Nine Eight Books snaps up Blackwell's Island Records tale

Bonnier Books UK’s newly launched music imprint Nine Eight Books will publish the “astonishing” autobiography of Island Records music industry veteran Chris Blackwell in 2022. 

Pete Selby, the imprint’s publishing director, acquired UK and Commonwealth rights to The Islander: My Life in Music and Beyond from Andrew Wylie of the Wylie Agency. It will be published on 2nd June 2022 in hardback retailing at £20. 

Blackwell worked with Bob Marley, Cat Stevens, Grace Jones and Marianne Faithfull among others at Island Records, artists who all shared “the same maverick, outsider spirit”. 

The blurb reads: “Unquestionably one of the greatest labels of all time, with a roster unparalleled in terms of richness and diversity and celebrating the 60th anniversary of its UK base in 2022, Island unfailingly signposted the musical zeitgeist. At its helm, navigating for 30 years with the vision and instincts of an outsider himself, was Chris Blackwell. 

"Blackwell’s privileged early years in pre-independence Jamaica saw him lulled by the sights and sounds of the island, not least its early bone-shaking sound-systems. Unofficially expelled from Harrow School in England, he took early career steps as a ‘selector’ for the Wurlitzer jukeboxes in bars across Jamaica and revealed a talent for giving people the music they wanted – or, perhaps more accurately, introducing them to music they didn’t yet know they wanted.”

The book also explores the links between Island Records and the story of Marley. “What emerges in the book is a portrait of friendship and a deep bond of mutual trust between the two men,” the publisher said.   

With the publication of The Islander coinciding with his 85 birthday, Blackwell said: “It’s over 60 years since I started Island Records. It seems a good time to write about the people and musicians I’ve worked with and the places I’ve loved. It’s been quite a trip.” 

Selby adds: “Chris Blackwell is a true pioneer. As important a figure as the acts he nurtured. With Island Records he established the template that other record labels could only aspire to whilst personally signing, guiding and producing some of the greatest and most creative artists of all time. The Islander captures that maverick spirit of adventure, passion and possibility that is the mark of Chris Blackwell. It’s an honour to be publishing his incredible memoir at Nine Eight Books.” 

Nine Eight Books was launched in June, headed by Selby.