A small independent label from the Black Country. Studio One was initially based at 57, Lucknow Road, Willenhall, Staffs. The sleeve of the Heather Bromley EP shown above, 'Pure And Simple' (SP-101), featuring versions of 'Eleanor Rigby', 'House Of The Rising Sun' and 'Summertime', says that the engineer was B. Tykiff; googling revealed that his first name was Barrie, and that he and Tony Kemshall were two teachers who ran a 4-track reel-to-reel studio in a back room. The EP dates from 1978. The only other Studio One record that I have seen was an eponymous LP by the Pool Hayes Rock Band - children from the Pool Hayes Comprehensive School, Willenhall. It had a more ambitious label design, which I've included for the sake of interest (2); it was numbered S1/101/LP, and it gave the company's name and address as Studio One Sound Services, 17 Slaney Road, Walsall. Both records were made through custom recording firm Warren Records (q.v.), and have Warren matrix numbers - WAR/EP/449 and WAR/SLP/453 respectively.
I'm happy to say that Barrie has been in touch, and has kindly supplied this background account of Studio One, for which I'm very grateful:
Tony Kemshall and I were both English teachers at Pool Hayes Comprehensive (as it was then) in Willenhall under Walsall LEA. Tony played a mean guitar, writing his own material fairly prolifically. He formed a band, ‘Backtrack’, with some local lads, initially to play at the school and in local clubs. My part in this was to soundmix for the band and record Tony's songs on a Tandberg reel-to-reel in a room in his bungalow in Lucknow Road. Backtrack had a residential at a pub in West Bromwich and booked other bands there too. We went on to play Edinburgh Fringe, at Leith Town hall, a horror of a place acoustically, and out of the town centre. I think we probably totalled around 20 attendances over a week. Nevertheless it was tremendous fun and a real experience.
One evening Tony suggested that we might 'expand' our efforts to include some recording, as I'd done a reasonable job for him, by building a studio. We worked out the economics of it and started looking for equipment to supplement the limited gear we used already. After much booth-building, wiring and egg-boxing our practise room became a little studio. We recorded a few local artists / bands, including Heather Bromley and an incarnation of Eric Bell's band, and also got a commission to record the school's rock band. I created jingles for a local DJ and we made a soundtrack for a puppet show! The only recordings that made it onto vinyl were the ones you are aware of. Everything else was either on a reel-to-reel master (we'd acquired a Teac 4 track and I had a high-end Phillips stereo tape recorder) or a cassette. Another branch of the business was the SISSCO DISCO (Studio One Sound Services Company). This was Tony's baby as he had the gift of the gab on the mic. It did business in the area at parties and clubs.
I do not remember the exact chronology of the recordings so don't know why there appears to be a discrepancy in the dates on the records. I do recall that the sleeve for the Rock Band album was designed by a friend of Tony's and it took quite a while to produce. Heather was a teacher at another Walsall school, in Aldridge. She employed us to make her disc and Tony to back her on guitar.
We contacted a number of companies advertising in the music press and Studio Sound magazines offering to press recordings and decided on Warren Records - I guess they were probably the cheapest for small quantity pressings and probably offered a fairly quick turnover. I think that by the time the recordings were done and available Studio One had probably ceased trading. The novelty had worn off, business wasn't good and Tony wanted to move so we called it a day.
Copyright 2010 Robert Lyons.