| On Saturday April 13th, VP Records will celebrate Record Store Day 2019 with VP Record’s annual Sound System Showcase at its retail locations in Jamaica, Queens and Miramar, Florida. This year, both VP Records retail stores have received the distinct designation as official Record Store Day Locations. To commemorate the annual celebration of vinyl culture, the free event is a day for fans and consumers to experience authentic Jamaican Sound Systems while being able to purchase classic, new and exclusive titles. For the first time, the event will be streamed on the VP Records YouTube channel and archived for future viewing. Special DJ and sound system performances will be held at the flagship retail location at 17-21 Jamaica Avenue in Queens, and the VP store in Miramar, Florida at 6022 S.W. 21st Street. New York’s event will include selectors Earth Ruler, Digital English, Blunt Posse, Dub Electronics, Super Force, and Pretty Posse; artists are yet to be announced. In Florida, producer Bobby Digital will spin music, as an encore to his Record Store Day 2018 performance in New York. Additionally, VP Records will be unveiling The Reggae Trail, a project to identify and document locations of historic importance to the growth of reggae around the world. |
| For its special record store day titles for 2019, VP Records reaches into its early history and two of its important sub labels. A 7-record box set of 7-inch singles on the collectible “Roots From The Yard” label highlights the early years of the company, when records were pressed on behalf of independent producers on a variety of sub labels including “Roots From The Yard”. The set includes tracks from Barrington Levy, Bim Sherman, The Mighty Fantells, Junior Delgado, Freddie McKay, Earth & Stone, and Linval Thompson. The next title is “Nightfall”, a deep collector’s rarity from reggae and dancehall icon Johnny Osbourne. Released in 1981 on VP’s Jah Guidance imprint, the album features heavy mixes and extended dubs produced by Linval Thompson, featuring the Roots Radics band, and engineered by Hopeton “Scientist” Brown. A companion release produced by Thompson, the 12-inch single by Freddie Mckay “Another Weekend” and Earl Sixteen’s “Live Together,” will be featured as a Record Store Day title in Europe on VP’s subsidiary Greensleeves label. The final Record Store Day title is the “Roots Radics 12 Inches Of Dub”, a dub companion to General Echo’s 1980 Greensleeves album “12 Inches Of Pleasure”, produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes, and again featuring the Roots Radics in their prime with mixes by Scientist. “Vinyl is such an important part of Jamaican music and culture and we are thankful that Record Store Day has kept it alive in such a powerful way, year after year,” said Randy Chin, COO of VP Records. “Every year, VP does its part by hosting Sound system showcases and being that we are celebrating 40 years along with our stores now being official record store day locations, everything is aligned, and fans can expect a greater experience than ever before.” This year VP Records is celebrating 40years in the United States. VP’s history as a record store and music distributor is key to the growth of reggae music in New York and around the globe. The company was launched by Vincent and Patricia Chin as Randy’s Record Mart in Kingston, Jamaica in 1958, and grew to become the world’s largest independent reggae label. The 40th Anniversary festivities commenced with VP’s return to Jamaica in January for Strictly The Best – LIVE Montego Bay on January 30th and continues with a variety of music and cultural events, products, historical exhibits and experiences, in Jamaica, across the U.S., Toronto, Canada and London, England slated throughout the year. |