Culture Press

Lore & Background

Culture Press was established in 1984 in the United Kingdom by Enzo Hamilton and Webster Shrowder. The label quickly built a catalog focused on Jamaican music, issuing vinyl LPs such as Clint Eastwood's 'The Best of Clint Eastwood' (VSLP5001) in 1984. In 1987, the label relocated to Paris, France, where it continued operations.

The label's discography includes a wide range of artists and styles, from early reggae and rocksteady to dub and dancehall. Notable releases include works by Dillinger, Horace Andy, Sly and Robbie, King Tubby, and Lee Perry. The CD discography, though marked as incomplete, shows releases spanning from the 1970s to the early 2000s, including compilations like 'Jamaican Beat 1968–1973' and 'Top Rock Steady 1966–1971'.

Reader's Guide

Culture Press holds significance as a dedicated outlet for Jamaican music in Europe, particularly during the 1980s and 1990s when reggae and dub were gaining international attention. By reissuing classic material and compiling rare tracks, the label helped preserve and disseminate the work of influential artists such as Bob Marley, King Tubby, and Lee Perry. Its relocation to Paris in 1987 reflects the broader European interest in Jamaican music and the label's adaptability.

The label's legacy is evident in its extensive catalog, which includes both well-known figures and more obscure artists. Releases like 'Sly and Robbie Meet King Tubby' and 'Augustus Pablo Meets King Tubby in Roots Vibes' highlight the label's focus on collaborations and dub culture. While the discography is not exhaustive, it demonstrates Culture Press's role in documenting the evolution of Jamaican music from ska and rocksteady to reggae and dancehall. The label's work remains a resource for collectors and historians of the genre.

Did You Know?

• Culture Press was founded in 1984 in the UK by Enzo Hamilton with Webster Shrowder.
• The label relocated to Paris, France, in 1987.
• Its first LP release was Clint Eastwood – The Best of Clint Eastwood (VSLP5001).
• The CD discography includes a release titled 'Jazz in Jamaica' (CP0308) from 2001.

Origins & The Trojan Truck

Trojan Records traces its name to a very physical object: a Croydon-built Trojan truck that served as Duke Reid's mobile sound system in Jamaica. The sides of that truck bore the words 'Duke Reid – The Trojan King of Sounds,' and the music that poured from its speakers became known simply as the Trojan Sound. In 1968, that Jamaican identity was transplanted to London when Lee Gopthal—who ran the Musicland record retail chain and owned Beat & Commercial Records—merged his reggae ambitions with Chris Blackwell's Island Records. The label was originally launched as an imprint dedicated to Duke Reid's productions, and its first ten releases consisted entirely of material Reid had produced for Treasure Isle. The very first single, 'Judge Sympathy,' was performed by the Freedom Singers but credited to Reid himself. For the next seven years, the company operated from a warehouse on Neasden Lane in Willesden, London, a modest base from which it would reshape British popular music.

Crossover Ambition & Chart Dominance

Unlike many of its UK-based rivals in the late-1960s reggae scene, Trojan deliberately aimed its recordings at mainstream pop audiences. The company remixed and overdubbed its Jamaican-sourced material with orchestral string arrangements, hoping to make the music more accessible to British listeners. The strategy paid off spectacularly. On 15 November 1969, three Trojan/B&C singles occupied the Top 20 of the British pop chart simultaneously: the Upsetters' 'Return of Django,' Jimmy Cliff's 'Wonderful World, Beautiful People,' and the Harry J All Stars' 'The Liquidator.' Between 1969 and 1976 the label racked up nearly thirty UK chart hits. In 1970 alone, roughly five hundred singles were released across more than thirty imprints, with sales surpassing two million copies. Remarkably, between 1968 and 1972 reggae sold more copies in Britain than in Jamaica itself. The roster included Judge Dread, Desmond Dekker, the Maytals, the Melodians, Bob and Marcia, and Nicky Thomas, while budget-priced compilation albums such as Tighten Up and Club Reggae kept the catalogue accessible to younger fans.

Cultural Ripple Effects

Trojan's influence stretched far beyond the record shop. The skinhead subculture of the 1960s and 1970s adopted the label's name and imagery as a badge of identity. 'Trojan skinheads'—a term used to describe those rooted in traditional 1960s skinhead culture—deliberately invoked the label to highlight the profound influence of black Jamaican music and rude boy style on their fashion and attitude. This naming also served to draw a clear line between them and the punk rock-influenced Oi! skinheads who emerged in the 1980s. The cultural imprint runs even deeper: the logo of Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (SHARP) is a direct adaptation of the Trojan Records emblem. Designer Roddy Moreno, of the antifascist Oi! band The Oppressed, took the iconic Corinthian helmet and reversed it to face the opposite direction, explaining simply that the reversed plume looked better for the SHARP acronym. In this way, a record label founded in a London warehouse became a visual shorthand for anti-racism and cultural pride across the UK.

Ownership Odyssey & Collectible Legacy

Trojan's post-peak history reads like a relay race of ownership. After Chris Blackwell withdrew Island Records' stake in 1972, the company struggled with the mounting costs of its orchestral overdubbing. By 1975 it was liquidated, and its assets passed to Marcel Rodd's Saga Records. In 1985, record collector and accountant Colin Newman bought the label and shifted its focus to reissuing the back catalogue, producing the well-known Trojan Box Set series—fifty tracks on three CDs or vinyl in a clamshell case. He also licensed reggae classics for TV advertising campaigns for TDK, Adidas, and the 2000 UEFA European Football Championship. Sanctuary Records Group acquired Trojan in 2001, then added rival Creole Records in 2002. Universal Music Group took a 90% stake in Sanctuary in 2007, but in 2013 sold the entire back catalogue, including Trojan, to BMG as part of a divestment mandated by EU regulators. Meanwhile, original pressings have become prized collectibles: The Slickers' 1969 'Run Fattie' fetched over £300 in 2015, and titles by Ansel Collins, The Wanderers, and Richard Ace have all cleared £200 or more. In 2018, the label marked its fiftieth anniversary.