THE PLAYLIST: ISLAND RECORDS

Fifty years ago, Chris Blackwell started a record company that had rhythm and style. Tim de Lisle picks eight of its best tracks for your iPod ...

From INTELLIGENT LIFE Magazine, Spring 2009

In 2009, with the music business reeling, it’s hard to remember a time when people were fans not just of bands but of record companies. A generation ago, you knew that if an LP was on Stiff, it would be spikily witty; if it was on Ze, funky; and if it was on Island, either cool or warm, but always rewarding. Chris Blackwell, the languid visionary who founded Island in 1959, had a gift for mixing different worlds—black and white, rhythm and ideas.

Since he sold up in 1989, Island has not been so distinctive, but the highlights from its heyday are easy to find online. For songs, history and news of live shows, go to www.island50.com.

ONE CUP OF COFFEE Bob Marley
His hits with the Wailers are magnificent, but you probably know all about them. This is a more obscure gem, a charming ska tune from way back when. Soon afterwards, somebody halved the pace of ska and reggae was born.

FATHER AND SON Cat Stevens
A sensitive young man puts himself in his father’s shoes, with heart-rending results. Johnny Cash’s version, featuring Fiona Apple, is even better; Ronan Keating’s, with Cat Stevens himself, isn’t so hot.

VIRGINIA PLAIN Roxy Music
Storming debut from the kind of band—strange, arty, fitfully brilliant—that perhaps only Island would have signed. Still sounds good, even after being in a Rover ad.

I’LL COME RUNNING Brian Eno
In Roxy Music, he played proto-synthesisers; later, he invented ambient music and mentored U2. In between, he made warm adult pop like this.

I'VE SEEN THAT FACE BEFORE Grace Jones
Songs that are fluid are seldom dramatic as well. This is both, thanks to Blackwell’s decision to place Jones’s histrionic tendencies in the gorgeously liquid setting of the Island house band, led by Sly & Robbie.

INNOCENT WHEN YOU DREAM Tom Waits
Another oddball, blessed with a voice that feels as if it has crawled out of a rotten piece of timber. But when Waits nails a ballad, his quirks make it all the more touching. He nailed this one.

THE BALLAD OF LUCY JORDAN Marianne Faithfull
The nice 1960s gal who became a superstar’s moll, then a modest pop singer, hit rock bottom in the 1970s, ending up a homeless addict. She re-emerged with a startlingly different voice, cracked and bruised, which gives a potentially corny song some bite.

ONE U2
Island signed U2 at the urging of its press officer, Rob Partridge, a well-liked figure who died recently. They took years to hit their stride, but when they did they were unstoppable. This is their most soulful song.

Picture credit: greefus groinks (via Flickr)

(Tim de Lisle is editor of Intelligent Life magazine. See past playlists for Motown, Alfred Brendel and Leonard Cohen. )