A subsidiary of Trojan. People was aimed at the Soul / Funk audience rather than Trojan's usual Reggae buyers, and the majority of its material seems to have been licensed from American companies. According to 'Music Week' of the 28th of July 1973 Webster Shrowder had been made label manager for Trojan's two new Soul labels, of which People intended to be the more 'chart friendly' one; presumably the revived Action (q.v.) was the other. Don Downing's, 'Lonely Days, Lonely Nights' (PEO-102; 1973) justified the 'chart friendly' claim by almost making the Top 30, but that proved to be the label's only success, despite the fact that there were singles by several (past or future) hit-makers - Della Reese, Doris Troy and Donna Summer - in the catalogue. People bit the dust when its parent company ran into terminal financial difficulties, in the summer of 1975; the liquidation happened only days after PEO-119 was listed for release, and so that record may well not have reached the shops. There's no evidence that PEO-117 was ever released, either; it did however see the light of day in 1975 on Trojan Disco Pick (TDP-1; 5/75) and Miami (MIA-404; 9/76) (q.v. both). 'Music Week' gives two different release dates for PEO-118, one in April 1975 and one a month later, in May; some copies have a Trojan logo on them (2) - these may perhaps be later pressings.
One label design served throughout People's existence. Manufacture from 1973 to the effective end was by EMI, as the EMI-style demo (3) indicates; distribution was shared by EMI and Trojan. After Trojan's assets were bought by Saga, in the late summer of 1975, the new owners launched a new Trojan company and the People label saw the light of day again, albeit only briefly. PEO-115, 'The Hostage' b/w 'Let's Work Together' by Donna Summer, was reissued in the spring of 1976, presumably in response to Summer enjoying current Chart success with GTO Records (q.v.). The reissues were presumably pressed by Saga, who had their own plant; the labels tended to be unperforated and the credits were simplified. Demo copies of the reissue were marked after the Saga style of the time, with a large solid 'A' (4). The sleeve shown above was shared by a number of B&C / Trojan labels.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.