Contents - Beth Lesser

Channel One Studio
A s the 1980s opened, a new sense of calm was settling on the war weary
city of Kingston. City life returned to its slow but regular pace. Although
the legendary Studio 17 was now closed and the equipment covered in plastic,
artists continued their regular vigil around the corner, along Chancery Lane.
The weekend was all about packing up the sound and setting up somewhere for
a late night party. But, then the week would begin again, with its own familiar
pattern. “Monday morning we end up out a Randy’s up a North Parade where
all of the artists them used to be, on Chancery Lane corner,” Recalls deejay
Crutches, “me, Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Leroy Smart, there was a musician
we call Dirty Harry - the whole of we used to out there. Frankie Paul just
a come from outa the Salvation Army, a come pon the corner and deh amongst
we. We was a unit.”
Leroy Smart and Trinity were the stars of Chancery Lane. Once they hit
the corner, everybody ate food. “Cause those where the popular guys who
used to make money from the music. Trintiy would buy lunch for you and
when you leave, put a money in your pocket. Leroy smart is like that too,” Jah
Thomas recall, “If him buy a shirt, him buy shirt for everybody, if him buy
Clarks, him buy Clarks for everybody. They were popular. They were the guys
making money”
The high point of the week was Wednesday. “There used to be a thing up at
the Carib [theater] on Wednesday, the ‘martinee’ [movie matinee],” Crutches
continues. “Every man just ride out – 12, 14 bike just ride out. Horace Andy
did love riding with a bike more time. Gregory Isaacs had a 50. Me had a 90.
Big Youth have a 90. We just ride and go up - ride and take taxi - all of we,
pure artists, just gone a Carib and we enjoy we self. Everyman come down
and see a who get a girl.”
When they weren’t hanging out on Chancery Lane or taking in a cowboy
show, entertainers would congregate at Channel One Studio on Maxfield
Avenue. Business was still thriving and a steady stream of artists and session
men were coming and going all day. Sly and Robbie still dominated the scene,
but the newest band, the Channel One Allstars (later The Roots Radics) was
picking up more sessions.
Since the mid ‘70s, Channel One was the studio of choice for the downtown
crowd. It was the one full service studio that had its roots in the sound
system business and maintained a close association with the dancehall. The
location of the studio near an election time ‘no-go’ zone had created problems
for visiting artists in the late ‘70s. But, as the 1980s opened, with the elec-
54 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall