Island Records
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"In the early eighties, after the supposed demise of disco, Island Records released a couple of innovative dance singles with Wally Badarou, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Grace Jones, Will Powers, Gwen Guthrie, Tom Tom Club and NYC Peech Boys. Some of this material was remixed by Larry Levan."--Sholem Stein |
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Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another label recently acquired by PolyGram, were both at the time the largest independent record labels in history, with Island having exerted a major influence on the progressive music scene in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s.
Rise of the Island brand
Island Records was founded in Jamaica in 1959 by Chris Blackwell and Graeme Goodall but moved to the UK in May 1962. Until Blackwell sold the label to PolyGram in 1989, Island was the largest indie record label in history. In the mid-1970s, Island operated its own record pressing plant, but had problems with quality control; many records were defective and had to be returned. Except for this brief period, Island manufactured and released most of its titles in the UK with the assistance of EMI, and in other territories via licensing agreements with other record companies.
