She has also signed off some gloriously authentic 7вЂќ pressings from the Japanese label Dub Store Sound. Mr Dodd passed away in 2004, having opened channels for his music to be reissued in the UK via Soul Jazz, and his daughter Carol, who now runs Studio One, mindfully respecting its traditions, has maintained the link. But the London one lives on, and is one of the reasons for the fansвЂ™ current state of excitement. He also had two other outlets, one in Philadelphia and one in London. He shuttered his famous studio in Brentford Road, Kingston, Jamaica, and opened one in Brooklyn, where he also ran a record shop. Companies abroad showed interest вЂ“ United Artists released compilations in the mid-70s RAS, and more lastingly, Heartbeat, issued fine records chiefly for their domestic US market вЂ“ but for the most part if you wanted Studio One you bought the notoriously crackly Jamaican, and later, New York pressings that came from Mr DoddвЂ™s own operation. It had licensed records to all and sundry during the 60s and early 70s, but then Mr Dodd decided that the bulk of his material ought to be bought only from him and outlets he distributed it to.

Oh, and you never write it off, as we are learning today.ДЇor the best part of four decades, Studio OneвЂ™s music could only be bought from Studio One. But like the Detroit label, the studio has an identifiable sound (several, down the years), its records are highly collectable, it recorded artists when they were young and hot and helped make them stars, it was run by one figurehead-producer (Clement вЂCoxsoneвЂ™ Dodd), it used visually appealing imagery on its records that werenвЂ™t really appreciated at the time, it has a status among fans of reggae and beyond, and its influence over what followed it was disproportionately strong. The simple way of putting it is that Studio One is the Motown of reggae, though thatвЂ™s not entirely accurate. ItвЂ™s a been a long time coming, as the song goes, but fans of Studio One are starting to realise that a golden era has crept up on us.ДЇor those who arenвЂ™t reggae-crazed like myself, a recap is in order.

Studio one records