Influencers with Andy Serwer: Chris Blackwell

In this episode of Influencers, Andy is back in Jamaica with Island Records Founder, Chris Blackwell, as they cover the unique history of his Goldeneye Resort, Chris’ legendary career in music, and what it was like to work with iconic artists like Bob Marley and Bono.

Video Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

- In this episode of "Influencers," Island Records' founder Chris Blackwell.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: I've always loved music.

When I heard that, I said, boy, that's a whole new world.

I kind of knew from that moment, that that's pretty much what I wanted to do.

ANDY SERWER: Hello, everyone, and welcome to "Influencers." I'm Andy Serwer, and welcome to our guest, Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records, music producer, businessperson, entrepreneur, cultural icon, and author of the new book, "The Islander." Chris, great to see you.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Thank you. Good to see you.

ANDY SERWER: So we are here at GoldenEye, the resort that you own in Jamaica, and maybe we should start out here. There's so much to talk about in your book, but since we're here, maybe you could tell us a little bit about GoldenEye. There's so much to talk about, but give us sort of a little bit of history and a summary of the place.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well GoldenEye used to be a donkey racetrack back in the day. And Ian Fleming wanted to find somewhere to buy along this part of Jamaica, and my uncle showed him this property. And he liked it, and that's how it got bought by him. And he built a house here, and he built a house very sort of military type house. Very simple, straightforward. And he was a very disciplined person in terms of how he lived here.

He would have his way of what time he got up in the morning, and then he'd go for a swim. And he'd come back and have breakfast, then he'd just go into his bedroom, lock all the windows, and write until lunch time. Break for lunch, and then write again after lunch. And that was pretty much how he-- well, it's pretty much how he wrote all the James Bond books.

ANDY SERWER: Right. So he wrote those James Bond books here, and then there were guests like Errol Flynn and Noel Coward when you were a little boy. And then this place came into possession of your family, your mother. And then you've taken it over and turned it into a very singular resort, right?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, what happened to it was when Ian Fleming passed, it was being left to his son. And then his son passed a few years after that. And my mother had been looking after the place waiting for when his son was going to take over. And when he did pass, then she rang me and asked me if I would try and buy it because she really loved the property. She'd swim here every day, even though her own house was on the hill about five miles away. And that's really what she wanted to do.

And so she asked me if I would buy it, and I said yes. I didn't really know how much it was going to cost. And then when I found out what it was going to cost, I thought, well, I don't know. I'll see if I can get Bob Marley to buy it because I just paid him a big royalty check. And he said he'd go and have a look at it sometime, but didn't think it was going to be his kind of thing. And so that's really what happened.

So I ended up with it. Bob actually sort of basically provided the finance for me to buy it initially, and then I took it over.

ANDY SERWER: That's just amazing. I mean, there's so many personalities here. You're just talking about Bob Marley being kind of a partner in this. And of course, you were the person, really, who brought him onto the world stage. We'll talk about that in a minute.

But I want to talk a little bit more about this place just quickly, that you've had so many amazing guests stay here. This is a business network platform, and so the business people focus on that a little bit. You've got-- Paul Allen's come here and Steve Jobs. Elon Musk, did he actually-- Elon Musk actually make it here?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: He didn't make it here. He landed at the Ian Fleming International Airport, which is 5 minutes away. And he was going to be here, but he had some other appointment that he had to do in Florida, so he went straight on soon. He hadn't been here yet.

ANDY SERWER: But Steve Jobs had his birthday here?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: He had his birthday-- 29th birthday here.

ANDY SERWER: Amazing. And Paul Allen came on his giant boat, right?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Yes, a couple of times. A couple of times.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah. So switching over to Island Records, and you've discovered so many important artists. We mentioned Bob Marley. Of course, there's Steve Wynwood and later, U2. How do you know, Chris, if an artist has what it takes to become a star?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, you don't know. You have an instinct, really, of how you feel-- how you feel, basically, what they are like, and you get a feel of them. And also, they would have, in some cases, a manager. In some cases, they don't have a manager. If they had somebody who was a really good manager, that was always a key and important thing because my role was to work with them to pick the music in a way to, in some cases, be involved a bit with the music. But the manager was somebody, really, needed to be responsible for the artists' life, in a way, and business. So a lot would really depend on that.

ANDY SERWER: So you really put Bob Marley and others-- Bob Marley and the Wailers, other reggae groups, out onto the national-- international stage, I should say. What is it about reggae, as opposed some other international music that was so compelling to the world? I mean, in other words, why did reggae click? When you worked with some other African acts, and they didn't resonate the same way.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well for a start, reggae is pretty much in English, and a lot of the African artists, they didn't speak English. So that would be part of it. I think that would be the main part, actually.

ANDY SERWER: Interesting. What is it about artists and authenticity? Some people are posers, right? Some people are the real deal. Is that ultimately really important for an artist to be an authentic individual?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, it's-- I sort of operate on my instinct, you know. So that means you're sort of really getting a feel for what you feel that artist is interested in what they're about. If you feel you're on the same track, or if you're on different odds. And it's all those elements which are important. What you need to get a feel is this something that you're going to be able to work with and get along with, and have pretty much the same direction you're aiming. So I would say that would be the main thing.

ANDY SERWER: I mean, this is a huge question, Chris, but when you started in the music business, it was very different than today, obviously. What are some of the big changes? I mean, obviously there's digital and all that. But are there things that are very different, and are there things that are very similar?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, how I started-- because I'm a fan of music for start. So the first bit of music-- first bit of music that I actually went in the studio with was a band. A band which had been imported from Bermuda and worked at the Half Moon Hotel. And I used to teach water skiing at the Half Moon Hotel.

And one evening, I was there and they were playing, and I guess I'd probably had a couple of drinks. And I said to them, well, I'd love to record you guys. I knew nothing about recording, anything at all, you know. And they said, yeah, we'd love to record it.

So then a couple of days went by, and then one of the guys said, I remember you said something about recording. And I said, yeah, yeah. I'll do it. I'll do it. Definitely. I'm sorry, you know.

So the next day I booked a Volkswagen van, drove in from Montego Bay into Kingston. And I knew the person who had a studio there, so I called him ahead of time and booked the studio. And we arrived, and the band went into the studio, and I went into what's called a control room. And I sat there next to the owner, and the band played the first tune. And then when it was finished, they looked up at me. And I didn't know whether I was coming or going, you know. I was just kind of excited to be a part of it, you know.

And the person who was actually the leader of the band was blind. He said, Chris, would you like us to do it again? And I said, yes. So that was it. When I said yes and he played it again, I kind of knew from that moment that that's pretty much what I wanted to do all my life.

ANDY SERWER: What is-- what has it been like working with U2? What is Bono like as a person, and what makes him connect with audiences so well?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, he's an extraordinary guy, an incredible talent, a natural leader. He's just a brilliant, brilliant person, and his whole band, they were just a unit. Strong-- really strong unit. And very importantly, like I mentioned earlier, they had-- he had a great manager.

Because again, there's so much that goes on, especially when you're starting. Where you don't have any clout, and you know, you're wanting to do somewhere and people don't let you to do it because they don't feel it's the right thing. And so it's really important that you have a manager who, really, you are in sync with. And they were very fortunate to have a really excellent manager-- man called Paul McGuinness.

ANDY SERWER: Right. Are you surprised that Bono has used his Fame to further political causes, or really just environmental causes, and do you think that's the right thing for someone to do-- a rock musician?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, he's somebody who thinks big. He really does. He's a brilliant-- he's a brilliant guy, you know. And he really thinks big, works hard, and is a natural leader.

ANDY SERWER: I want to ask you about another one of your big groups, which is Bob Marley. And we're again, in his home country. Did you ever think that Bob Marley and the Wailers were going to be as big as they got? And why does it continue-- why does Bob Marley continue to be so popular today?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, I think his songs are really great songs. They're not normal dance songs or songs just to dance to. They're songs which have a real purpose to them, and he's got just a great-- great sense. He just had a really great sense of how to put together his songs and how to record them, really. He's a natural leader. He was gifted, you know. Again, a natural leader.

ANDY SERWER: You never wanted to be photographed with him, particularly. Why is that?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Why? Because when I met him, I just knew that he was somebody who was going to be really important. And I didn't want to be the kind of white manager type guy who was hanging around and claiming what they'd hope happen or something like that. Because he didn't need that. He had it all himself. He knew what he wanted to do, and he knew how to get there.

ANDY SERWER: What is your take, Chris, on streaming music, and all these new ways of distributing music, such as, of course, Spotify, but also Apple Music and all the rest of them?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well in that case, like anything, sometimes it's great, and sometimes not so great. That's all, but it seems-- it's so different now how it used to be 50 years ago. I mean, completely different because you can get anything. You don't have to go through the whole process. This is an artist now who's wanting to get their music across. They don't have to go through the process of going-- and then get somebody to take it to a DJ, and take the DJ to a club, and all these different things you'd have to go over-- go over this long process. And then you also had a record company telling them what to do, and et cetera.

Nowadays, somebody could just do it at home. They can make their own music at home, and they can get it available-- get it out online. And the next thing you know, it's-- well, you know, for me, what changed everything was that song "Gangnam Style." Remember "Gangnam Style"?

ANDY SERWER: Sure do. "Gangnam Style."

CHRIS BLACKWELL: "Gangnam Style." When I heard that, I said, boy, that's a whole new world.

ANDY SERWER: I think that got-- for a time, it was the number one watched video on YouTube. I mean, billion plus views.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: They never had anything vaguely like that before.

ANDY SERWER: Right. And he was just came from nowhere. He didn't work his way up through the business kind of thing.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Right, exactly.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah. Yeah, that's fascinating.

So you've done other things besides the music business. Talked a little bit about GoldenEye, but you've done film, you have rum-- I can see on your rum t-shirt. So how does an expertise in one area, say music, translate into you trying to do things in other fields? And did it work for you? Like, trying to go into the movie business?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: I didn't want to go into the music business, but I did want to make a movie. I was in-- I was in music starting in Jamaica, and I stayed with it. And I'm still involved with it.

And so through that, you meet a lot of people. Musicians, people on the street, and things like that. And it was this-- it was this sort of area of Jamaica, east of Kingston, which was a beach-- a long beach, but it was very sort of far away. People went to it, and it was called Hellshire Beach. And I went there with a good friend of mine, and he introduced me to this guy Countryman. And he was an extraordinary guy. He was a fisherman there. He lived in a little house about this size. You know, he and his wife had a little house, and that was where they lived on the beach.

And he had an incredible brain. He grew up half Indian, half African descent. And was not happy at home, and he left home at four or five years old, and lived himself in the jungle-- in the swamps. And grew up himself, fed himself. Grew up incredible, really, and started the fishing, and became a sort of successful fisherman.

And then when I first met him, he lived in this little house, and his wife was in the house, and he was kind of thriving. And he was an incredible character. He was somebody who was kind of amazing that you say, how can this guy get to where he has? In a way, because he was a successful fisherman. So we decided to make a film, that was really it, called "Countryman." Because we really thought he should really be filmed.

And the thing that triggered it was that one day we were driving out of the beach a way, and Countryman had wanted to give us a message which we had forgotten when we had left. And we were driving out, and looked us out of the car, and he'd been running. He'd been running for, like, about-- I don't know, a mile and a half or something like that to catch up. But we hadn't seen him before, and I thought, boy, we could have filmed this guy. It's unbelievable. He's just unbelievable. And that's really how that happened.

ANDY SERWER: So that was some film work you did. And shifting gears, I want to ask you about South Beach because you went there when it was completely down and out. I mean, it had its heyday back in the Art Deco era, and then it descended. And you were there, and you saw the potential. What did you see when you went to South Beach when it was like that?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, I couldn't understand how it was such a dump. And I couldn't understand that nobody was going there. The only people who there were people who basically had pretty much gone to live there for their last days, in a sense. You know, they would sit on the veranda and that was it. There was nothing happening. And yet the beach was incredible.

Now this I found out later. I found out that the Beach had only recently been repaired and made into a beautiful beach. So before that, it was a terrible beach. So nobody went to South Beach. So nobody would even go. If some of us didn't want to go, so nobody would go because they'd never seen what had happened there.

From my eyes, I saw this beach, which was incredible. I also saw the fact that it was a part of the US which had its own sort of character. And I thought, well, there's something one can do with it. We can sort of build this back. And it's not I'm a sort of construction person, I think, but it was just what I felt, you know.

I'd gone there on the trip to see a girl who was a singer come from Detroit. She was going to do a video, and she was going to do a video in Miami, and that's why I'd gone on this trip. And when I was on this trip and I saw her, it was an amazing chance. Was I noticed that the person who was helping her on her clothing for the video, she was somebody who was, like, in my world a kind of a goddess in England. She'd come out of England.

Her name was Barbara Hulanicki. And she had started a business in London, which had been huge. And then she moved to Brazil, and then she moved from Brazil, and she was back in Miami Beach. And I knew what she had done creatively, and I knew she was somebody that if I asked her to help me fix up the hotels, that there's a good chance she would probably do it because she-- you just knew that she had a talent.

ANDY SERWER: I mean, it's sort of, like, if you think about it, Chris, you identified that as sort of a underappreciated asset, if you will. But it's similar with Grace Jones or Tom Waits, isn't it? I mean, and what is it that you see in these things that maybe other people don't see, in these people and these places?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: I don't know. It's just my spirit, I guess. I feel it. I don't know.

ANDY SERWER: You can't bottle it or sell it to other people?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: No. No. No, not really. Not really. But I mean, Tom Waits, you just have to spend five minutes with Tom Waits, and you just want to spend the rest of your life talking to him. You know, he's such a brilliant guy.

ANDY SERWER: Yeah, he really is some kind of genius.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Yeah.

ANDY SERWER: Not maybe widely appreciated by everyone in America, but definitely a genius.

So how has business been going here at GoldenEye during COVID, and what are you looking to do here going forward?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well COVID has been a difficult period. It's particularly difficult for the staff. So we instituted a system where we would keep the staff and their salaries. Their wages would go in line with how many people were coming and how many weren't coming. So it wasn't something where we let the people go and they didn't have to have a job until everything came back. We let them work with us, and as people came, so it would lift back and they're back again, if you see what I mean. So it was a very clever idea. It's my girlfriend's idea.

ANDY SERWER: So, in other words, instead of laying people off, their salaries would vary with the occupancy rate.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Exactly.

ANDY SERWER: And they were OK with that?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: They were very happy with that.

ANDY SERWER: Because the alternative.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: The alternative, they would be going home and doing nothing.

ANDY SERWER: Right. And then how is business now? Are we back to pre-COVID levels here?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Not yet. Not yet, but I think we're getting there.

ANDY SERWER: Right. Right. What about the economy of Jamaica? I mean, you've seen, boy, all these decades, all this history. How would you assess the country these days?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Well, I just know it from the beginning because when I was a child, it was all about bananas and coconuts, you know. And then when I was a little older than that, it was you started to hear music and sound systems, and I'd always loved music. I loved music because my father used to play music at deafening volume in the house that we had. And you know-- but the music he played was Wagner. You know, Puccini, played all classical music, which was a great opportunity to really hear that. Not many people were playing that music, and he played it, as I said, deafeningly loud.

So I sort of-- I don't know. I think that's really what got me started with music. And not that I thought that I would ever have anything to do with producing any opera or anything like that, but that's just how I got started, I think.

ANDY SERWER: Right. Have you ever thought, Chris, about your legacy, about how you'd like people to think about you?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Not really. Not really. Hopefully that-- hopefully that they'd think positively.

ANDY SERWER: I like that. And final question, Chris. So tell us about Blackwell Fine Jamaican Rum. What's going on with that?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: A friend of mine in New York suggested Chris, you should go in the rum business. You know, because you're so tied in to Jamaican rum so much, aren't you? And I said, you know something? That's a good idea because I was supposed to grow up in the rum business. Because when I was a child, my family were very wealthy at that time. Things went south. It was run by two brothers, and they quarreled, and it went south.

So when I was-- initially as a child, it was thought that I-- presumed that what I'd be doing is go to school, learn this, and come back and be in the rum business. But when I came back for the rum business, there was no rum business. It was gone. So I thought, well, that's an idea, you know. And so, it was-- Richard Kirshenbaum was his name, wasn't it? It was his idea. So I came back to Jamaica, I went to the same company that used to run my family's rum business.

ANDY SERWER: Is that Grandnephew?

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Grandnephew, yes.

ANDY SERWER: Oh, I know that brand, yeah. Strong stuff.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: That's right. So I went to them, and I gave them an idea of what I would like in the flavor of the rum, and they've been making it for me. They've been making it from the start.

ANDY SERWER: So it's kind of full circle. You started out thinking maybe you were going to go into the rum business when you were a child, and now all these years later, you're in the rum business.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: I'm in the rum business. That's right.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ANDY SERWER: Along with many other things, Chris Blackwell, founder of Island Records and owner of GoldenEye. Thank you so much for your time.

CHRIS BLACKWELL: Ah, thank you. Thank you.

ANDY SERWER: You've been watching "Influencers." I'm Andy Serwer. We'll see you next time.