BRITISH-BASED GREENSLEEVES RECORDS CELEBRATING 45 YEARS!

Greensleeves Records, the independent music company that introduced dancehall music to the United Kingdom in the 1980s, celebrates its 45th anniversary this year.

The label was co-founded by Englishmen Chris Cracknell and Chris Sedgwick in 1977. They started a record store of the same name in West London two years earlier.

The company, now owned by VP Records, plans to celebrate the milestone with a reflection on some of its biggest artistes and their releases.

While their first major song was Dr Alimantado’s Born For A Purpose in 1978, it was not until the early 1980s that Greensleeves exploded. This came mainly through songs and albums from the hot Volcano label operated in Kingston by producer Henry “Junjo” Lawes.

One of the acts to be highlighted this year is Yellowman, who was king of the Volcano camp that also included Barrington Levy and artiste/producer Linval Thompson.

Yellowman, the boastful albino who was raised in foster homes, was the toast of Greensleeves. His albums, such as Mister Yellowman and Zungguzungguguzungguzeng, were strong sellers in the UK.

Working with Thompson and the Roots Radics Band at Channel One studio, the flamboyant Lawes assembled a formidable catalogue that won fans in the large UK West Indian community as well as white Britons.

Levy established himself in that country thanks to the Englishman album while John Holt earned a career revival with songs like Police in Helicopter.

Lawes was murdered in London in June 1999 at age 39.

Greensleeves’ greatest commercial success came during the 1990s with Shaggy’s Oh Carolina and Heads High by Mr Vegas. Another major achievement was the Diwali rhythm that spawned songs like Sean Paul’s Get Busy and No Letting Go by Wayne Wonder.

VP Records bought the label in 2008.