From early ska and rocksteady through to prog rock and psych via acid folk and blues rock, Island’s vinyl back catalogue is full to bursting with unimpeachable gems. Groovy Times reveals the label’s costliest collectables

Established in founder Chris Blackwell’s native Jamaica in 1959 and relocated to London three years later, the Island label has always possessed a strong pull for vinyl collectors. Pete Bonner from Psychotron Records in Sutton Coldfield has over 30 years experience of flogging vinyl under his belt and knows a thing or two about the label’s discography. He was kind enough to give Groovy Times a quick history lesson: “The earliest UK Island albums are on the white label. Mainly ska, reggae, and some jazz, and all are collectable to a certain extent. The first album in the series was Derrick Morgan Forward March in 1962.”

“However, it is the famous pink labels that get collectors’ juices flowing and were introduced when Island began to add the prime of UK folk and underground rock music to its roster”. Pete adds: “There were actually three incarnations of the famous pink label: the first was the ‘bullseye’ or ‘eyeball’ logo, the second goes under the name of the ‘black block’ and then there’s the white ‘i’ logo.” The pink labels were then followed by the familiar ‘pink rim’ iteration, which some also refer to as the ‘palm tree’ label.

For our selection of rare Island Records, we’ve used UK first pressings in Near Mint condition, and have valued them using a mix of Discogs’ Median and recent prices from various other sources.

Rare

Ska at the Jamaica Playboy Club
Various Artists
ILP9 930
£100/£150
While we suspect there was more than just ska going on at the Jamaica Playboy Club in 1966, this early Island white label compilation serves as a tremendous taster of the times. The album features tracks from Ernest Raglin, Jimmy Cliff, The Maytals and Millie Small, who is decked out in a bunny-girl outfit on the sleeve.

Mr Fantasy
Traffic
ILP 961
£150
One of the earlier rock releases on Island, Traffic’s pastoral psychedelic debut was released in 1967 with a ‘bullseye’ on the label. The mono version is slightly more desirable than its stereo counterpart. Both were issued as gatefolds. The album was released in the US as the non-gatefold Heaven Is In Your Mind and resequenced to include the ‘hits’ (Paper Sun, Hole In My Shoe).

Forward March!
Derrick Morgan
ILP 903
£180
Originally released on the Beverley’s label in Jamaica in 1962, the title track of the original rudeboy’s album was a celebration of Jamaica’s independence. Forward March! is the first album issued by Island Records in the UK, and was a wonderfully joyous place for the label to make a start.

Catch A Fire
The Wailers
ILPS 9241
£200
Catch A Fire was The Wailers’ major label debut and a vital rung on the ladder to Bob Marley’s climb to global stardom. Released in 1973, its value is linked to the working Zippo lighter sleeve that came with the first 20,000 issued. Later reissues came with a different artwork and credit the album to Bob Marley and The Wailers.

Karyobin
The Spontaneous Music Ensemble
ILPS 9079
£200
The Spontaneous Music Ensemble was one of the very first free jazz improvisatory groups to appear in the UK. The elusive Karyobin first appeared on the pink ‘bullseye’ label and hit the racks in 1968, its subtitle Are The Imaginary Birds Said To Live In Paradise is as quintessentially jazz improv as they come. The album was reissued on Chronoscope Records in 1993.

Tons Of Sobs
Free
ILPS 9089
£200
Free’s debut album arrived in March 1969 housed in a gatefold sleeve with a ‘bullseye’ on the label. It was recorded on the cheap by maverick producer Guy Stevens. £800 is the figure bandied about for the cost of the recording, which would stretch to four copies of the album in today’s not-adjusted-for inflation market. The blues-inflected rockers may have been cut from the same fabric as Led Zeppelin, but, sadly, never managed to scale the same heights.  

Kip of the Serenes
Dr Strangely Strange
ILPS 9106
£225-£275
Sharing a manager and producer with The Incredible String Band (Joe Boyd), the Dublin-based acid folksters were a popular draw on the UK college circuit, and released one deeply trippy album on Island in 1969. The album holds the distinction of being last Island album to be issued with the ‘bullseye’ label. The band moved to Vertigo the following year and a near mint copy of the band’s Heavy Petting (6360 009) will set you back even more than its Island counterpart (£500).

Rarer

Sounds… Rock Steady
Lyn Taitt & The Jets
ILP 969
£250-300
The rudimentary yellow sleeve art belies the collectability of this 1967 release from the rocksteady innovator. The legendary Lyn Taitt played guitar on hundreds of studio recordings for other artists, but briefly stepped out of the shadows to take centre stage for this early pink label/bullseye release. 

The Story of Simon Simopath
Nirvana
ILPS 9059
£400
The London-based Nirvana were crafting their own brand of baroque psych-pop way before their Seattle namealikes plugged in their first amp. Released in 1967 on a pink bullseye, the band’s debut is one of the first concept albums committed to vinyl, pre-dating both The Who’s Tommy and SF Sorrow. The bands second full-length offering on Island, All Of Us (ILPS 9087) is also highly desirable to Island collectors.

Supernatural Fairy Tales
Art
ILP 967
£400
First issued in the UK in mono only, this 1967 debut by psychedelic rockers Art was the band’s only long-playing release. The band split soon after the album was pressed and duly reformed as Spooky Tooth. The laminated sleeve that accompanied the first press was assembled by the none-more-groovy designers Hapsash and the Coloured Coat and is considered an early psych classic.

Affectionate Fink
Harold McNair
ILP 926
£450
Jamaican jazzman McNair died tragically of lung cancer at the age of 39. He was a highly respected and much-in-demand saxophonist and flautist, whose impeccable session work can be found on albums by Donovan, Nick Drake and John Martyn. His flute was featured on the soundtrack of Ken Loach’s Kes, as was his tenor sax on 1962’s Dr. No. McNair rarely recorded in his own name and his few solo LPs are much sought after by collectors. Featuring Ornette Coleman’s Sidemen, Affectionate Fink was released by Island on the white label in 1965. First pressings is as rare as a female chicken’s back molars.

In The Court Of The Crimson King
King Crimson
ILPS 9111
£475-£500
In The Court Of The Crimson King is one of the boldest and wildly influential debuts in the prog pantheon. The opening track 21st Century Schizoid Man (that’s him on cover with the dangling epiglottis) is the crazed manifesto for what was to come, and acts as the perfect showcase for Robert Fripp’s combustible guitar. Released in 1969 on the Island pink ‘i’ label, the first press still swaps hands for a sizeable amount of cash.

Rarest

Five Leaves Left
Nick Drake
ILPS 905
£800
Released in 1969 on the pink ‘black block’ label and with a gatefold sleeve (complete with an Ernest J. Day credit), Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left is the melancholy prince of Island vinyl collectables. The first pressing is notable for an incorrect listing with the final two tracks on side one, Day Is Done and Way To Blue, in reverse order on the sleeve. The error was corrected on subsequent pressings. While not as valuable, Drake’s beautiful, downcast Bryter Later (ILPS 9134, 1970) and 1972’s Pink Moon (ILPS 9184) also command big money for a first press, both valued in NM condition in the region of 400 smackers. 

Island vinyl enthusiasts need to be aware of an ongoing series of books dedicated to the Island label. Volume 2 of The Island Book of Records focuses on the albums and 45s released from Island Records during 1969-1970. Visit the website (theislandbookofrecords.com) to discover how to get your grubby metacarpals on a copy.