A Brief History ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Britain's leading reggae label began in modest circumstances as a record shop in West Ealing, London, in November 1975. A move a few miles east to Shepherds Bush in 1977 saw the foundation of the thriving record label that is now based just west of London in Isleworth, Middlesex. After kicking off with two singles, Reggae Regular's Where Is Jah and Doctor Alimantado's classic Born For A Purpose, Greensleeves quickly established itself. Its first LP, Alimantado's compilation Best Dressed Chicken In Town, was a runaway success, has never been out of print since and still remains a strong seller. The classic 'Carnival Of Reggae History' 12" sleeve, created by the designer who still works for Greensleeves today, Tony McDermott, became something of a guarantee of quality for the reggae aficionado. By 1980 the record shop had become largely a sideline to the record label and publishing company. Greensleeves quickly established an identity with acts that provide a continuity between those fledgling days and today: the first few albums included work by Augustus Pablo (the acclaimed Original Rockers LP) and Barrington Levy, both of whom still appear on the label. Greensleeves soon realised the potential of the emergent dancehall culture of the early 80's, building a mutually satisfying relationship with Henry 'Junjo' Lawes, the pioneering early ruler of the genre. At the same time, the company continued to provide for the more traditional end of the reggae market with dub releases from Scientist, vocal harmonies from the Wailing Souls, and early works from Black Uhuru produced by Prince (now King) Jammy, another Jamaican producer long-associated with the label. An eight-year period of home grown productions reached its peak with Tippa Irie's UK top 30 hit Hello Darling in 1986, but other Greensleeves records also scored heavily in Europe, notably Wolverhampton's Capital Letters, who hit big with Smoking My Ganja and President Amin. Reggae-rapping duo Clint Eastwood & General Saint were similarly successful with Another One Bites The Dust (nine weeks at No.1 in the UK reggae charts) and Stop That Train (No.3 in the national charts in Holland). Greensleeves releases are now distributed worldwide, one key to the continuing success of the label. The mid-80's were a particularly strong time for the label: it's hard to name a reggae star of the era who wasn't associated with the label. Among best-remembered highlights of the era are several LPs from Eek-A-Mouse, ten albums from Yellowman, Josey Wales' classic The Outlaw Josey Wales LP, Johnny Osbourne's mega Water Pumping, Junior Reid's debut Boom Shack A Lack and Frankie Paul's Pass The Tu-Sheng-Peng. Although the label still issued compilations of older roots material like the Yabby You Collection and Hugh Mundell's Africa Must Be Free By 1983 and albums from Burning Spear and The Meditations, Greensleeves was quick to embrace the new digital music from 1986 onwards, issuing Wayne Smith's Under Me Sleng Teng, the record that started it all. In 1988 a long-held association with Augustus "Gussie" Clarke, who had previously supplied the company with albums by Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, and the Mighty Diamonds, suddenly broke big: Gregory Isaacs' Rumours single was the best selling reggae record of 1988 and created a new hi-tech ragamuffin genre all on its own. For two years, Gussie's music ruled reggae, and his productions on Gregory, JC Lodge, Dennis Brown, Home T, Cocoa Tea and Shabba Ranks and Greensleeves' own signing Deborahe Glasgow dominated both the label and the reggae world. When Gussie stepped back a little from the front-line to set up his new studio, Mikey "Home T" Bennett filled the breach, with his acclaimed "Two Friends" productions of Dennis Brown, Papa San, Chevelle Franklin and many others. In recent years, Greensleeves has also licensed material from other leading Jamaican luminaries like Ini Kamoze, Carlton Hines, Jah Screw, Philip 'Fattis' Burrell, Junior Reid and Anthony Redrose. Although continuity of current material and a remarkable A&R ability to spot a classic years in advance are two reasons for Greensleeves' success, the company has also diversified at crucial moments. In the mid-80's they launched a highly lauded world music series, including three albums from Zouk masters Kassav', and the UK Bubblers imprint was among Britain's leading home-grown dancehall labels, introducing Tippa Irie and Pato Banton to a wider audience. The reissue and compilation of classic reggae oldies that began with its debut LP has continued, the company issuing the best material from the back catalogues of Augustus Pablo, Ras Michael Jacob Miller and Israel Vibration. In addition to its own releases, Greensleeves has also licensed and distributed the leading American reggae label RAS and provides UK/European distribution for US reggae labels Heartbeat and Shanachie. An involvement in the recently emergent "New Roots" UK scene has arisen through Greensleeves facilitating releases for both legendary sound-system figure Jah Shaka and newcomers Alpha & Omega . Greensleeves has also released some of the toughest productions to emerge from the Ragga-Jungle strand of the fast-mutating UK Jungle scene. In the early nineties, productions from the New York reggae scene began to be issued on the label, and Shaggy's Oh Carolina reached the UK No.1 slot in March 1993, providing Greensleeves with their biggest single to date and rocketing Shaggy to international stardom. The single also reached the top 10 in Holland and Belgium on the Greensleeves label. As a result the innovative NY production team Robert Livingston and Sting International have now built up a substantial following throughout the world and Shaggy himself has been elevated to deserved pop star status. Strong relationships with most of Jamaica's top producers has continued to allow Greensleeves the pick of the very best music from King Jammy, John John, "Fattis" Burrell, Junior Reid, Ini Kamoze, Redrose & Malvo, Big Yard, Shocking Vibes, Jack Scorpio, Fat Eyes, Cell Block 321, Steely & Clevie, Annex, Philip Smart, Carlton Hines, Jah Screw et al, often best showcased on the innovative and incredibly popular "Greensleeves Samplers" and "Ragga Ragga Ragga" and the new "Conscious Ragga" various artists series. The publishing arm of Greensleeves has been active since the inception of the record label, and has the rights to many thousands of Jamaican songs. Greensleeves has been the publisher of six UK Top 20 hits in the 1993-96 period (including two No.1's), as well as many overseas hits. From strength to strength, skank to bogle, steppers to jungle, digi to ragga; the Greensleeves story continues. Ian McCann (June 1992) (updated by John Masouri 1994-6) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Greensleeves Records Ltd © 1996