Smack! was a rather ephemeral branch of Charly Records, intended as an outlet for the kinds of music which would have been out of place on the parent label. 'Music Week' of the 10th of September observed that Charly had launched it as 'a new label for Pop and Disco', and added that, like Charly, it would be handled by Pye. Four months or so later 'MW' of the 28th of January noted that it had released an album and a single by a band called 'Legover'. Finally 'MW' of the 6th of October 1979 said that Charly and its other labels, Affinity (q.v.) and Smack!, were moving from Pye to Spartan for distribution. Those three references seem to be the only mentions that Smack! received in the Trade press. It issued only five singles, none of which threatened to make any kind of impact on the Charts. Numbering was in a SMACK-0 series. 'One Way Wind' b/w 'Country Woman' by The Cats (SMACK-1; 9/77) had been a hit in Europe some six years earlier but had stiffed when issued here on Columbia (DB-8816; 9/71); the Smack! version appears to have sold better than the Columbia one, but not enough to bother the Chart compilers. Bone Idol's 'The Roar Of The Lion' b/w 'I Don't Know What To Do' (SMACK-4; 4/78) was one a barrow load of singles put out in support of the Scottish football team's efforts in that year's World Cup finals. Manufacture and distribution were by Pye, as they were for Charly itself during that period.
Copyright 2006 Robert Lyons.