Althea and Donna, whose real names are Althea Forrest and Donna Reid aren’t receiving royalties for their iconic reggae single “Uptown Top Ranking,” from German Record label BMG, according to Zak Starkey of Trojan Jamaica, a subsidiary of BMG.
Zak, who has expressed publicly his ongoing issues with BMG due what he says are irregular documentation regarding advances and royalty payments, made the revelation in an Instagram post on Radiolareggae featuring the duo singing on the British Show Top Of The Pops, stating, “Althea and Donna never got paid by Trojan UK.”
“Uptown Top Ranking” was originally released in 1977 under Frontline Records, a subsidiary of Virgin Records, reaching number 1 in the UK where it spent 11 weeks on the Official Singles Chart.
They were the youngest female duo to hit number 1 and the song also peaked at number 2 in Ireland and charting in Belgium(23) and the Netherlands (24).
Since then, the ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ the song and composition, have been part of several deals, transfers and re-releases including a $245 million sale that took place on December 29, 2017, when Carlin Music was bought by American publishing company RoundHill Music LLC.
Following that acquisition, on March 15, 2024, Sanctuary Records, a subsidiary of BMG whose sole purpose is for reissues, released the groovy hit on a 50 track 2-CD collection of Jamaican songs titled “Uptown Top Ranking: Trojan Ska & Reggae Chartbusters.” That compilation also featured classics like “You Don’t Love Me (No, No, No)” by Dawn Penn and Desmond Dekker & The Aces’ – Israelites.
This follows the company’s October 2019 compilation “Love Is All I Bring” which also featured the track.
Starkey, the son of Beatle’s drummer Ringo Starr is now the founder of Jamaica Sound System after giving back the name Trojan Jamaica to BMG, which he and his wife Shhh had licensed and released the Grammy winning album “Got To Be Tough” by Toots and The Maytals. He further told World Music Views, “BMG seem to be ignoring the problem (of not paying artists who are owed royalties) no matter how ruff my insta posts call them out.”
Music executive Wayne Dobson, who says he is assisting several Jamaican artists in collecting royalties from exploited Trojan UK reggae hits in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, said BMG provided him with a list of those artists to be paid by BMG but said, “I don’t know,” in response to the question of whether Althea and Donna received any money.
“Trojan sent me a list of artists that are owed money, and their names (Althea and Donna) weren’t on it,” Wayne told World Music Views.
On the list are reggae artists Leroy Smart, U-Roy, and more, but Wayne said in some instances the record producer already got paid from the label but didn’t pass on the royalties to the artists. “When record companies do a deal, they pay the producer, and the producer pays the artist, and sometimes the producer doesn’t pay the artist,” Wayne explained, suggesting, “Perhaps they should go to Joe Gibbs.”
Gibbs is the producer for the song, which entered the UK Singles chart on December 24, 1977, before soaring to the top spot the week of January 28, 1978.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Trojan Records played a pivotal role in spreading reggae music across the UK and beyond by licensing Jamaican recordings and nurturing UK-based acts.
Initially owned by Trojan Recordings Ltd., the company founded by Chris Blackwell and Lee Gopthal and its extensive back catalog were acquired by Allied Records Ltd. in the 1970s, which continued to operate under the Trojan Records name.
In 2001, Sanctuary Records Group Ltd. obtained the full Trojan Records catalogue. Following Sanctuary’s acquisition by Universal Music Group in 2007 and subsequent sale to BMG in 2013, BMG took over the distribution of Trojan Records in Europe starting in 2014, partnering with Pias.
From 2017 onwards, reissues of Trojan Records’ music on Music On Vinyl have been facilitated by Townsend Music, which also manages Trojan Records’ webstore.
Althea and Donna’s “Uptown top Ranking” released on the album of the same in June 1978 under the Front Line Label, also featured tracks like “No More Fighting” and “Jah Rastafari.”
“Uptown Top Ranking” has been covered numerous times by artists worldwide, including Joni Rewind feat. Estelle, Ali and Frazier (1993) and it’s influence extended to songs like Ilona Staller’s “Pane Marmellata E Me” and Tandem’s “Ein Typ Wie Du” in 1978 and 1982, respectively.
Despite their initial chart success, and subsequent reissues, the duo themselves are yet to confirm whether they received royalties for the song’s initial release or the subsequent covers, interpolations and samples. When WMV contacted their manger, who is Althea’s son to confirm, we were told to send a message and they will get back to us. When we followed up with another call, he said they ‘have their lives to live’ and ‘no comment.’
The duo’s journey began on the streets of Kingston, where they were discovered by Jacob Miller and later recorded “Uptown Top Ranking” at Joe Gibbs Studio. They even performed at the One Love Peace Concert headlined by Bob Marley in Kingston, Jamaica in April 22, 1978.
