This page represents one of the many reasons that Island was such a unique label.
All these records went on to sell more when they were released on other labels later! The Dylan albums were released on
Asylum in the US after
Bob Dylan had a falling out with CBS after they released the out-takes compilation "Dylan."
David Geffen scooped him up for two records before Dylan returned to the loving arms of Columbia.
The first three
Brian Eno "vocal" records marked an escape from his
Roxy Music identity and his path to becoming the
Kevin Bacon of the music industry. Everything in pop is six degrees from
Eno. "Here Comes the Warm Jets" includes his thinly-veiled attack of former bandmate
Bryan Ferry -- the song "Dead Finks Don't Talk" includes the verse:
"Oh you headless chicken
How those poor teeth take so much kicking?
You're always so charming
As you peck your way up there."
Guest musicians on "Warm Jets" include longtime collaborator
Robert Fripp (
King Crimson),
Phil Manzanera,
Andy Mackay and
Paul Thompson, all from
Roxy Music; John Wetton, sometime Roxy,
UK,
Asia,
Yes, Crimson, etc. bass player; sometime
Womble and
Sex Pistols collaborator and guitarist
Chris Spedding, along with various members of
Hawkwind among others!
A very short clip of "Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch""Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)" included contributions from
Robert Wyatt, known from
Soft Machine and
Matching Mole, as well as for his interpretation of the
Elvis Costello song
"Ship Building;" (here performed on the "Old Grey Whistle Test") and
Phil Collins (
Genesis, Brand X) who might have being doing session work because he wasn't sure if the "Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" project was really ever going to get finished! Fun too was the inclusion of the Portsmouth Sinfonia, a classical music group made up of musicians assigned to instruments that they were not familiar with. (Here they play
"Also Sprach Zarathustra").
Third time is a doozy! "Another Green World" is one of the great records of the 1970s. Released in November 1975 it marked the commercial transition of
Eno's work into the ambient arena. (The title track is known in the UK as the theme music to the BBC arts series, "Arena").
John Cale (
The Velvet Underground) joined the Eno players on this record.
An amateur video set to "St. Elmo's Fire."
