Trojan Records is a British record label founded by Jamaican Duke Reid, Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell in 1968. It specialises in ska, rocksteady, reggae and dub music. The label currently operates under the Sanctuary Records Group. The name Trojan comes from the Croydon-built Trojan truck that was used as Duke Reid's sound system in Jamaica. 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 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, Trojan was based at a warehouse in Neasden Lane, Willesden, London.

Trojan operated within a wider network of UK-based reggae labels that emerged in the late 1960s. Companies such as Graeme Goodall's Doctor Bird and the Palmer brothers' Pama Records also secured licensing deals with Jamaican producers, competing to distribute reggae recordings to the growing British market. Unlike many rival UK reggae labels, Trojan actively sought crossover success with mainstream audiences. Many Trojan/B&C releases were remixed or overdubbed with orchestration for the British market in an effort to make reggae recordings more accessible to mainstream pop listeners. On 15 November 1969, the British pop chart featured three Trojan/B&C singles in the Top 20 simultaneously: the Upsetters' "Return of Django", Jimmy Cliff's "Wonderful World, Beautiful People", and Harry J All Stars' "The Liquidator".

Trojan was instrumental in introducing reggae to a global audience and, by 1970, had secured a series of major UK chart hits. Between 1968 and 1972, reggae sales in the United Kingdom exceeded those in Jamaica. During 1970 alone, Trojan/B&C released approximately 500 singles across more than thirty labels, with sales exceeding two million copies.

Successful Trojan artists from this period include Judge Dread, Tony Tribe, Lee "Scratch" Perry's Upsetters, Bob and Marcia, Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, the Harry J All Stars, the Maytals, the Melodians, Nicky Thomas and Dave and Ansel Collins.

The bulk of the company's successes came via licences for Jamaican music supplied by producers such as Duke Reid, Harry Johnson and Leslie Kong. 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 skinheads, influenced by traditional 1960s skinhead culture, are named after Trojan Records, to stress the influence of black Jamaican music and the rude boy style to the skinhead subculture. This designation emphasizes differences from the punk rock-influenced Oi! skinheads of the 1980s. The logo of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) is based on the Trojan Records logo, although the Corinthian helmet is reversed to face the opposite direction. It was designed by Roddy Moreno of antifascist Oi! band The Oppressed. "I reversed the Trojan helmet because SHARP, in the plume, looked better that way."

Collectable records

Over the years; as demand for many rare records has increased, a number of Trojan releases have become collector's 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.

Trojan subsidiary labels

  • Amalgamated
  • Attack
  • Big
  • Big Shot
  • Blue Cat
  • Bread
  • Clandisc
  • Down Town
  • Duke
  • Dynamic
  • Explosion
  • Gayfeet
  • GG
  • Green Door
  • Harry J
  • High Note
  • Horse
  • Hot Rod
  • Jackpot
  • Joe
  • Moodisc
  • Pressure Beat
  • Q
  • Randy's
  • Smash
  • Song Bird
  • Summit
  • Techniques
  • Treasure Isle
  • Upsetter

References

Further reading

  • Michael de Koningh & Laurence Cane-Honeysett: Young, Gifted And Black, The Story Of Trojan Records, 2003, Sanctuary Publishing, UK, .
  • Neville Staple (2009) Original Rude Boy, Aurum Press.
  • 45cat Trojan Records discography
  • Discography at Discogs
  • (2018)