LOCKS
A Reggae
label, in operation during the period 1975-76. Locks was run
by Brian Harris and Keith Thornton from their 'Black Wax' record
shop in Lozells Road, Newtown, Birmingham, and was a sibling of their main
label, Black Wax (q.v.). It issued eighteen singles over the
course of two years, using a LOX-0 catalogue series, and used one
basic label design in four different colour schemes during
that time. Only the first single had brown-on-white labels
(1); those on LOX-2 to 9 were
red-on-white (2); on LOX-10 to 16 they were grey-on-white (3); while
on LOX 17 and 18 they were black-on-red (4). The
material on Locks seems to have been generally somewhat rootsier than that
on Black Wax. Marketing and distribution were mainly by Black Wax themselves, though 'Music Week' has
LOX-5 as being given wider distribution through Creole. The only three singles that I have been able to
examine in the vinyl have been Lyntone and (probably) Orlake
pressings.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.