ANTHONY “CHIPS” RICHARDS, THE MAN BEHIND THE HITS IN ENGLAND!

Anthony “Chips” Richards presenting the Q Award to Jamaica’s entertainment and culture minister Olivia Grange on March 21 in Kingston.

In late 1975, savvy A&R man Anthony “Chips” Richards helped Ken Boothe’s reggae version of Everything I Own soar to number one on the British national chart. Most of the credit for its success went to Trojan Records for distributing the song, and to Jamaican producer Lloyd Charmers.

Richards was responsible for getting the ballad in record stores and on mainstream radio. Last October, when the label’s 50^th anniversary was recognized with a Q Award in the United Kingdom, Richards was on stage at Camden’s Roundhouse to accept.

On March 21 in Kingston, Jamaica, he presented the award to Jamaica’s entertainment and culture minister Olivia Grange, to mark the 50^th anniversary of reggae music.

“It was awarded to Trojan for inspirational work and they wanted me to keep it but I said no, because if I did it would deny others who were part of the story like (producer) Bunny Lee and Locksley Gichie (of The Cimarons),” Richards said. “So, I spoke to the people at Trojan/BMG about handing it over to Jamaica, and they agreed.”

Several Jamaicans who helped establish reggae in the UK attended the ceremony at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel. It closed with the showing of Rudeboy: The Story of Trojan Records, a documentary on the British label that launched in 1967.

Boothe, fellow singers Dandy Livingston, King Sounds and Marcia Griffiths; music producer Sonny Roberts, impresario Junior Lincoln, sound system man Vincent “King Edwards” Edwards, The Cimarons and veteran booking agent/tour manager Copeland Forbes, were among the attendees.

Richards, who is in his early 70’s, was born in West Kingston but moved to London in the early 1960’s. He joined Trojan in 1972 and worked with a number of its acts. He is pleased that he and his colleagues are finally getting their due in Jamaica.

“It brings into play the people who went to England and worked hard to develop the music, but very little is known of them in Jamaica,” he said.

Trojan Records was co-founded in London in 1967 by Jamaicans Lee Gopthal and Chris Blackwell of Island Records. Its 50th anniversary was observed with a series of events including “Rudeboy” which premiered in October at the London Film Festival, release of a book and multi-song album.

The label distributed a number of groundbreaking albums including 1,000 Volts of Holt by John Holt and the hit song, Double Barrel, by Barker and Ansell Collins.