Photograph of Sly and Robbie at Island Records UK office Fallout Shelter Studio: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A black and white photograph of Sly and Robbie at Island Records UK Fallout Shelter Studio in St. Peters Square, 1981, London, England.

Sly is sitting behind a drum set. He is holding a drumstick in his left hand. He is wearing a hat and a button down shirt with a vest. He has a mustache. Robbie is standing behind him, holding a guitar. He is wearing a hat and a jersey with the number "99" on it. He has a goatee. The two men are both looking up at something. They are both also wearing several rings.

Each of the images has a white border around it. The borders are thinner on the tops and bottoms and thicker on the sides. The border for 2015.132.160.2 is slightly thicker because the image is slightly smaller. The back of 2015.132.158.1 is white. There are blue ink smudges in different areas. There are inscriptions on the bottom, handwritten by Bill Adler. The back of 2015.132.158.2 has two Kodak logos repeated in gold. The logos are in diagonal lines and are upside down. There is an inscription on the back, handwritten by Bill Adler.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1981
• Subject of: Adrian Boot, British, born 1947
• Subject of: Sly and Robbie, Jamaican, founded c. 1970
• Subject of: Sly, Jamaican, born 1952
• Subject of: Robbie, Jamaican, born 1953
• Subject of: Island Records, Jamaican, founded 1959
• Type: black-and-white photographs
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.158.1 Sheet): 14 × 11 in. (35.5 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.158.1 Image): 13 1/2 × 9 in. (34.3 × 22.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.158.2 Sheet): 14 1/16 × 11 in. (35.7 × 27.9 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W (2015.132.158.2 Image): 13 1/8 × 8 3/4 in. (33.4 × 22.3 cm)
• Place captured: London, England, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Instrumentalists (Musicians)
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Reggae (Music)
• Object number: 2015.132.158.1-.2
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Adrian Boot Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.