AUDIO: Island Records' Chris Blackwell (1989)
John Tobler, Rock's Backpages Audio, 1989
Following the sale of his Island label to Polygram – and the end of his relationship with Sweden's Sonet Records – Blackwell gives a (slightly Scandinavian-centric) history of the label, from 'My Boy Lollipop' to U2 via, amongst others, Jimmy Cliff, King Crimson, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley and Marianne Faithfull. He ends by explaining the difficulty of remaining independent in the now-global music business, and the need to sell the company.
Read a transcript of this interview.
