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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZISLANDLabel formed '62 by Chris Blackwell, a white Jamaican (b '37). Aimed at Britain's Jamaican population, Island had its first hit with Millie (Small) ('My Boy Lollipop' '64), the same year Blackwell discovered Bob Marley (whom see). He was one of the first to perceive a switch from singles to albums, with Aswad and the Abyssinians, and expanded into rock with distinctive psychedelic record covers for Traffic, Roxy Music (fronted by Bryan Ferry) and Free; then U2 in the late '70s. Having begun by selling records out of the back of his car, he later staved off cash-flow problems by securing loans against copyrights, which later became illegal; some artists got sore at him but his personal charm was great. He could raise great enthusiasm for a project only to lose interest suddenly a minute later. Subsidiary labels incl. Sue (leased US R&B), Pyramid, Trojan (sold '72) and Mango (all reggae) and Antilles (jazz). He sold a large stake to Polygram '88 and became very rich, by then a peripatetic man, notoriously difficult to reach, with homes in Jamaica, Nassau, Miami, LA and New York; by '97 when he left Island it was said to have lost direction, its only recent successes the Britpop group Pulp and the Irish pop quartet Cranberries, with Dolores O'Riordan (hit albums '93--6); he was producing digital films and owned cinemas and hotels. |