Obscure UK labels

The following illustrations are of UK labels that sprung up in the reggae boom of 1969 to 1972. The majority are UK recordings. Most of these were on small independent labels, they were pressed and sold in small quantities and therefore, despite their occasional lack of musical merit, are extremely hard to find.

You Like It - Count Busty and the Rudies. Circa 1969, maybe '68. B side is The Reggay by the same artists. The Rudies also released numerous singles on various Trojan labels before they went on to achieve some success as Greyhound. Do It! Push It! - Lena and Terry (Nelson). Possibly the most obscure label of them all. Issued through Halagala who had issued a number of quite appalling Ska records on their main label just a few years before. As the title suggests this is supposed to be a rude record. The B side is Juta Sax, an uncredited instrumental. There was a second label being issued by Halagala at roughly the same time called Guyana International. I've only seen one record on the label which is GUY008 so there are probably another 7 at least out there somewhere. The one I've seen is a vocal by Patricia Gouviea and the Pep77 band called Lonesome Love. Basically it's Red Red Wine with alternate lyrics and therefore wins points for curiosity value if nothing else. Bad Day At Black Rock - The Cimmaron Kid with the Cimmarons. The Cimmarrons went on to achieve some success later in the 1970's, this is one of their first records. Produced by Joe Mansano best known for his issues on the Trojan subsidiary Joe. The flip side is Fragile by the Cimmarons. Jesse James Hits Back - The Inner Mind on the Shades label. The B side is Let Me In by the same band. Also part of the Shades "group" was a second label called Hot Lead, this isn't illustrated as the label is very similar to the style of the Shades one. Shades was named after a night club in Sheffield, Yorkshire. The Inner Mind were perhaps the first white Reggae band and had been together since 1967. They had issued records in their own right on Pama and R&B group labels as well as supporting a number the likes of Laurel Aitken and Alton Ellis on vinyl. Both Shades and Hot Lead were based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. So Glad - Anthony King. Junior records came out of Handsworth, Birmingham. Label copies of any of their issues are hard to find though blanks do turn up once in a while. The B side is Let Them Talk by the same artist. I Guess I'd Better Start Believing - Denzil Dennis. B side is When will you ever learn by the same artist. There was one other issue on this label; Time Is Tight by Pat Rhoden (not a cover of the Booker T. tune). The label would appear to be part of the Revolution group but for some reason doesn't follow their standard format... Reggie(sic) Revolution, Rocksteady Revolution, Soul Revolution, Childrens Revolution(!) and so on... This page was inspired by Marc Griffiths's book "Boss Sounds, Classic Skinhead Reggae". Thanks to Steve Lindley and John Johnson for extra info on the Shades/Hot Lead labels.

Update July 2001