Channels, Earl Lewis - New York's Finest
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Artist: Channels, Earl LewisEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1990-04-19
Music Label: Collectables
Soundtracks:
- Closer You Are
- Stars in the Sky
- My Love Will Never Die
- The Girl Next Door
- What Do You Do
- My Heart Is Sad
- The Gleam in Your Eyes
- Now You Know
- I Really Love You
- Bye Bye Baby
- My Lovin' Baby
- What Do You Do [Jump Version]
- Flames in My Heart
- I Really Love You [Slow Version]
Free Music Notes for New York's Finest
Free Music Review: The Channels Were The Victims Of Circumstances
Hit: 5 Stars
I once did a review on this group that was far from flattering and which was, admittedly, a knee-jerk reaction to my frustration at being unable to find CD versions of hit singles for certain groups or individual artists from the 1950s.
Seeing this compilation covering a group that had gone hitless on a national scale, my comments were less to do with objectivity based on research and more in the nature of a lashing-out. Had I bothered to dig a bit deeper I would have discovered that The Channels were first formed as a quintet late in 1955 in New York City, consisting of Larry Hampden (first tenor), Billy Morris (second tenor), and Edward Doulphin (baritone) along with two others whose names have been lost to history.
Eventually the remaining three hooked up with the lead singer and bass from another group calling themselves The Lotharios - Earl Michael Lewis and Clifton Wright, and went on to win several local talent shows before coming to the attention of Bobby Robinson, the owner of Red Robin Records. He signed them to a contract with his Whirling Disc subsidiary, and late in June 1956 they recorded the song for which they are most remembered - the beautiful ballad The Closer You Are, written by Lewis when he was all of 15 years of age.
The label's initial release was an instant success in the NYC area and in some sections of the East Coast that summer, but could not dent the national charts due simply to the inability of Whirlin' Disc to promote it properly. Later that fall they released another Lewis ballad, The Gleam in Your Eye, which he allegedly had written when he was TEN years old, and while that too failed to make the national charts, it gained them increased recognition in NYC [which is, after all, larger than some countries] and increased bookings at venues around the city.
In March or April 1957, Flames in My Heart - yet another Lewis composition - became the final Whirlin' Disc release and when it too failed to break out Robinson closed the operation. They then hooked up with George Goldner's Gone label where their first single was a cover of That's My Desire, a 1947 hit for each of Sammy Kaye, Frankie Laine, Martha Tilton, and Woody Herman. This was followed by Altar Of Love - by which time Wright had left the group - and when that too was unable to grab national attention they were dropped.
Lewis and Wright then re-formed the group early in 1959 with new members John Felix, Alton Thomas, and Billy Montgomery, and linked up once more with Robinson and his new Fury label where they recorded two more Lewis compositions - My Love Will Never Die and Bye Bye Baby. Once again, however, they were victims of circumstances as Robinson, with limited promotional funds, chose to push the Wilbert Harrison cut, Kansas City [perhaps a wise choice since it spent seven weeks at # 1 R&B and two at # 1 Billboard Pop Top 100].
Following additional personnel changes they cut two more singles for Fury, and some for the Fire subsidiary, before disbanding in late 1959. This Collectables release, however, focuses only on their Whirlin' Disc material, highlighted by The Closer You Are which, in a 1977 poll by WCBS-FM in New York, was voted as the 16th all-time favourite by the listeners - some 21 years after its initial release.
Now that I took time to sit back and listen to it objectively I do rate it as a 5-star example of classic street-corner Doo-Wop. If only they had been able to latch onto a contract with one of the majors, or at least someone like Imperial.
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