A Reggae label, and a record company, owned and run by Dennis Emmanuel Brown. D.E.B. Music seems to have started operations in or around 1976. It operated as an independent in the main, using several different numerical series and label colours and frequently giving its 7" singles large spindle holes, presumably for a more Jamaican appearance (2) - thanks to Charlie Chalk of the 45Cat site for permission to use his scan here. It did however issue at least three 7" records through EMI in 1979. The first two were numbered in their own DBR-100 series (3) but a couple of months after they came out EMI launched a dedicated RIC-100 series for licensed U.K. Reggae product, and the third and final EMI single was given a number from that series. Demo copies were marked in the usual EMI way (4). Other labels coming under that umbrella were MR., Arawak, Radic (q.v. all), More Cut, and Taxi; a discography is given on the MR. page. The Dennis Brown single pictured above came in a plain black sleeve; whether this was the case with all of Deb Music's EMI records is open to question. D.E.B. Music continued to release records into the '80s, but from 1978 onwards it concentrated on 12" singles - the format was hugely popular among Reggae buyers at that time. Sadly there were no dates on the singles; the Bob Andy record shown above (1) is dated as 1976 on the 45Cat site but the pressing marks on that and on Bobby Floyd's 'Rainbow Sky' (DEB-001) look like Orlake ones from 1977. Thanks to Robert Bowes for that scan.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.