jamaican recordings. They also brought in more British reggae artists, such as Symarip and Greyhound. However, the company was still out of step with the British reggae fanbase; largely missing out on the Rasta and the lovers rock phases of reggae, which could have brought more commercial success.

In 1974 (finalized in 1975), Trojan was brought by the Saga company, which focused on releasing budget LPs. Trojan was now headed by individuals who were not familiar with its current catalogue, or with reggae music. Stipulations about royalties and contracts were lost in the sale, leaving many Trojan artists unpaid for subsequent royalties. By the time Dave Hendley came on board as the A&R person, the label had a sullied reputation. Under his influence, Trojan released notable albums by Mikey Dread, I-Roy, and Black Uhuru.

Due to Trojan's inability to compete with new labels like Greensleeves Records for fresh talent, Dave Hendley began to compile albums of older material — from Trojan's back catalogue and unreleased Jamaican masters. Hendley left the company in 1982 and Trojan Records settled into inactivity.

[edit] Revival

In 1985, Colin Newman (not the Wire guy Colin Newman) brought Trojan from Marcel Rodd, the CEO of Saga. Colin also had no deep knowledge of reggae, but the company soon brought in Steve Barrow, Chris Prete, Penny Reel, Lionel Young and Laurence Cane-Honeysett to research and compile new Trojan releases. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, Trojan was unearthing and compiling a lot of reggae recordings and re-issuing them for the first time in 25 years. They established more equitable business practices and contributed some reggae classics to be remixed for TV commercials for TDK, Adidas and the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship. They also started the popular Trojan box sets, which usually feature 50 songs on a 3-CD (or vinyl record) set in a simple cardboard package.

In 2001, the Sanctuary Records Group purchased Trojan for £10.3 million. This purchase added Trojan to a long list of specialty labels, such as Indigo, Attack and Ras Records. The deal gave the label leverage to buy music rights controlled by other vintage reggae labels, secure worldwide distribution, and to enact slicker marketing campaigns.

[edit] Cultural influences

[edit] Trojan sub-labels

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Reggae
Reggae - Mento - Rocksteady - Ska - Blue Beat - Dub music - Dub poetry - Toasting - Lovers Rock - Dancehall (music) - Ragga - Reggaeton - Roots reggae - 2 Tone
List of reggae genres - Caribbean music in the United Kingdom
Related topics
Jamaica - Haile Selassie - Marcus Garvey - Rastafari - Rude boy - Skinhead - Dancehall (venue) - Dubplate - Jamaican sound system - Sound system (DJ) - Riddim - Jamaican English - Studio One - Trojan Records - Island Records - Coxsone Dodd - Chris Blackwell - Reggae musiciams - Dub artists - Jamaiican record producers

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