Island Records: 50th Anniversary Gigs!

10:55 AM GMT 09/03/2009

Island Records, the seminal label responsible for bringing us the likes of U2, Tom Waits, Nick Drake, Roxy Music, PJ Harvey and Bob Marley, celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.

The rest of 2009 is set to be filled with all-manner of Island-related celebrations. The label's founder Chris Blackwell has announced details of the Island 50 festival - a week of performances from some of Island's artists past and present due to take place at London's Shepherd's Bush Empire in May.

The shows currently look like this:

Sly & Robbie & The Compass Point Allstars (featuring very special guests) (May 26)
The Fratellis + Very Special Guest + Bombay Bicycle Club (27)
Cat Stevens/Yusuf and friends + Baaba Maal (28)
Paul Weller + Ernest Ranglin + Spooky Tooth (29)
Keane + Tom Tom Club + Ladyhawke (30)
Amy Winehouse + Toots & The Maytals + I Blame Coco (31)

Exclusive pre-sale tickets will be available from 9am on Thursday, March 12 (head over to www.island50.com for more information). Tickets will go on general sale the following day (Friday, March 13) at 9am.

"When I recorded Lance Hayward at the Half Moon in 1959 at Federal Records Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, I had no inkling what path this had set me on," says Blackwell. "It has been an honour and a privilege to work with some of the greatest musical artists of all time. It was always my intention at Island to make records that stood the test of time, and I'm proud that Island is still a potent force in music 50 years since that first release. I'm very excited to be collaborating with the label to celebrate Island's 50th birthday and I'm particularly excited about the week of shows in London."

The celebrations continue on May 21 with the publication of Keep On Running - The Story Of Island Records, a new book edited by Chris Salewicz and featuring contributions from MOJO's very own Jon Savage, Vivien Goldman, Lloyd Bradley and Sylvia Patterson.

Island Life, a new exhibition of photos, artwork and memorabilia from the stable's glittering history, will run from May 22 until June 17 at The Vinyl Factory (Phonica Records, 51 Poland Street, London W1F 7LZ). A mini-exhibition will also be on display at HMV's flagship store on London's Oxford Street.

For regular updates on all this year's Island activity, head over to www.island50.com.

Posted by Ross_Bennett at 10:55 AM GMT 09/03/2009

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