{"id":5920,"date":"2026-03-02T22:04:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:04:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/randys-anthologies-celebrate-golden-era-of-jamaican-music\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T22:04:32","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T22:04:32","slug":"randys-anthologies-celebrate-golden-era-of-jamaican-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/02\/randys-anthologies-celebrate-golden-era-of-jamaican-music\/","title":{"rendered":"Randy\u2019s anthologies celebrate golden era of Jamaican music"},"content":{"rendered":"
Randy\u2019s 50th Anniversary, originally released in 2008 only on CD, documents the early years of Randy\u2019s, the record store and studio at 17 North Parade in Kingston, Jamaica, which laid the foundation for the Jamaica, Queens-headquartered VP Records, considered the world\u2019s largest reggae\/dancehall label.<\/div>\n
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VP Records\u2019 Project Manager Adam Prescott told Caribbean Life on Tuesday, Feb. 3, that Chapter One covers recordings from 1960 to 1971, with selections from Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Toots and the Maytals \u2013 \u00a0all produced by Vincent \u201cRandy\u201d Chin.<\/div>\n
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Prescott said Chapter Two follows Randy\u2019s son, Clive Chin’s, productions from 1971 to 1976, opening with Augustus Pablo\u2019s \u201cJava\u201d and featuring Black Uhuru, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, and more.<\/div>\n
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\u201cFrom the joyful ska of Lord Creator\u2019s independence anthem \u2018Independent Jamaica\u2019, Chapter One runs the true course of Jamaican music in the 1960s with a virtual who’s who of reggae music, including Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Toots & The Maytals, The Skatalites, John Holt, Alton Ellis, and many more\u201d, Prescott said.<\/div>\n
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Originally released only on CD in 2008 to coincide with the 50th Anniversary of Randy\u2019s Records, he said this collection of rare recordings is now finally available on vinyl for the very first time, complete with extensive sleeve notes by Blood & Fire\u2019s Steve Barrow, plus inner sleeves featuring rare photos.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt\u2019s common knowledge that the early sound systems – Tom The Great Sebastian, Sir Coxson Down Beat, Duke Reid The Trojan, V-Rocket, Prince Buster\u2019s Voice Of The People and King Edwards the Giant – were the motive power behind the development of Jamaican popular music in the 1950s,\u201d said Steve Barrrow, a British reggae historian.<\/div>\n
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\u201cHe said they played mostly U.S. R&B, and, when the source of records began to dry up in the USA, many of the soundmen began to record local talent,\u201d he added. \u201cBut if sound systems were the engine in this vehicle of expression, then it was the local community of middle-class entrepreneurs \u2013 many among them of Chinese or Middle Eastern origin – who put themselves in the driver’s seat.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Barrow said they included the late Ken Khouri, owner of the first big record factory on the island and one of the first to record local music; bandleader and businessman Byron Lee; accountant Leslie Kong, ice-cream parlor owner Charlie Moo; and Justin Yap, whose family-owned stores.<\/div>\n
Barrow said that Vincent \u201cRandy\u201d Chin was equally prominent among this group.<\/div>\n
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\u201cTogether, this group provided a commercial platform from which the music could make the transition from local style to international taste,\u201d he said.<\/div>\n
Barrow said Chin was born on Oct. 3, 1937, in Kingston, the son of a carpenter who had arrived from China in the 1920s.<\/div>\n
He said Chin got the nickname \u201cRandy\u201d because he was a fan of a U.S. radio show broadcasting rhythm and blues, sponsored by Randy\u2019s Record Shop of Gallatin, Tennessee, on WLAC in Nashville.<\/div>\n
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After finishing his schooling in the mid-1950s, Barrow said Chin worked for Isaac Issa, then controller of the large jukebox market in Jamaica.<\/div>\n
Barrow said Chin\u2019s job was to maintain and restock Issa\u2019s jukeboxes all over the island.<\/div>\n
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In 1958, Barrow said Chin opened his first record shop with old stock – he had scrupulously saved all the discarded ex-jukebox discs – and thus began the family business.<\/div>\n
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In 1961, Barrow said Chin opened new premises at 17 North Parade, on the north side of the square in downtown Kingston.<\/div>\n
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In time, Barrow said the Jamaican Randy\u2019s Record Shop would become integral to the development of the music, \u201ceven more so when Vincent opened a studio above the shop in 1968.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Half a century later, Barrow said that a fairly humble beginning has evolved into the internationally known VP Records, now based in Jamaica, Queens.<\/div>\n
Prescott said that from Augustus Pablo\u2019s groundbreaking \u201cJava\u201d to Carl Malcolm’s UK pop crossover hit \u201cFatty Bum\u201d, Chapter Two showcases \u201cclassic after classic from an all-star lineup of the 70s reggae music greats,\u201d including Black Uhuru, Horace Andy, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, The Heptones & Big Youth.<\/div>\n
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Originally released only on CD in 2008 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Randy\u2019s Records, Barrow said this collection of rare recordings has now finally been made available on vinyl for the very first time, complete with extensive sleeve notes by the esteemed reggae historian and Lee \u201cScratch\u201d Perry biographer David Katz, plus inner sleeves featuring rare photos.<\/div>\n
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Katz, also an American author, said Chin was one of the first Jamaican entrepreneurs to release music during the ska era, finding particular success with the Trinidadian-born Lord Creator.<\/div>\n
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During the second half of the 60\u2019s, Katz said Chin focused on building a recording studio upstairs from his popular retail record mart at 17 North Parade.<\/div>\n
\u201cThe foundation of the studio started during the rock steady era, that\u2019s one of the reasons you never come across any rock steady tunes on the Randy\u2019s label,\u201d said Chin\u2019s eldest son, Clive.<\/div>\n
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Katz said the studio was completed by late \u201968, with the first clientele being the US record label JADran, featuring Johnny Nash, Arthur Jenkins, and Danny Simms.<\/div>\n
\u201cFrom its very inception, Randy\u2019s had a sparse, readily identifiable sound that soon made it the studio of choice for the up-and-coming reggae producers that were based near its downtown Kingston location,\u201d Katz said.<\/div>\n
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In addition to Lee Perry\u2019s ground-breaking work with the Wailers, Katz said Bunny Lee, Phil Pratt, Niney and Rupie Edwards were \u201call regulars\u201d, as were artists like the Heptones and Dennis Brown.<\/div>\n
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Katz said Soul Syndicate was the in-house band for a time, but added that more regularly in attendance were Skin Flesh and Bones, featuring drummer Sly Dunbar, bassist Lloyd Parks, guitarist Bertram \u201cRanchie\u201d McLean, and keyboardist Ansel Collins.<\/div>\n
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\u201cAnd as an endless pool of singers and players literally camped out on the doorstep each day at the area known as Idler\u2019s Rest,\u201d Katz said. \u201cIt was certainly no surprise that Randy\u2019s was conjuring wonderful sounds from some of the island\u2019s finest talent.\u201d<\/div>\n
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Katz said another important element came from the mixing talents of engineer Errol Thompson, an old-school friend of Clive\u2019s, who came to Randy\u2019s after a brief apprenticeship at Studio One.<\/div>\n
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\u201cI had a good relationship with Errol, a very innovative relationship,\u201d Clive Chin recalled, \u201cwho had already followed in his father\u2019s footsteps by cutting his own productions at the facility from the end of the 1960s.<\/div>\n
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\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t just idle talk about things on the street or girlfriend business,\u201d he added. \u201cWe would talk more like how we could further the music, how we can do a different kind of affixture 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.<\/div>\n
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\u201cIt is entirely evident that Randy\u2019s had an endless supply of musical verve that continued to flourish after the opening of Studio 17,\u201d Clive Chin continued. \u201cIt\u2019s individual creative elements coming together in a unique sound that resulted in some of the most stylistic recordings of the 1970s.<\/div>\n
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Randy\u2019s 50th Anniversary, originally released in 2008 only on CD, documents the early years of Randy\u2019s, the record store and studio at 17 North Parade in Kingston, Jamaica, which laid the foundation for the Jamaica, Queens-headquartered VP Records, considered the world\u2019s largest reggae\/dancehall label. VP Records\u2019 Project Manager Adam Prescott told Caribbean Life on Tuesday, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-latest-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5920","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5920\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/islandflavaradio.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}