VP RECORDS OPENS IT VAULTS AT 17 NORTH PARADE

For the first time ever VP Records is opening its immense vaults of Reggae, Dancehall and Soca/Calypso to all collectors and music enthusiasts through their new imprint '17 North Parade'.

The history of 17 North Parade begun over 40 years ago, when reggae pioneers Vincent Chin and his wife Patricia moved their record store to 17 North Parade a former ice cream parlour in downtown Kingston. It quickly became the centre of the burgeoning reggae music scene distributing foreign and local music throughout the island.

Above the new store they constructed a recording studio aptly called 'Randy's Studio 17' which became the recording facility of choice for the majority of Reggae's most prominent artists, writers and producers. 'Randy's Studio 17' played host to Bob Marley & The Wailers who recorded parts of Catch A Fire there, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bunny Lee, Niney The Observer, as well as foreign artists looking for the authentic reggae sound such as Quincy Jones and Joe Cocker.

It is a well-known fact that 'Randy's Studio 17' had one of if not the largest catalogues of Reggae, Dancehall and Soca/Calypso music in the world. These catalogues have been amassed over many decades between the 60s and 90s and are now being made available to the public. Rare tracks, that in the past could only be listened to on vinyl, have now been digitally re-mastered and are available on CD, giving an even better sound than the original releases.

The first set of re-mastered tracks from the VP Records' 17 North Parade vaults were released in early 2007 and include Culture & Don Carlos Roots & Culture (1982), Yellowman & Fathead Just Cool (1982), Toyan Spar With Me (1982) Little John Ghetto Youth (1983) and Zap Pow (1973). These releases are a collectors dream and are a perfect gift for all those who love vintage music.

This is the first time in the history of Reggae and Dancehall that fans can get such a quality supply of local music from 'back in the day' at one place. These tracks are not available anywhere else and boast the quality unsurpassed by today's music.

VP Record's 17 North Parade will release two albums every month in 2008. Collectors can look out for Byron Lee and the Dragonairs and works from great reggae producers such as Augustus 'Gussie' Clarke Donovan Germain, Lloyd 'King Jammys' James, Sly & Robbie and Joe Gibbs who worked with pioneering engineer Errol Thompson.

URL - http://www.17northparade.com/

Source - Alykhat PR
Date - November 1, 2007

Education is No Joke - School Tour

As the tour continues we will be continuing the positive message as we feel this will uplift the student and make the school environment more wholesome.

The No Joke Entertainment and VP Records "Education is No Joke" School tour continued to blaze a trail last week with some of Jamaica's top entertainers visiting their Alma Maters. The main aim of the "Education Is No Joke" school tour is to sensitize students as to the importance of a good education and motivate them to adopt positive lifestyles. With the help of sponsors such as Arctic Ice, the tour has been reuniting some of Jamaica's most popular artistes with their Alma Maters and the impact has been phenomenal.

International dancehall star and Jamaican recording artist Sean Paul, visited his former high school, Wolmer's Boys on Tuesday February 19 and based on reports from students and teachers, the visit was a hit. Sean Paul disembarked the Infinity Tours bus and received a good welcome from the Wolmer's family; he focused his talk to the boys on the importance of a good education. At Wolmer's Sean Paul presented himself as a father figure instilled in the boys the importance of respecting each other. Students had numerous questions for the artiste and Sean answered them with maturity and showed his immense knowledge of the current issues affecting the students.

At Wolmer's Sean maintained the theme of the Wysinco and Logostich sponsored "Education is No Joke" School Tour and emphasized that without a good education there can be no real success. Sean Paul throughout his talk to the boys at Wolmer's credited his success to the good foundation he received at Wolmer's; he emphasized the importance of good values and politeness as keys to success. To top off his visit to his old school, Sean Paul gave prizes to the most improved students, signed autographs and posed for pictures with some of his young fans.

"We are very happy that Sean Paul took time out to talk to us today. This shows us that he cares about his young fans and that he understands the importance of education" - A student for Wolmer's.

The No Joke entertainment "Education is no Joke" School tour has over the past two weeks been bringing some of Jamaica's best known role models who have maintained a positive image in the music to influence students in a positive way. In this light the Cooyah and Hype TV supported tour co-opted the help of Voicemail to deliver their positive message to three schools. On Wednesday February 20 Craig visited his old school Jamaica College, O'Neil dropped by Kingston College and Kevin gave his talk at Calabar High.Voicemail commended the boys of all three schools on their successes in academics and sports but maintained that this good trend must continue.

Voicemail also focused on the need for unity between all three schools and stated that recent incidents between students from the three schools were not positive and put the institutions in a bad light. They stated that even though all members of Voicemail were from different schools they came together to do something positive."We came together and created something positive even though we are all from three traditional rivals. In the end it does not matter which school you are from, you still have work with people from different walks of life to be successful" - O'Neil Edwards, Voicemail Member.

The “Education is No Joke” School ends this week with visits two schools from the corporate area. The tour over the past three weeks has been working hard to fulfil its mandate of bringing a positive message to the young fans of the music. The "Education is No Joke" tour has also been able to lift the spirits of the students by facilitating the surprise visits of some of theirfavourite artistes and role models.

Source - Alykat PR
Date - February 29, 2008

Daybreak for Kari Jess

Showtime Marketing ( showtimemarketingco@gmail.com ), the Managers for Dancehall/reggae artiste Kari Jess are pleased to introduce you to his latest track entiled 'Gyal dem mi waan'.

The Track was recorded by Stephen 'The Genius' Mcgregor for the Big Ship Label. It has found itself on the Daybreak riddim which boasts some of the industry's heavy hitters. The Song itself is quite infectious with a chorus that has you singing it after the second line. This song shows yet again that kari jess is definately an artiste to keep your ears open for.

Showtime Marketing is encouraging you to listen to the track and visit his myspace page ( www.myspace.com/karijess ) and prepare yourself to be thrilled and entertained by his lyrics and superb delivery.

Source - Showtime Marketing/A.I.M Inc.

Date - March 7, 2008