A Reggae label; part of the Trojan group. It was a prolific one, too, issuing around one-hundred-and-sixty-five singles during its lifetime (1968-c.73); though some numbers were used by records on the Joe label (q.v.). Duke was set up by B&C / Island, and it became a subsidiary of Trojan when that group came into being. It enjoyed a sole success in the national charts with Boris Gardner's 'Elizabethan Reggae' (DU-39; 1969). The original plain design (1), the scan of which appears by courtesy of Col. Wolfe of the 45cat site, came in plum or black and lasted for fewer than twenty issues before it was replaced by the familiar blue-and-white one (3). A plain white label (4) nudged that one aside in 1973 when Trojan simplified - and presumably cheapened - the design of many of their subsidiary labels, though the blue-and-white one still made an occasional appearance. The text 'Made in England' appeared intermittently on records from April 1971 onwards, starting with DU-112; DUs 123 to 144, 150, 151 and 157 all lack it, for some reason. 'Music Master' lists Trojan as being responsible for manufacture, but the company had no pressing facilities of its own and merely got the job done elsewhere, often by Orlake. Some pressings of 'Elizabethan Reggae' were done by Phonodisc, as a result of which they came with big spindle holes and 'spider' inserts (2). Thanks to Robert Bowes for the fourth scan. The discography below only covers the 1970s.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.