A member of the Trojan Records Limited family. The original Trojan company had two Soul labels, Action and People (q.v. both); after Trojan / B&C's terminal financial problems in 1975 they became part of the new Saga-owned company Trojan Records Limited. Between them, however, they saw very little action under their new ownership; they released no new singles and appear to have ceased functioning by the end of the year. In 1976 Saga gave their Trojan a new Soul outlet, Miami. It received its first mention in 'Music Week' of the 15th of May; the article said that B&C had signed a licensing agreement with two Miami-based American labels, Konduko and TashamBa, both of which were owned by producer Noel Williams. The agreement was to run for a minimum of three years and was to include material by the Chosen Few, King Sporty, Bobbie Houston and Ronnie Keaton. Miami's launch took place the following month. 'MW' of the 26th of June, reporting on it, provided the information that the new label was the brainchild of Clive Stanhope, who had been recruited by Saga to run the reincarnated B&C / Trojan, and that preparations for it had been taking place for six months. In addition to the licensed material there would be original releases by UK artists. The plan was for Miami to concentrate on singles initially; an album by the Chosen Few had been acquired but it was to be released on the Trojan label. According to Stanhope, Miami was intended to host 'Soul in the broad sense of the word.'
In the event, despite the length of the agreement mentioned in 'MW', Miami released just eight singles, all of them in the second half of 1976. Clive Stanhope left B&C / Trojan in October of that year ('MW', 16th October), so it may be that in his absence enthusiasm for the new label was lacking and it was allowed to expire. Numbering was in the MIA-400s, pressing was by parent company Saga, and distribution was by Selecta. Promotional copies had a large black 'A' on the label (2).
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.