Focus Music Notes. "Out of the Blues". Popular music through the decades

Island Records are very proud to announce the release on 10 October 2022 of "GET UP STAND UP!" ,   the Original Cast Recording of the award-winning hit West End musical of the same name which has been wowing audiences and critics alike since opening in October 2021. Featuring original cast members including Arinzé Kene and Gabrielle Brooks, alongside 'The Stand Up Crew' , the fantastic group of musicians who propelled the show, the 20-track album was produced and mixed by Island stalwart Paul 'Groucho' Smykle, with arrangements by Phil Bateman, and features many of Marley's most popular, powerful, enduring and inspiring songs of freedom. The production takes its inspiration from Bob Marley's visionary lyrics to tell the Jamaican legend's extraordinary story through a truly electrifying mix of many of his most memorable songs. The full track-listing is as follows:   1.     Lively Up Yourself  2.     Trenchtown Rock  3.   ...

After a hugely successful year, Bob Marley 75 continues into 2021 with several birthday celebrations leading up to Marley's 76th Birthday on February 6, including a global virtual birthday celebration hosted by Cedella Marley, Songs of Freedom: The Island Years on 6LP or 3CD, and a Bob Marley Tribute Livestream by Stephen Marley. In lieu of the live annual birthday celebration that usually occurs at the Bob Marley Museum every year, Cedella Marley will be hosting a global virtual event for Bob Marley's 76th birthday on February 6. Inspired by Bob Marley's most militant album, Cedella, the Marley family, friends, and fans worldwide will celebrate Bob Marley's 76th Earthstrong under the theme, SURVIVAL. The virtual celebration will mimic the usual festivities beginning at 7am ET, including messages from the family, a Miami Performance Mash-up featuring the Marley brothers and third-generation Marleys, Survival Cypher performance featuring Skip Marley, Jo Mersa, Tifa, Kab...

As the year's celebrations commemorating the legendary Bob Marley's 75 th birthday continue, yet more incredible collector edition items and activations have been announced and released for December and January 2021 On January 29, 2021, the highly acclaimed Songs of Freedom: The Island Years, an extraordinary 6LP set, as well as a 3CD set, will be re-released worldwide. A limited-edition color 6LP set featuring two red, two green, and two gold vinyl LPs will also be available. Streamlined to the period of Bob Marley's emergence and stardom, with rare tracks on vinyl for the first time outside Jamaica,  Songs of Freedom: The Island Years is available to listen to or pre-order HERE . In addition to Songs Of Freedom, twelve limited-edition Bob Marley vinyl LP's pressed exclusively at the legendary Tuff Gong International headquarters in Kingston, Jamaica, will be available on January 22, 2021. The Jamaican pressings will include nine original studio albums, two origina...

Skip Marley, whose history-making global hit "Slow Down" with Grammy© Award-winning artist H.E.R. reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Adult R&B chart in the spring – a first for a Jamaican-born artist – releases his hugely anticipated debut EP, HIGHER PLACE , via Tuff Gong/Island Records. (Full track listing below.)  The 7-track project was named Higher Place as a call to action to Skip's generation, fans, and listeners to inspire people to ascend to a higher place of love and level of consciousness.  The project includes new ideas and experiences as well as wisdom that has been passed down through the Marley lineage that Skip likes to call "Marley Mantras."  On the release, Skip states, "It is a joy and a blessing for me to share this music with the world. When we say 'Higher Place,' we mean good vibrations. Positivity. Conscious influence of the heart and the mind and the soul. Music with a message is the music we love....

In the 1970s, Bob Marley rose from humble beginnings to become a global superstar. It was a journey that took place not just in his homeland of Jamaica, but also in Britain - the place he came to regard as his second home. Featuring rarely-seen archive and interviews with people who met him, this documentary examines Marley’s special relationship with Britain and reveals how his presence helped influence British politics, culture and identity, during a time of massive social and civil unrest in the UK - and how his universal message of One Love and unity helped inspire a generation of Black British youth. This documentary also takes a revealing look at how Marley spent his time while he was in Britain: the houses he lived in, football kickabouts in Battersea Park and visits to the UK’s growing Rastafarian community, including secret gigs in the North of England. It was in Britain that Marley established himself as an international artist, recorded some of his most success...

On 24th July, episode five of Bob Marley's Legacy documentary series continues with 'Punky Reggae Party,' an insightful look back at Bob's time in and impact on London and the rest of the United Kingdom. Dating back from the mid-'70s to this present day, 'Punky Reggae Party' explores how Bob's music and ethos captured the Zeitgeist, detailing his signing to Chris Blackwell's Island Records, and the welcomed arrival of his sound and the impact he had in the United Kingdom, especially the London-born children of the Windrush generation .(Los Angeles – July 24, 2020) Featuring interviews with music aficionado Don Letts, MP and former shadow home secretary, Diane Abbott, award-winning British cellist Sheku Kanneh-Mason MBE, and Chris Blackwell as well as journalist and broadcaster, Chris Salewicz, British-Nigerian women's rights activist Seyi Akiwowo, the daughter of a Rasta, Hak BakerMarika, and photographer Adrian Boot, this compelling ne...

To mark the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence Island Records are releasing a huge box set entitled ‘Sound System – The Story Of Jamaican Music’ on June 25th . ‘ Sound System ’ will feature 8 CDs of glorious music and a deluxe hard backed book by acclaimed writer Chris Salewicz (author of biographies of Bob Marley, Joe Strummer and ‘Rude Boy – Once Upon A Time In Jamaica’) and featuring hundreds of photos by legendary photographer Adrian Boot. Compiled by Ramus (musical factotum at Chris Blackwell-era Island, Mango and Palm Pictures) and Paul ‘Groucho’ Smykle (dub producer who’s worked with PiL, Grace Jones, David Bowie, Jah Wobble, BAD and many more), ‘Sound System’ features 120 songs randomly programmed to ape the way a Sound System DJ might select his set on any given night. It features a wonderfully eclectic mix of R&B, mento, ska, blue beat, reggae, dub and funk and celebrates the incredible musical gift this small island has given to the world. When it comes to ...

The Third World’s first superstar and arguably the most recognizable human being on the planet, reggae giant BOB MARLEY is celebrated this year in a film by award-winning director Kevin MacDonald (‘One Day In September’, ‘State Of Play’, ‘The Last King Of Scotland’, ‘Touching The Void’ and ‘Life In A Day’). ‘MARLEY’, which received a rapturous reception at its premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Feb 12th, will be released in the UK on 20th April ’12 through Universal Picture s and features stunning live performances, intimate interviews with friends and family, and rare documentary footage, which tells the definitive story of the superstar who rose from the ghetto to become one of the greats of popular music before dying tragically young at the height of his fame. BOB MARLEY was born February 6, 1945 in rural St. Ann’s Parish, Jamaica, leaving home at 14 to pursue a music career in Kingston. A naturally gifted musician and singer he recorded his first track in 1962. In ’72 findi...