Reggae Steady Go: The Creole Albums Collection

With all 4 albums new to CD and 25 tracks in total previously unavailable on the format, this 2CD set provides the first opportunity to discover and enjoy some of the finest UK-produced reggae of the early 1970s.

In the mid-1960s, Bruce White and Tony Cousins established the artist management company, Commercial Entertainments, which by the close of the decade had amongst its clients many of Jamaica’s leading talent. When, late in 1969, reggae exploded onto the international music scene, the enterprising pair acquired the defunct music publishing company and a record company, Creole Music Ltd., and promptly set about acquiring a suitable artist roster.

The first act to sign up to the newly formed organisation were the instrumental quartet The Hippy Boys, who, at the close of 1969 were in the UK with Lee Perry, touring as The Upsetters. On New Year’s Day, 1970, White and Cousins had them record an album’s worth of material, which they subsequently licensed to the country’s leading Jamaican music record company, Trojan. Released as ‘The Good, The Bad & The Upsetters’, the LP proved a strong seller, with its success encouraging the pair to arrange further sessions for their other newly acquired acts, with the best of these sides collected on ‘Reggae Steady Go Vol.1’ issued by Trojan that summer. Bruce White and Tony Cousins continued to collaborate with Trojan throughout the next year, but in the spring of 1972, were finally able to launch their own reggae showcase label, Rhino. And with just the second release on the imprint, Creole secured its first major UK hit, ‘Mad About You’ by Bruce Ruffin, the success of which propelled the company to the centre of Britain’s thriving Jamaican music industry.

There swiftly followed further popular singles, the most popular of which were assembled on two new ‘Reggae Steady Go’ volumes. All of the above long-players, along with the best of Creole Records’ productions between 1970 and 1972 are gathered on this, the very first anthology of this hugely important and influential record company