Genre Ragga, Reggae Founded 1992 | Country of origin Jamaica | |
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Founders Dave Kelly, Janet Davidson Albums TYPICAL NI**A, Together, Album Sampler #1 | ||
Madhouse Records is a record label founded by Dave Kelly and his business partner Janet Davidson. The label is named after its out-of-the-box approach to making music, which earned the label the name Madhouse. In 1987, Janet was living in London, running Germain Music along with producer Donovan Germain. She was also the manager of Maxi Priest. Dave's brother Anthony "Tony" Kelly was assistant engineer at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong label and Dave soon joined him there, learning the trade of engineering. Soon, the Kelly brothers joined Maxi Priest on the road as tour engineers. In 1988, Dave Kelly partnered with Germain to start Penthouse Productions, where he worked out of Penthouse studios as engineer, producer, writer, mixer, and beat maker for the label's records, playing a crucial role during Penthouse's glory days.
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In 1993, Janet and Dave decided to leave Penthouse and start their own label, Madhouse Records. Janet ran the label and Dave made the records. They had success with Terror Fabulous, which inked them a record deal at major, East West America/Atlantic Records, which resulted in his album Yaga Yaga.
The label opened its own offices and the Boxx studio in 1996 in Kingston, Jamaica, which was the regular base for recording acts such as Buju Banton, Beenie Man, Bounty Killer, Baby Cham, Spragga Benz, Wayne Wonder, Lady Saw, Mr. Easy, Shaggy and Frisco Kid in the late 1990s.
Madhouse created the Bogle, Pepperseed, Joyride, Showtime, Fiesta, The Bug, Arab, Mi Nuh Know, Heartbeat, Medicine, Stink, Rae Rae, Haunted, and Eighty-Five riddims. Some of the biggest hits on the label were "Action" by Terror Fabulous & Nadine Sutherland, "Sycamore Tree" by Lady Saw, "Dude" by Beenie Man & Ms. Thing, "Slam" by Beenie Man, and "Ghetto Story" by Cham. In 2003, Madhouse inked a label deal with Atlantic Records, which released Baby Cham's Ghetto Story album.