CHANNEL ONE BIO

    Channel One has been a dominating influence over Jamaican reggae music 
throughout the period of 1974-1984, only comparative to the influence 
of Treasure Isle and Studio One. During this time the southern end of 
Maxfield Avenue was always alive with singers, musicians and producers 
as Channel One was unparalleled in its position as Kingston's number 
one hire studio and the hottest spot on the music scene. The studio 
presented the reggae world with a radical turn with the 1975 release of 
'Right Time' by The Mighty Diamonds. With this song capturing the mood 
of the rising cultural awareness and moving away from the previous 
released soft soul covers, the whole rhythmic structure of reggae music 
would be changed forever. 

    The origination of Channel One was the result of Joseph 'Joe Joe' 
Hoo-kim's ambition to immerse himself and his brother, Ernest, in the 
music industry. Although they had little knowledge of building a 
recording studio, they were up and running within 6 months. They 
offered free try-before-you-buy services to lure producers in from the 
industry. Although successful in their first release, Stranger Cole and 
Gladdy's 'Don't Give Up the Fight' their famous revolutionary sound did 
not evolve till they formed their own house band; with drummer Lowell 
'Sly' Dunbar which grew to feature Robbie Shakespeare on bass. Ernest 
worked relentlessly with Sly to perfect what would become the Channel 
One signature 'rockers' drum sound. These radical 'rockers' styles 
mixed with the 'rootsy' sound of the soul covers is what truly declared 
Channel One as an electrifying force in reggae music. 

    While this sound had conquered Jamaica it was making its way around the 
dancehalls of New York, Toronto and London causing the business to grow 
and their music to be in very high demand. This rising popularity 
resulted in every producer in Jamaica creating their own variations of 
the drumming rhythm. All the buzzing activity at the Maxfield Avenue 
studio led to the emergence of a number of very talented young 
engineers and many exceptional musicians. In 1976 Channel One released 
Jamaica's first 12" single 'Truly' by The Jays and Ranking Trevor. This 
single initiated the new standard of the dancehall style of reggae 
music by mixing cuts of the vocal and deejay together. 

    From 1977 to 1979 Channel One experienced a depressing downtime after 
one of the Hoo-Kim brothers, Paulie, was shot dead. But in 1979 they 
upgraded their studios and were again back in the middle of their own 
musical uprising. They developed their own individual dancehall style 
best shown in Frankie Pauls's 1983 single 'Worries In the Dance'. This 
style depicted the unstable and explosive tension of urban Jamaica. The 
1980's signaled the beginning of the end. Although they experienced 
tremendous success, the years in the business had drawn the fun out of 
the music making and Ernest decided to quit the business. The 
introduction of digital music left the Hoo-Kim's unsatisfied compared 
to the magic of working with live instruments. Soon after Channel One 
closed its doors for good.