Editing Island Records (section)

===Rise of the brand===
Island Records was founded in Jamaica on 4 July 1959 by [[Chris Blackwell]], [[Graeme Goodall]] and [[Leslie Kong]], and financed by Stanley Borden from [[RKO]]. Its name was inspired by the [[Harry Belafonte]] song "[[Island in the Sun (Harry Belafonte song)|Island in the Sun]]".<ref name="Full">{{cite web|title=Keep on Running: 50 Years of Island Records (full documentary)|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzFMa8BLGHk| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926114835/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzFMa8BLGHk&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=2012-09-26|work=YouTube|access-date=8 February 2014|format=Video upload|date=10 May 2012}}</ref><ref name=Southall>{{cite book | last = Southall |first = Brian | title = The A-Z of Record Labels | publisher = Sanctuary Publishing | location = London | year = 2000 | isbn = 1-86074-281-5}}</ref> Blackwell explained in 2009: "I loved music so much, I just wanted to get into it, or be as close to it as I could."<ref name="Full" /> Blackwell's first album was ''[[Lance Hayward at the Half Moon Hotel]]'', which was recorded in late 1959.<ref>Chris Blackwellsu, ''The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond'' (Gallery Books, 2022), 29.</ref>

Tom Hayes, the label's sales manager between 1965 and 1967, referred to the early period of the label in the UK as "organized chaos". The 1964 hit, "[[My Boy Lollipop]]", sung by Jamaican singer [[Millie Small]] (1947–2020), was the label's first success in the UK and led to a world tour that also involved Blackwell. Blackwell explained in a 50th anniversary documentary that he was only interested in building long-term careers at that stage in time, rather than short-term projects.<ref name="Full"/> Suzette Newman has been a close colleague of Chris Blackwell's since working together in the early days of Island Records, and while there she ran the Mango world music label.<ref>Pride, Dominic. [https://books.google.com/books?id=IwoEAAAAMBAJ&dq=suzette+newman+island+records&pg=PA8 "Islandlife Promotes Three U.K. Execs"]. ''Billboard magazine''. Published by 31 October 1998, p. 8. Retrieved 17 December 2016.</ref> Suzette Newman and Chris Salewicz were the editors for the book ''The Story of Island Records: [[Keep On Running]]''.<ref>{{cite book |author=Newman, Suzette and Chris Salewicz. |title=The Story of Island Records: Keep on Running |publisher=Universe Publishing |year=2010 |isbn=9780789320964 |access-date=2016-12-17 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rBImQwAACAAJ}}</ref>

Blackwell relocated to England in May 1962 to garner greater levels of attention after the local Jamaican sound systems proved to be overwhelmingly successful. The label was based at a now demolished basement in [[Kilburn, London|Kilburn]], [[London Borough of Brent]], in a property that was used by [[Sonny Roberts]]'s [[Planetone]] label and whose landlord was [[Lee Gopthal]] who would later create [[Trojan Records]].<ref name="brent2020.co.uk">[https://www.brent2020.co.uk/reggae-map/no-bass-like-home-pioneering-artists-and-labels/] {{dead link|date=September 2021}}</ref><ref name="issuu.com">{{Cite web|url=https://issuu.com/communityeventsuk6/docs/25th_anniversary_international_regg|title=25th Anniversary International Reggae Day|website=Issuu.com|date=13 July 2019 }}</ref> The vast majority of the artists who had signed to Blackwell's fledgling label while he was in Jamaica agreed to allow the musical entrepreneur to release their music in the UK. While in England, Blackwell travelled throughout the city carrying his stock with him and sold to record stores in the city. He did not provide any copies to radio stations, as they would not play any of the Island music; the music was also not reviewed by the press.<ref name="Full" /> Meanwhile, Goodall left to start the [[Doctor Bird (label)|Doctor Bird]] record label in 1965.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11340584/Graeme-Goodall-obituary.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11340584/Graeme-Goodall-obituary.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Graeme Goodall - obituary|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=2015|access-date=2017-12-30|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}}</ref>
{{Plain image with caption|Island Records 1967 logo.svg|width=170px|Island Records logo used between 1967 and 1970}}
Blackwell signed the [[Spencer Davis Group]] to the label (at that time, many Island releases were being distributed by [[Philips Records|Philips]]/[[Fontana Records|Fontana]]). The group became very popular and Island started their own independent series to spotlight UK rock talent. They signed artists such as [[John Martyn]], [[Fairport Convention]], [[Free (band)|Free]], and greatly influenced the growing [[FM radio]] market. By the late 1960s and early 1970s, they were a major label in England with artists including [[Roxy Music]], [[King Crimson]], [[Sparks (band)|Sparks]], [[Traffic (band)|Traffic]], [[Bob Marley and the Wailers|the Wailers]], [[Cat Stevens]], [[Steve Winwood]] and many others.  (In the US, many of their releases were licensed to A&M prior to signing up distribution deals with [[Capitol Records|Capitol]] and later [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]], and also independent distribution.)

For [[Toots and the Maytals]], the group that introduced the term "[[reggae]]" in song with their 1968 single "[[Do the Reggay]]",<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dictionary.com/browse/reggae |title=Reggae |website=Dictionary.com|date=2016-11-30}}</ref> Chris Blackwell was the one who decided on the line-up of the group before introducing them to an international audience. Blackwell had signed [[Bob Marley]], and now Toots and the Maytals. In November 2016, [[Jackie Jackson (bassist)|Jackie Jackson]] described the formation of the group in a radio interview for Kool 97 FM Jamaica.<ref name=":1">[http://www.kool97fm.com T interview with Jackie Jackson, Paul Douglas, and Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan]. Kool 97 FM.  27 November 2016. Retrieved 27 November 2016.</ref> Accompanied by [[Paul Douglas (musician)|Paul Douglas]] and Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan in studio, Jackson explained:

<blockquote>We're all original members of Toots and the Maytals band. First it was Toots and the Maytals, three guys: [[Toots Hibbert|Toots]], Raleigh, and Jerry. ... And then they were signed to Island Records, Chris Blackwell. And we were their recording band. One day we were summoned to Chris' house. And he says, "Alright gentleman, I think it's time. This Toots and the Maytals looks like it's going to be a big thing". By this time he had already signed Bob (Marley). So in his camp, Island Records, there was Toots and the Maytals], the late Bob Marley; we were talking about reggae is going international now.  We kept on meeting and he (Blackwell) decided that the backing band that back all of the songs, the recording band, should be the Maytals band.  So everything came under Toots and the Maytals. So we became Maytals also. And then we hit the road in 1975 ... we were the opening act for the [[Eagles (band)|Eagles]], [[Linda Ronstadt]], and [[Jackson Browne]]. We were the opening act for [[The Who]] for about two weeks.<ref name=":1" /></blockquote>

In 1969, Island Records acquired a deconsecrated 17th century church building at 8-10 Basing Street, in the [[Ladbroke Grove]] area of [[Notting Hill]] in [[West London]]. The building was refurbished to create the [[Island Studios]] recording studio, while also serving as the new location for Island Records' offices.<ref name="MasseyH">{{cite book |last1=Massey |first1=Howard |title=The Great British Recording Studios |date=2015 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland, US |isbn=978-1-4584-2197-5 |pages=261–265}}</ref>

The first Toots and the Maytals album released and distributed by Chris Blackwell's Island Records was ''[[Funky Kingston]].'' [[Toots and the Maytals|The Maytals]] had recently added a full-time backing band that included drummer [[Paul Douglas (musician)|Paul Douglas]] and bassist Jackie Jackson, and Chris Blackwell joined the group in the studio as a co-producer for the album.<ref>Thompson, Dave. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ARrDQKqFo7AC&dq=funky+kingston+island+records+chris+blackwell+the+maytals+reggae+%26+caribbean+music+dave+thompson&pg=PA179 ''Reggae & Caribbean Music''], Backbeat Books, 2002, p. 179. Print. Retrieved 19 November 2016.</ref> Music critic [[Lester Bangs]] described the album in ''[[Stereo Review]]'' as "perfection, the most exciting and diversified set of reggae tunes by a single artist yet released."<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/toots-and-maytals "Toots and the Maytals"], Contemporary Musicians. Encyclopedia.com. 6 October 2016.</ref> As Blackwell says, "The Maytals were unlike anything else ... sensational, raw and dynamic."<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00ymljb "Toots and the Maytals: Reggae Got Soul"], BBC Four (documentary). Directed by George Scott. UK. 2011. 59 min. Retrieved 15 December 2016.</ref> Blackwell had a strong commitment to Toots and the Maytals, saying: "I've known Toots longer than anybody – much longer than Bob (Bob Marley). Toots is one of the purest human beings I've met in my life, pure almost to a fault."<ref name=":9">Katz, David, [http://daily.redbullmusicacademy.com/2013/06/toots-and-the-maytals-live-album "Toots and the Maytals' Live: From Stage to Wax in 24 Hours"], Red Bull Music Academy, 19 June 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2016.</ref>

Despite the initial establishment work that Blackwell completed almost single-handedly, Island struggled as a business in the late 1970s and early 1980s. [[Bob Marley]]'s 1981 death was detrimental to the label, especially after its having engineered Marley's international breakthrough only a few years earlier, while Irish rock band [[U2]], which had signed to Island in March 1980, was growing in popularity, but had not yet reached the international superstar status that was to come. In 1981, Blackwell also used the label to finance a new film production and distribution company, producing the film ''[[Countryman (film)|Countryman]]''.<ref name=IA>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Daily Variety]]|page=1|date=September 20, 1985|last=Greenberg|first=James|title=Island And Alive Dissolving Joint Prod'n Venture}}</ref> In 1982, [[Paul Morley]] and producer [[Trevor Horn]] started the [[ZTT]] label under the Island banner and Blackwell was known to approve excessive spending by the label.<ref name="May" /> Morley recalls in a 2009 book about Island Records:

<blockquote>I eventually grew to appreciate how Chris Blackwell, and therefore Island Records, was not about one thing, or one style, or one system, or one way of doing things ... [I began] reflecting how the world functions and reinvents itself precisely because it is a fluid, sometimes dangerous, always exhilarating union of systems and beliefs and the best way of allowing the world to progress is to mix up and place in glorious conflict these various systems and beliefs.<ref name="Cool" /></blockquote>

In 1983, the film production company formed a partnership with [[Shep Gordon]]'s Alive Enterprises to form Island Alive and had success with ''[[Kiss of the Spider Woman (1985 film)|Kiss of the Spider Woman]]'', ''[[Koyaanisqatsi]]'', and ''[[Stop Making Sense]]''.<ref name=IA/> The partnership was dissolved in 1985.<ref name=IA/> In August 1987, the company was not able to pay US$5&nbsp;million that it owed to U2 in royalties for ''[[The Joshua Tree]]'' album, as it had diverted the funds to finance several unsuccessful films. U2 responded by negotiating a deal whereby they received a stake in the label that was estimated to be around 10 per cent.<ref>{{Cite book | last = McGee | first = Matt | title = U2:A Diary | publisher = Omnibus Press | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-1-84772-108-2}}</ref>

The label's [[4th & Broadway]] division, operating since the mid-1980s, achieved some success marketing alternative [[hip hop music|hip hop]] and dance-pop music with artists such as [[Eric B. & Rakim|Eric B. and Rakim]] and the [[Stereo MCs]]. Mango ([[Chaka Demus & Pliers|Chaka Demus and Pliers]]) was another Island dance-oriented subsidiary, while it was singer [[Robert Palmer]] who achieved worldwide success with the rock song "[[Addicted to Love (song)|Addicted to Love]]" in 1986. African musicians such as [[King Sunny Adé]] and [[Angélique Kidjo]] were also championed by Blackwell.<ref name="May" />