Blue Beat
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Blue Beat Records was a label of Emile E. Shalit’s Melodisc Records company. Melodisc specialised in Calypso and Mento music, and was formed in London, England in 1947, with strong ties to the West Indies. Shalit founded Blue Beat in 1960 as a ska-focused label after the positive response in the UK to (the then UK-based) Laurel Aitken’s Melodisc release of “Lonseome Lover”.
He placed Sigimund “Siggy” Jackson in charge of the label, with Jackson choosing the name Blue Beat, which was an adaptation of “blues beat”, at the time a generic term for Jamaican blues music The first release on the label was Aitken’s “Boogie Rock”, which was licenced from Clement “Coxsone” Dodd’s Downbeat label. The distinctive blue label and silver logo first appeared with the label’s third release, Higgs & Wilson’s “Manny Oh”. The label reached licencing agreements with the majority of the major Jamaican producers, and released around 400 singles and over a dozen albums between 1960 and 1967, with Prince Buster becoming the label’s biggest star with songs such as “Al Capone”. Jackson established a Blue Beat night at The Marquee in London, and fashion accessories featuring the label’s logo also became popular. Many Blue Beat recordings were played alongside soul music in dance clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. The music was associated with the mod culture of the 1960s.
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baldyreggae updated the wiki page for Blue Beat. (diff) April 2010
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baldyreggae created the wiki page for Blue Beat. April 2010
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baldyreggae uploaded blue beat to Blue Beat’s images. April 2010
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baldyreggae linked Blue Beat to blue beat. April 2010
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MetroHadriani unlinked Blue Beat from Spinoza's mixtape - eternity and beyond!. April 2010
