Trojan Records is a British

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

founded in 1968. It specialises in

ska Ska (; ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska is characterized by a walki ...

, rocksteady,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

and dub music. The label currently operates under the

Sanctuary Records Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and is as of 2013 a subsidiary of BMG Rights Management solely for reissues. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest m ...

Group. The name ''Trojan'' comes from the

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. The truck had "Duke Reid - The Trojan King of Sounds" painted on the sides, and the music played by Reid became known as the ''Trojan Sound''. The label had almost 30 hit singles in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

between 1969 and 1976.

History

Trojan Records was founded in 1968 when Lee Gopthal, who operated the Musicland record retail chain and owned Beat & Commercial Records, pooled his Jamaican music interests with those of Chris Blackwell’s Island Records. Until 1975, they were based at a warehouse in Neasden Lane,

Willesden Willesden () is an area of northwest London, situated 5 miles (8 km) northwest of Charing Cross. It is historically a parish in the county of Middlesex that was incorporated as the Municipal Borough of Willesden in 1933, and has forme ...

, London. Trojan was instrumental in introducing reggae to a global audience and, by 1970, had secured a series of major UK chart hits. Successful Trojan artists from this period including

Judge Dread Alexander Minto Hughes (2 May 1945 – 13 March 1998), better known as Judge Dread, was an English reggae and ska musician. He was the first white recording artist to have a reggae hit in Jamaica, and the BBC has banned more of his songs than ...

, Tony Tribe,

Lee "Scratch" Perry Lee "Scratch" Perry (born Rainford Hugh Perry; 20 March 1936 – 29 August 2021) was a Jamaican record producer, composer and singer noted for his innovative studio techniques and production style. Perry was a pioneer in the 1970s development o ...

's Upsetters, Bob and Marcia,

Desmond Dekker Desmond Dekker (16 July 1941 – 25 May 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the earlie ...

, Jimmy Cliff, the

Harry J Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass player be ...

All Stars,

The Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. ...

The Melodians The Melodians are a rocksteady band formed in the Greenwich Town area of Kingston, Jamaica, in 1963, by Tony Brevett (born 1949, nephew of The Skatalites bassist, Lloyd Brevett), Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton.

, Nicky Thomas and

Dave and Ansel Collins Dave and Ansell Collins are a Jamaican vocal/instrumental Musical duo, duo (sometimes billed as Dave and Ansil Collins or Dave and Ansel Collins). History Dave Barker (born David John Crooks, 10 October 1947, Kingston, Jamaica) is a session mus ...

. The bulk of the company’s successes came via licences for Jamaican music supplied by producers such as Duke Reid,

ohnson and

Leslie Kong Leslie Kong (20 December 1933 – 9 August 1971) was an influential Chinese-Jamaican reggae producer. Career Leslie and his two older brothers Cecil and Lloyd ran a restaurant, ice cream parlour and record shop called Beverley's in Orange Stre ...

. While the company’s focus was firmly on the sale of 7” singles, it also launched a series of popular, budget-priced compilations such as ''Tighten Up'', ''Club Reggae'' and ''Reggae Chartbusters''. In 1972, Chris Blackwell decided to withdraw Island Records interests in Trojan. By this time, the company was trying to broaden the appeal of reggae by re-mastering and overdubbing string arrangements on the original recordings. While the move initially paid dividends, the costs involved began to take their toll on the company's finances. In 1975, the company was liquidated and its assets acquired by Marcel Rodd's Saga Records, which had previously largely focused on releasing budget LPs. In 1985, record collector and accountant Colin Newman purchased Trojan Records. Over the years that ensued, the company mainly concentrated on re-releasing much of its back catalogue, issuing numerous ska, rocksteady and reggae recordings. Among their most popular releases were the Trojan Box Set series, each featuring 50 songs on a three-CD (or vinyl record) set in a "clamshell" box. In addition, Trojan licensed reggae classics for a number of TV commercial campaigns, most notably for TDK, Adidas and the

2000 UEFA European Football Championship The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, also known as Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Championship, a football tournament held every four years and organised by UEFA, the sport's governing body in Europe. The finals tournament was ...

. The

Group purchased Trojan Records in 2001 and continued to focus on the label's back catalogue. In 2002, Trojan's new owners acquired former UK rival record company, Creole Records, previously owned by Bruce White and Gary Himmelfarb's US-based RAS Records. In August 2007,

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

(UMG) had acquired 90% of Sanctuary Records after announcing in June a share offer that valued Sanctuary at $US87.68 million. In 2013, UMG sold their entire Sanctuary back catalogue including Trojan to BMG, as part of a divestment programme that was a mandatory condition set by EU regulators when UMG acquired EMI in 2012. In 2018, the company celebrated 50 years in the business.

Influence on skinheads

Trojan skinhead Trojan skinheads (also known as traditional skinheads or trads) are individuals who identify with the original British skinhead subculture of the middle 1960s, when ska, rocksteady, reggae, and soul music were popular, and there was a heavy emph ...

s, influenced by traditional 1960s

skinhead A skinhead is a member of a subculture which originated among working class youths in London, England, in the 1960s and soon spread to other parts of the United Kingdom, with a second working class skinhead movement emerging worldwide in th ...

culture, are named after Trojan Records, to stress the influence of

black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white ...

Jamaican music and the

rude boy Rude boy, rudeboy, rudie, rudi, and rudy are slang terms that originated in 1960s Jamaican street culture, and that are still used today. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other ...

style to the skinhead subculture. This designation emphasizes differences from the punk rock-influenced Oi! skinheads of the 1980s. The

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name it represents as in a wo ...

Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) are anti-racist skinheads who oppose white power skinheads, neo-fascists and other political racists, particularly if they identify themselves as skinheads. SHARPs aim to reclaim the original multicultura ...

(SHARP) is based on the Trojan Records logo, although the Corinthian helmet is reversed to face the opposite direction.

Collectable records

Over the years; as demand for many rare records has increased, a number of Trojan releases have become collectors items. For example, a 1969 single by The Slickers entitled "Run Fattie" sold for more than £300 in 2015. Other collectable records on Trojan that have sold for £200 or more include "Night Of Love" by Ansel Collins, "Wiggle Waggle" by The Wanderers, and "Hang 'Em High" by Richard Ace.

Labels licensed to Trojan

* Amalgamated *Attack *Big *Big Shot *Blue Cat *Bread * Clandisc *Down Town *

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

*Dynamic *Explosion * Gayfeet * GG *Green Door *

* High Note *Horse *Hot Rod *Jackpot *Joe * Moodisc *Pressure Beat * Q *Randy's *Smash *Song Bird *Summit *Techniques *

Treasure Isle Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Troja ...

* Upsetter

References

External links