Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight

Neil Storey worked in the Island press office in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has set out on mammoth undertaking, to compile a series of gorgeous, album-sleeve-sized books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history and talking to all involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff - and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. This latest edition, ‘the Island Book Of Records 1969-1970’, has transported us back to our teenage selves when albums by Fairport, Nick Drake, Jethro Tull, Free, King Crimson etc were unmissable. We talked to Neil at his home in France which happily involved …
… the extraordinary story of the Unhalfbricking album shoot.
… when album sleeves were assembled by hand.
… how Island pioneered the ‘underground’ aesthetic and the cheap sampler album.
… the mystery of Ian Anderson’s 11 fingers.
… the “worst sleeve” in the label’s history (which involved a trip to the butchers).
.. the day the Island roster met in Hyde Park at six in the morning.
... the curious marketing of Nick Drake - “who doesn’t have a telephone and will disappear for four days at a time”.
… and Roxy Music, Sparks, Head Hands & Feet and what else to expect in Volume 3.
Order the Island Book Of Records Volume 2 here:
www.amazon.co....
Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: / wordinyourear

[@nigeltant]

Mark is so spot on - uniquely, at that time anything on Island was guaranteed to be good!

[@alperry7346]

i'm so glad the band 'heron' was mentioned in this brilliant interview...they were on the 'dawn' label in the late 60s/early 70s and released 2 amazing albums...so amazing that in 2005 when they finally reunited i volunteered to help promote them all over dorset and devon...the performance was at the bridport arts center...i flew over from new jersey, usa to put up posters, hand out leaflets and give interviews in the local newspapers...i'd love it if you guys could do an episode on them...a legendary hippie folk rock band...

[@Oakenshield69]

This is fantastic, thank you!

[@charlesnolan7602]

I am still a fan of BLODWYN PIG! Those first 2 B.P.'s are outstanding!

[@StephenMerchant-up8sg]

The 'Bumpers' double sampler was my Island awakening. The guitar intro to Motts 'Thunderbuck Ram' get's me every time. Sad and poignant, reminds me of those 'pink label' times.

[@PhilBaird1]

Although Thunderbuck Ram was a bit of a Mott tear-up, that intro captured a time and place for me too. The sound of Island and so English. I think the boys from Hereford must have soaked up some of that Elgar mood and atmosphere ! One of the highlights of the wonderful Bumpers.

[@unchattytwit]

Great episode, great stories, but too short - need a part 2 for '69-70

[@grahamcole1539]

Thank you David and Mark. So interesting! The Island label i discovered aged 15 when i purchased In The Court of by King Crimson and the first Emerson Lake and Palmer albums, and i too felt anything on this label was worth checking out! Traffic, Quintessence, Cat Stevens and the double sampler "El Pea" were other early ones for me. Those times it was Island, Vertigo and Harvest that started my album and new music journey. Magic times as a teenager, and the gigs in London.

[@PaIaeoCIive1684]

Fabulous roster of artists on Island. You were listening to them earlier than me, as I started with Cat Stevens in my early teens in the late 70s, found ELP too pretentious despite being a big prog fan -- but 'got' them a couple of decades later -- liked Denny-era Fairport and later discovered the wonder of Nick Drake around age 30, before the masses got into him via a TV ad. Envy you being able to see the great acts of the late 60s/early 70s in the flesh and at their peak. Music peaked around then?

[@redpilledpict2747]

"You Can All Join In" was an excellent sampler that cost 14/6p (72p) in 1968. So many great tracks on it.

[@jamesrowe3606]

I didn't have much money for records in the 70s, so the El Pea sampler from Island Records was a godsend. So many great tracks from some great artists and bands. This was my introduction to Nick Drake, so for that alone I love the record to bits. I don't want to sound like an old fart, but I reckon there was more good music on that double album than there has been in the entirety of the 21st century so far.

[@brucevair-turnbull8082]

Certainly my favourite record label. The pink ones taste best!

[@DadgeCity]

I searched Heavy Jelly and found a modern punk band. Then I searched again and found the 1970 band. I have to say I prefer the punk band.

[@goodbababadbaba6370]

Listening from Saigon fantastic the wonders of the internet 😊

[@JJONNYREPP]

Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight 1432pm 30.11.24 listening from rossendale valley, UK. the wonders of boredom brought me here. and the fact it's a mellow corner of a hastily constructed reality by the oldie sect - which allows me to enjoy being mellow... cos they're all gettin' on and haven't realized i'm here...

[@PaIaeoCIive1684]

@@JJONNYREPP Hey, Jonny, I notice you watch these Word chats regularly. They are rather mellow. That Rossendale is Lancashire (not Yorkshire) as I remember getting lost in the scouts at a camp near there as a teen. Bet it's grim in winter.

[@JJONNYREPP]

@@PaIaeoCIive1684 Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight. 30.11.24. Indeed, and much to it's detriment, Rossendale is in lands, not Yorks. The battle for supremacy re: Roses takes place over the meadow in Todmorden...where I have never lived, though there seems to be someone with my moniker who has lived there.... The camp guards are beeping their car horns at present...so..........................what to do? Muse on names for one's local gritter or ponder world cop football? It ain't too bad in winter contrary to what footage there is of me climbing thru a snow drift might have you think. I enjoy the snow and Xmas and Yorks vs lands divide. I wasn't in scouts, though. Several chaps I went to school with did attend scouts, though. Not my thing. Never been lost on the moors, though...i know my locale. Don't wanna tempt fate, though... Allegedly, scouts and the female equivalent, the guides, have a reet jolly time of it shinning up poles, boozing and shagging at the jamboree...sounds good. Sadly nowadays sexual politics means top notch scout master might turn in a dress and the like.....sad times. Hopefully you got home alright and weren't kidnapped?

[@PaIaeoCIive1684]

@@JJONNYREPP Hi there. All reet? Interesting hearing from the north. I recall getting found after a few hours lost near Rossendale. Another lad was missing a whole day in Dorset but also survived. Yeah, I've been lost on the moors --- especially Dartmoor -- quite often when I lived near there, even with a compass. In my scout pack it was a couple of the older venture scouts who were Scouting for Boys (geddit?) rather than the scoutmaster. It's true they welcome all sorts nowadays in the Woke Era -- even girls. I've been to Todmorden in t'Yorkshire ages ago. Fine countryside up there, snowy or not. P.S. Just remembered the camp was near Chorley, which I expect you know well.

[@JJONNYREPP]

@@PaIaeoCIive1684 Comments on ‘Fairport, Nick Drake, Traffic and why Island Records was a sumptuous visual delight’. 30.11.24. Ahah..chorley? Seen it passed it. Never visited it. Never invited to partake of old bizzle country. Winters are wussy now. Though, in my personal experience, it can be snowing up here come march and I can sweating my tits off in London 8 hours later ...as happened a few years ago. Dartmoor? You escaped or something? You seen the beast of Dartmoor? I don't mind camping out. Was out more than in when I was a kid....north of England's shit...not a fan of Northern-ease. Even though nowhere else appeals.... It is grim up north. And dull. And dirty....

[@KevKavanagh]

Currently reading Chris Blackwell's autobiography, The Islander. Super compelling, I've been rationing it, what a life!

[@d8t-]

Mentioning Sparks, surely they didn't release their first album on Island, Kimono My House, until 1974? The two before that were on Bearsville in the US (those are the ones I got after they'd had their first hits in the UK)

[@BrianSanders-e2c]

Elektra had the same effect.