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Channel One

Page history last edited by PBworks 15 years, 5 months ago

Channel One

History

Channel One is regarded to be one of the most important studios in the history of reggae. Its location was in Maxfield Avenue, Kingston, Jamaica.

 

The label was owned and launched by the brothers Joseph »Jo Jo« (b. 1942) and Ernest Hookim in 1972. Since his family (who was of Chinese and Chinese-Jewish origins) owned a bar and ice cream parlour in the Maxfield area the two brothers set up their studio in the same premises they previously had operated the bar, ice cream parlour and also worked as slot machine operators. As Jamaica outlawed gambling Jo Jo turned to reggae. It was after a visit with John Holt at Dynamic Sounds he got the inspiration to build the studio.

 

Jo Jo bought a four-track recording console for $38,000 and opened the studio with Bunny Lee and Syd Bucknor as the first producer respectively engineer in the studio.

 

The first session was a recording of Delroy Wilsons »Can I Change My Mind« with backing by the Soul Syndicate. The studio would never be used exclusively by one producer but would beside Jo Jo and his brother also be used by a slough of talented producers (such as the defining producer Junjo).

 

In early '73 the drummer Sly Dunbar came to the studio and joined the in house backing band, The Revolutionaries. During the coming years the studio built its name as one of the best studios in Jamaica. Artist who recorded there during these times were Delroy Wilson, Leroys Smart, Junior Byles and Horace Andy.

 

In 1976 the Mighty Diamonds released their hit »Right Time« which was a well deserved major success for the studio who by now had started to dominate the chart - as they would the coming next years. The Channel One studio was known for reusing old Studio One rhythms - something that would be a fundamental part of the dancehall style.

 

The studio is also regarded to have pioneered the use of 12" singles in Jamaica when they started to issue the discomix 12" in the mid 70's. »Truly« by the Jays (1976, Channel One) is often referred to as the specific first 12" discomix release.

 

In 1977 the murder of Paul Hookim was a great blow to the brothers.

It was a robbery - they rob him for his gun. I get a bit down when Paul got killed - we weren't doing anything for a long little while.

Jo Jo from the book Solid Foundation by David Katz

This was also the reason for Jo Jo going abroad. He opened a store in Utica Ave., Brooklyn, with a friend by the name Lowell.

 

During the early 80's the studio was arguably the most important in Jamaica and carried the swing up to the mid 80's when the digital era started. This would mark the end of Channel One who closed up.

 

In 2004 Ernest decided to build a new studio on his premises in West Kings House Rd. - the new channel one. As this time the studio hasn't been finished yet.

 

The Show Down clashes

In 1983 the studio launched a series of acclaimed clash albums. The idea behind them was to pair a new talent with an established one. The first part featured the singers Barry Brown (veteran) and Little John (new comer). Totally eight clashes were released.

 

Engineers at the studio

The first engineer was Syd Bucknor who was at the studio for about a year after that Ernest Hookim. During the early 80's with the emergence of the dancehall sound the engineer Scientist did what often is regarded as his best and most ground breaking work at the Channel One studio. This in combination with the backing of the Roots Radics. Also engineers such as Barnabas was working there at the time. As of late '84 the in-house engineers were Solgie and Chiney Burru.

 

Labels related to the studio

  • Cord
  • Disco mix
  • Vital
  • Hit Bound
  • Channel One
  • J & J
  • Empire
  • Well Charge

Comments (1)

Anonymous said

at 10:33 am on May 15, 2008

I'll add some more info to this one quite soon. What need to be mentioned is Jo Jo's move to the US, the closing of the studio and other major things that happened.

Also a special mentioning should be the rebuilding of the studio that is currently in the progress. I'm very interested to see what they will cook up. Hopefully they'll have some sort of revival thing going on production-wise.

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