Studio One

Studio One

Studio One is a name used for two different acts: a Jamaican record label and recording studio, and a Moldovan dance-pop duo.

Jamaican record label and studio

Studio One is one of Jamaica’s best-known record labels and recording studios. It is founded by Clement “Coxsone” Dodd in 1954, and its first recordings are cut in 1957 on Brentford Road in Kingston. The label is closely associated with major Jamaican music styles of the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. It is often described as “the Motown of Jamaica”.

Dodd has previously issued music on other labels, including World Disc, and has run the Sir Coxsone the Downbeat sound system, which is one of the largest and most respected in the Kingston ghettos. The label and studio later close when Dodd relocates to New York City in the 1980s.

Studio One records and releases music by, and helps shape the careers of, many significant reggae artists and groups, including The Skatalites, The Ethiopians, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lee “Scratch” Perry, Burning Spear, Toots & the Maytals, John Holt, Horace Andy, Ken Boothe, Freddie McGregor, Dennis Brown, Jackie Mittoo, Gladiators, Michigan & Smiley, Wailing Souls, Dillinger, Delroy Wilson, Heptones, Johnny Osbourne, Marcia Griffiths, Sugar Minott, The Abyssinians, Culture, Soul Vendors, Lone Ranger and Alton Ellis. Prince Buster begins his career working for Dodd’s sound system, and producer Harry J records many of his best-known releases at Studio One.

Moldovan duo

Studio One is also a dance-pop band from Moldova. The act consists of Tanya, whose real name is Tatiana Cerga, and DJ Serge, whose real name is Serge Istrati. The duo takes part in Moldova’s first national final for the Eurovision Song Contest in 2006 with the song “Soarele si dimineata” (“The Sun And the Morning”). Following a tie, a second final is held, but Studio One does not take part in it.