A small independent label, based in Jersey. Channel managed at least three singles, but there appears to have been a gap in time between each of them. First out of the blocks was 'Let's Go To Jersey' by Johnny Powell (CR-100; 1971), the scan of which appears by courtesy of Malcolm Henderson; it was followed five years later by Clinton Ford's 'Jersey Lily' (CR-101; 1976), which was handled by President and distributed by Lugton and H. R. Taylor. A vocal version of 'Scotch On The Rocks' by Johnny Beattie (SRTS/81/CUS-1129) followed another five years later, in 1981. Bill Bates, who wrote 'Scotch On The Rocks' - which was a hit for the Band Of The Black Watch in 1975 - wrote and played on the Johnny Powell single and produced the Clinton Ford one, so it seems like a reasonable guess that the label may have been his. Ford had had several hits for Oriole and Piccadilly between 1959 and 1967, but sadly he failed to repeat that success for Channel. An album, 'Noel In London' by Noel de Carteret, pre-dates the singles, being issued in 1970; its catalogue number, CR-1006, seems to indicate that there were other Channel records before it. The sleeve notes suggest that the label was started in 1969 and that Ivor James, Musical Director at the Royal Hotel, Guernsey, was the man behind it. Two more Channel labels appeared briefly in the 1980s (one in '80, the other in '82), but they don't seem to have had any connection with this one.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.