A classic music industry man in the mould of Ahmet Ertegun and Berry Gordy, Lee Gopthal went the extra mile to make a potential hit song number one.

The Jamaican, who co-founded Trojan Records in London in 1968, died there in 1997 at age 58. On February 25, he was honoured by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) for contributing to reggae’s rise as a world force.

Trojan was responsible for breaking songs like Israelites by Desmond Decker and The Aces and Everything I Own by Ken Boothe in the UK. Gopthal headed the campaigns that led them, and many others, into that country’s mainstream.

At the JaRIA ceremony, Gopthal’s award was accepted by his protégé, Anthony “Chips” Richards, who worked for several years as a marketing executive at Trojan.

“I’m happy that I’m able to do this. That man gave me so many opportunities that made me the person I am today,” said Richards in an interview with the Jamaica Observer. “I can never repay him for all his kindness.”

According to Richards, he first met Gopthal in 1966, shortly after moving to London. Both men were from Kingston and struck up a quick friendship.

Of East Indian descent, Gopthal settled in the UK in 1952 and studied accounting. By the mid-1960s, he was operating 13 record stores that serviced that country’s growing Jamaican community with music from his homeland.

“With all the racism around at the time, that was a great achievement. He would have employed about 30 people,” said Richards.

With Blackwell’s backing, they formed Trojan Records which had a wide network that helped make songs like Wonderful World, Beautiful People national hits. Blackwell withdrew from Trojan in 1971 to concentrate on Island Records, the company he co-founded in 1959.

Though it continued to have some success in the 1970s, Trojan was beset by financial problems that ultimately forced Gopthal to leave the company late that decade.

Gopthal, who is survived by a wife and two children, had a stint with RCA Records in the 1980s. He then left the music business for good and established himself as an insurance salesman.