Island Records is celebrating its 50th anniversary and, despite being and hour and a half long, this documentary – which charted the inception and rise of the label – was so watchable and brought back so many happy memories, I’d have happily watched it over again as soon as it ended.

Damian Lewis narrated the story of how the legendary Chris Blackwell found the equally legendary label and not only were we treated to interviews with the man himself – a rare commodity indeed – we also got fabulous archive footage and contemporary interviews with some of Island’s leading bands and artists.

When I was growing up in the seventies, my old Panasonic turntable was topped by a shelf which sagged under the weight of Island’s records and as was noted by almost everyone interviewed last night, without Chris Blackwell and Island, the shape of music as we know it today would be unrecognisable… Read more & comment »