Dr Mykaell Riley, Senior Lecturer, Director for The Black Music Research Unit (BMRU) and Principal Investigator for Bass Culture Research at the University of Westminster, has explored the cultural significance of the Island Records music label and the musicians it represented on BBC Radio 4.
Riley was a founder member of late 70s British reggae band Steel Pulse, and founder of Britain’s first pop string section the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) in the late 80s, both of whom were signed to Island Records.
The show charts the history of Island Records, how it was pivotal in bringing reggae music into British consciousness and reggae music’s impact on British culture. Island Records was home to musical legends including Jimmy Cliff, Toots & The Maytals and Bob Marley. In 1978 Dr Riley’s Steel Pulse supported Marley on his first European tour, and in 1990, Riley produced an (RPO) album of Marley covers.
Speaking about Island Record’s early days in the 1960s and Bob Marley’s legacy, Riley said: “At this point in his career he represented the music of my parents, it helped them to remember what life was like in Jamaica.
“Latterly, Bob (Marley) created a pathway for young Black British musicians. For a Black British Jamaican, his music was where we got a new sense of our history, and it challenged what we were being taught in school.”
Listen to “The Reunion – Island Records” on BBC iPlayer.
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