The Jamaica Observer continues its ‘Reggae 50’ feature on people, organisations, and events that have made an impact on reggae over the past 50 years.

ELVIS Presley was king of rock and roll and soul music was ready to explode in the United States in 1959. That year, a brash young Jamaican entrepreneur named Chris Blackwell started a company called Island Records in Kingston.

Island Records celebrates its 60th anniversary this year. As Jamaican as ackee and saltfish, it is usually credited with launching the international careers of Millie Small, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Marley and The Wailers, Burning Spear, Third World, Aswad and Steel Pulse.

As a visionary, Blackwell ranks alongside Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Ahmet Ertegun at Atlantic Records and Clive Davis of Columbia Records. They developed raw, talented artistes into superstars.

In his review of the 2009 book, The Story of Island Records, David Sinclair described Island as “the hip British record label of the 1960s”. That is quite a compliment considering their rivals were major companies such as EMI and Decca.

Writing in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, Sinclair said Island’s success with pop acts like the Spencer Davis Group, King Crimson, Free and Traffic was due to Blackwell’s ingenuity.

“The label also cultivated singer-songwriters, ranging from the populist star Cat Stevens to the ultimate cult act Nick Drake. It went from strength to strength in the 1970s, launching and sustaining the globe-straddling career of Bob Marley, and it has underpinned the incredible success of U2 from 1980 to the present. A list of the label’s other acts reads like a history of cool: Tom Waits, Grace Jones, PJ Harvey, Paul Weller, Portishead, DJ Shadow, Amy Winehouse, Florence and the Machine,” Sinclair observed.

Blackwell was the son of an Irishman and a Jamaican mother of Jewish descent. He was raised in affluence in St Mary, where his mother’s inner circle included British literary giants like Ian Fleming and Noel Coward.

Three years after starting Island, he moved to London where he first met The Wailers (Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston) during the early 1970s. Impressed by their rebellious energy and unwillingness to compromise their Rastafarian beliefs, Island distributed two remarkable albums by the trio, Catch A Fire and Burnin’, which helped make reggae the new sound of the third World.

Prior, the company distributed Small’s ska anthem, My Boy Lollipop, in the United Kingdom in 1964. That song went number two on the national chart. Island had similar roles in the success of Cliff’s song, Wonderful World, Beautiful People, soundtrack to The Harder They Come, Spear’s Marcus Garvey album and Now That We Found Love, Third World’s big hit from 1978.

Marley, who died in 1981, holds pride of place in the Island Records catalogue. He recorded seven studio albums for the London-based company — at least four of them are considered classics. Exodus, released in 1977, was named Best Album of The 20th Century by Time Magazine.

Like many independent record companies, Island sold to a major company, Mercury Records, in 1989. Its catalogue is currently owned by Universal Music Enterprise (Ume).

In 2009, as Island celebrated its 50th anniversary, Blackwell told Britain’s The Telegraph newspaper of his determination to protect the company’s legacy.

“I never look back. I don’t even have a copy of most of the records we made, but it feels great, it really does. I’ve seen so many companies that I’ve really admired drop out of sight, like Stax, and Duke-Peacock, and King. A lot of them get sold to majors, and they tend to drop them off. Fortunately, they decided to keep Island and I hope they continue to do so. Part of the reason I’m keen to get involved now is that I’d love to see it stand the test of time,” he said.