By Bruce Warren, Program Director for WXPN

One of reggae’s most legendary labels was started in 1967 and since then has presented some of the best Jamaican music with the likes of Bob Marley & The Wailers, Dennis Brown, Toots & The Maytals and Lee “Scratch” Perry.

The Trojan Records story begins July 28th, 1967 when the first incarnation of the label was launched by Island Records as a showcase for producer Duke Reid. The name itself came from the seven ton Leyland ‘Trojan’ trucks that were used to transport the producer’s huge sound system around Jamaica, and which had emblazoned upon its sides, ‘Duke Reid, The Trojan King Of Sounds’. In fact, long before Island launched their version of the imprint, Reid had used the name on a series of 78s, although it was by the early sixties it had been dropped in favor of the Duke Reid’s and later, Treasure Isle labels. The first series of popular albums that came from Trojan were the now classic Tighten Up compilation series, many of which have been reissued on CD with original vinyl copies getting thousands of dollars in collector’s circles.

In 1969, the company enjoyed their first taste of mainstream success, when Tony Tribe’s cover of Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine,” briefly entered the lower reaches of the UK singles chart on July 16th, re-appearing the following month to peak at number 46. The hits continued into 1970, with Desmond Dekker, the Melodians, Toots & The Maytals, Bob & Marcia, as well as the aforementioned Jimmy Cliff, all breaking into the charts. In the spring of 1971, “Double Barrel” by Dave Barker & Ansel Collins gave the company their first British number one.

Aside from the more commercially successful releases, Trojan also showcased work from an array of artists previously considered virtual unknowns outside the shores of Jamaica. Among these were a number of performers who were later to become major international recording stars, including Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, U-Roy and a Kingston-based vocal trio called Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Trojan Records is still going strong today. Two of their most recent releases were the excellent compilation curated by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwod called Jonny Greenwood Is the Controllerand a remix record of Trojan classics by DJ Spooky called DJ Spooky Presents - In Fine Style: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records

Here are some videos of some of the artists who’ve recorded for Trojan.

Bob Marley - “No Woman No Cry” live in concert

Dennis Brown & John Holt “Wildfire”

Toots & The Maytals “54-46 Was My Number”

Lee Scratch Perry