The Story of Trojan Records

by Laurence Cane-Honeysett

Founded in 1968, as part of a deal with Island Records, Trojan's mission was to bring Jamaican music to the world. Over the subsequent half a century it has done just that, releasing many of the defining albums of ska, rocksteady, dub, and reggae from artists including The Upsetters, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker, The Maytals, Dennis Brown, John Holt, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Bob Marley and the Wailers, as well as the hugely popular Tighten Up! compilations. The Story of Trojan Records is the definitive history of the label and a landmark publication for reggae enthusiasts. 2018 is the 50th anniversary of Trojan. It is made up of 12 chapters, 26 artist bios, 20 producer bios, extensive monologues from interviews, and thousands of images, many of which have not been previously published but never been collectively published.

Genres: Music

300 pages, Hardcover

Published November 1, 2018

Reviews

[Paul Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Naively, I thought this book would be a history of the music issued by Trojan Records but that was really silly, this is a history of the company that was Trojan Records, so imagine a bunch of elderly businessmen regaling you with their hugely unamusing memories of not being paid in 1971 and not being paid in 1972 and selling this label to that guy and setting up a record studio in zzzzzzzzzzz who cares. I think not a single musician was troubled by a phone call asking about the golden age of reggae and ska during the making of this volume. Okay, that could be a little harsh - there is after all a whole 30 pages of artist biographies shoved in right at the back, after 250 pages of businessmen waffling. But the way the music itself is dealt with mainly is a guy will say “I had a big hit with John Holt that year, he sold well in France too” or “I thought Toots and the Maytals were terrific but we couldn’t get the BBC to play their records”. So the TEXT of this big book is a ONE STAR DISASTER.

The lovely pix and artwork, however, is a FIVE STAR EXPLOSION OF DELIGHT on every page. How can we rate this book, then? A soggy three star compromise, as usual? Sigh, I guess so.

AND ANOTHER THING

The author/compiler drags his attention away from the wheeling and dealing for a moment to recognise that in around 1968 reggae was adopted by white kids in England and those white kids were called SKINHEADS, also known as bovver boys. They were notorious racists, the kind of lads who now join the English Defence League and sing offensive songs to any black players in the football they go to see. So here was a very fascinating paradox – the white racists adopting and loving a particular type of black music. Worth thinking about, worth a page or two in a book like this? No. A few pages about the skinhead fashions, sure, but not word one about their intriguing psychology.

Obviously the people who put this handsome, delectable volume together had an entirely different notion of what is worth writing about than me.

[Mikey James · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is actually a huge coffee book table. Really thick, filled with stories from the people who put the label together, the artists and general history of the label. It talks about the rise, demise and ever struggling revival of the label. You could easily open this book at any page and stare at all the cover artwork and newspaper cuttings they’ve included.

[Cee Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautifully put together coffee-table book.

I'm a big fan of reggae music, and the Trojan label in particular, so this was not going to disappoint.
The pictures are really special .. so many and so colourful. And the smell from the paper!!!! (I'm surely not the only one with this weird liking?)