Name in English: Vincent “Randy” Chin

Name in Chinese: Name in Pinyin: Gender: Male Birth Year: 1937-2003 Birth Place: Kingston, Jamaica

Profession(s): Record Producer and Executive

Awards: Year, Name of Award, Complete name of organization giving the Award; Year, Name of Award, etc

Contributions: It’s difficult to imagine international music today without the contributions of Vincent “Randy” Chin. He started his career as a jukebox repairman in Jamaica who slept in his car but he saw an opportunity for profit by taking old American jukebox records that would have otherwise have been discarded and opening up a record shop in Kingston called “Randy Records” in 1959. “Randy’s Record Shop,” was the sponsor and name of a popular rhythm and blues radio show in Nashville, Tennessee that could be heard in Jamaica that Chin took his nickname and business name from. The record shop soon became THE hangout for Jamaican musicians.

Seeing another business opportunity, Chin opened a small recording studio above the record shop and started recording and popularizing new forms of Afro-Caribbean music called reggae and ska. In 1962, he produced Lord Creator’s album celebrating Jamaica’s independence from the UK, “Independence Jamaica.” Island Records, later to become the largest independent record label in the world, released this as their first album.

In 1964, he helped produce the Skatalites, oftentimes cited as the creators of ska music. Chin’s success enabled him to open a big recording studio called “Randy’s Studio 17” in 1968. Bob Marley & The Wailers recorded their earliest hits there, beginning their rise to become the voice of Third World Liberation movements throughout the 1970s and beyond. Other artists such as Dennis Brown, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear and Gregory Isaacs as well as Quincy Jones and Joe Cocker also recorded there.

Due to Jamaican political violence, Randy and his wife, Patricia, moved their family to the neighborhood of Jamaica in Queens, New York in 1977. In 1979, they opened VP Records, named after their initials. The company soon became the world's leading distributor of music from Jamaica and other islands of the Caribbean and began the careers of Shabba Ranks, Sean Paul, T.O.K., and other Grammy Award and platinum selling musicians. In 2002, the company signed a distribution deal with Atlantic Records to extend their reach beyond the US, UK, and Japan, one of the biggest deals ever between an independent record label and a major. VP was twice awarded Billboard Magazine’s title of "Best Independent Record Label" and three times awarded its "Best Reggae Imprint Label." Chin passed away in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 2003. 1

External Links: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2003-04-10/music/chin-music/ http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/lifestyle/html/20030204T010000- 0500_39166_OBS_VP_RECORDS_FOUNDER_VINCENT_CHIN_DIES.asp http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2003/feb/22/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries http://www.vprecords.com/index.php?page=about http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2008/oct/13/urban- blackhistorymonth?picture=338541210

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