VIA PRESS RELEASE | 17 North Parade proudly announce Randy’s 50th Anniversary: Reggae Anthology – Chapter Two, a landmark release chronicling the later years of Randy’s Record Mart and the productions of Clive Chin from 1971 to 1976, a formative period in the development of modern reggae and dancehall and the foundation of what would become VP Records.
From Augustus Pablo’s groundbreaking instrumental “Java” to Carl Malcolm’s UK pop crossover hit “Fattie Bum Bum,” Randy’s 50th Anniversary: Reggae Anthology – Chapter Two documents a period of rapid stylistic expansion in Jamaican music. The collection features a run of classics from an all-star lineup of 1970s reggae greats, including Black Uhuru, Horace Andy, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, The Heptones, and Big Youth.
Originally released only on CD in 2008 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Randy’s Records, this collection of rare recordings is now being made available on vinyl for the first time, complete with extensive sleeve notes by acclaimed reggae historian and Lee “Scratch” Perry biographer David Katz, along with inner sleeves featuring rare photographs.
Randy’s Records holds a very special place in the history of Jamaican popular music. As profiled on Chapter One of this celebratory compilation, founder Vincent “Randy” Chin was one of the first Jamaican entrepreneurs to release music during the ska era, finding particular success with the Trinidadian-born Lord Creator. During the second half of the 1960s, Vincent focused on building a recording studio upstairs from his popular retail record mart at 17 North Parade.
“The foundation of the studio started during the rock steady era, that’s one of the reasons you never come across any rock steady tunes on the Randy’s label,” explains Vincent’s eldest son Clive Chin. The studio was complete by late 1968, with the first clientele being the US record label JAD, run by Johnny Nash, Arthur Jenkins, and Danny Simms.
From its very inception, Randy’s had a sparse, readily identifiable sound that soon made it the studio of choice for up-and-coming reggae producers based near its downtown Kingston location. In addition to Lee Perry’s groundbreaking work with the Wailers, Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, Niney, and Rupie Edwards were all regulars, as were artists such as the Heptones and Dennis Brown.
Soul Syndicate served as the in-house band for a time, but more regularly in attendance were Skin, Flesh and Bones, featuring drummer Sly Dunbar, bassist Lloyd Parks, guitarist Bertram “Ranchie” McLean, and keyboardist Ansel Collins. As an endless pool of singers and players camped out daily on the doorstep at the area known as Idler’s Rest, it was no surprise that Randy’s was conjuring remarkable sounds from some of the island’s finest talent.
Another important element came from the mixing talents of engineer Errol Thompson, an old school friend of Clive’s who arrived at Randy’s following a brief apprenticeship at Studio One. “I had a good relationship with Errol, a very innovative relationship,” remembers Clive, who had already followed in his father’s footsteps by cutting his own productions at the facility from the end of the 1960s. “We wouldn’t just idle talk about things on the street or girlfriend business. We would talk more about how we could further the music, how we could do a different kind of fixture to it, spice it, rather than have the same old pattern of just Tommy McCook blowing a horn, Bobby Aitken playing a guitar, Winston Wright playing an organ.”
It is entirely evident that Randy’s had an endless supply of musical verve that continued to flourish after the opening of Studio 17, with individual creative elements coming together in a unique sound that resulted in some of the most stylistic recordings of the 1970s.
