MUSIC CONNECTION GOES TO JAMAICA…QUEENS, NY: VP Records Blog.
Back in 2002, I visited VP Records in Jamaica, Queens to interview Chris and Patricia Chin, the son and wife of Vincent Chin, the papa who started the label side of the jamaican music store back in 1979. Soon after my day at VP, my own father died, and I put the story on hold, and eventually I moved on to other things. Six months after my pops died, Vincent “Randy” Chin passed away, and sadly I never had a chance to interview him. His is an amazing story that also tells the history of the Jamaican record/studio business, and the development of reggae music itself. From the early calypso artists to the rock steady crooners to the dub masters, his Randy’s records was the place where you could make a record and sell a record in the same place. Names like Lee Scratch Perry, Bob Marley, Gregory Isaacs, Alton Ellis, Johnny Nash, and so many others have all gone through that that former ice cream parlour turned recording studio/record store.
Eventually Vincent and Patricia took the family to Brooklyn where they first opened up VP Records (for Vincent and Patricia), but in 1979 they moved to Jamaica, Queens, where they couldn’t feel more at home. Since 2002 they moved into a new home, a large space that houses their executive offices, distribution product, and a media area where they film their interviews and other promotional content. And just around the corner they’ve got another shop that is purely a retail space selling music and their Riddim Driven clothing line. Aside from breaking artists like Sean Paul and Elephant Man, VP’s got a roster of dancehall stars, and about a year and six months ago, America’s most powerful reggae company acquired England’s biggest reggae label, Greensleeves Records. VP’s also been doing more business with larger labels like Atlantic, who handled VP artists like Sean Paul and their dancehall boyband act, T.O.K. If that’s not enough, VP’s now got an imprint labeled, 17 North Parade; that was the address of the original Randy’s shop, so it makes perfect sense that it be the name of a label that remasters and reissues vintage Randy’s releases.
(this is what you see when you walk into VP…VINYL!!!)
(Behind that post you see that hat of Fidel Luna, A&R of 17 North Parade. You don’t see much of him here, I admit, but you’ll meet him down below.)
Check out what PATRICIA CHIN has to say about \"the state of VP\".
(Here we really meet Fidel Luna. This guy is super excited about his job, and you can tell just check out this clip below)
FIDEL LUNA TALKING ABOUT 17 NORTH PARADE
And if you’d like to see some videos from many of the VP artists, just click on this link for their YouTube channel.
Tags: 17 North Parade, Daniel Siwek's Blog, Elephant Man, Fidel Luna, Patricia Chin, Randy Chin, Riddim Driven, Sean Paul, Vincent "Randy" Chin, VP RECORDS
