A Reggae label, run by Junior Lincoln and Rupert Cunningham from a record shop called 'Junior's Record Spot', at 88 Stroud Green Road, London. Ashanti started out in late 1971 as a member of Lincoln's 'Bamboo' family of labels. Along with another member of that family, Ackee (q.v.), it moved to B&C for manufacture and distribution in June 1973, from which point singles on Ackee gained a 'Manufactured by Ashanti Records Ltd.' credit. Oddly - and confusingly - while Ashanti adopted a new label design (3) at the time of the move they reused the Bamboo catalogue numbers. Thus both Lester Sterling's 'Iron Sound' and the Love Children's 'Ship Ahoy' appeared on ASH-409; the former in 1972, the latter in 1974. Both Ashanti and Ackee disappeared in the late summer of 1975. Lincoln co-founded Vulcan Records in the autumn of that year, and the final reference to Ashanti in 'Music Week' came in the issue of the 15th of November, when an article stated that Vulcan and Phonogram had been granted an interim injunction preventing the new Trojan company (B&C's successors, following their liquidation) selling or offering any material derived from Ashanti. Manufacture of Ashanti singles during the B&C era was mainly by Orlake or EMI, which were the usual pressers of B&C products. Thanks to Robert Bowes for the scan of the blue label.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.