Page 9 - The Collector's Companion: Issue CC101

The Soundtrack to Windrush

Mid 1960s to late 1970s ska and reggae record labels

The records pictured overleaf are from a collection On the sun and sea colour palette...
owned by DJ and graphic designer Shernette Daly, who The JA labels depict a broad spectrum of colours from
worked for seminal reggae label Trojan Records in the the vernacular and heritage of the Caribbean. The West
noughties. Here’s extracts from my interview with her. Indies is on the whole a very colourful place and this
The full interview along with many more images and a translated through to the label designs which occurred
YouTube playlist can be found on our website. on JA/US/UK pressings. In the 1960s the UK was still
a very grey place, recovering from the war, so an injec-
On Windrush and integration... tion of colour would surely have been welcomed.
My parents are both from the Windrush generation so
I have first-hand knowledge of their experiences of liv- On the prevalence of graffitied names/notes...
ing in London. Enoch Powell’s Rivers of Blood speech The names and numbers scribbled on records adds to
fuelled fear amongst Caribbean communities, encour- their charm and provides individuality in my opinion.
aged segregation and condoned violent behaviours. These notes can provide details about the provenance
Ska music encouraged integration as there wasn’t a lot beyond the place of purchase of each piece – telling
going on socially in the UK. British people with rebel- us a little about the previous owners. Some of the
lious attitudes during the mid ‘60s could identity with scribbles also help to identify which side to play as
genres such as ska and rocksteady, but from research some pressings were incorrect or had a better b-side.
and my conversations with relatives, I found the music My father added ‘73’ to all of his vinyls, when I ques-
scene still had a huge divide. tioned why he had chosen this number he stated that it
was a great and happy year for him living in the UK but
On appealing to the white working class skinheads... also made his records distinguishable... but it didn’t
All of the reggae record label designs use strong visual stop him losing a large proportion of his collection!
communication with memorable names, typography,
symbolism and colour palettes. I think UK labels such On what makes a record valuable...
as Punch (active between 1969-1975) had a distinc- As a collector, you try to obtain the original JA press-
tive and very powerful language. Punch’s illustrative ing, these are the most sought after records. Because
fist combined with the textured news print perhaps did I am a designer and have always appreciated the label
appeal to the Skinheads. If we were to compare this designs, I have consciously tried to collect the ones I
to another UK label such as the Giant ska label, there want - as many as I can!
is a completely different tone of voice again, with no
graphic references to JA, so we could indeed assume On the changing collectors’ market...
this was a deliberate strategy to appeal to a British The value of some records have increased consider-
audience. The design may have been created with a ably and some of the hidden stores I personally visit
specific intention, but it was all about the music. have now been discovered by many, so it’s much more
difficult to find specific tunes. With reggae, I would say
there are less original pressings in circulation be-
UK ‘75 cause of the rise in interest, but this often
occurs in phases depending on what is
currently deemed trendy to younger
audiences. Once it is no longer
fashionable the market be-
comes busy once again as
these tunes go back into
circulation.

8 For days out ideas visit our website: www.thecollectorscompanion.co.uk 9