Niney The Observer Productions - Channel One Presents 100 Tons of Dub Niney The Observer Productions

The mighty Channel One Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, has its place set in Reggae's Musical History. Its distinctive sound the studio created on opening its doors in 1972 to its closure in the early 1980's made it the Producers, Singers and Musicians studio of choice during this furtive period. Achieving that vibe and clarity, separated it from the other Kingston establishments. Run by the Hookim Family's four sons, Jo Jo the eldest followed by Paulie, Ernest and Kenneth.
The four brothers opened Channel One Recording Studios in 1972 at 29 Maxfield Avenue, Kingston 13. Initially the purpose of the studio was for the brothers use only, but this would soon change when the various Producers all looking for that Channel One sound came asking for studio time.
The first release on the Channel One label would be 'Don't Give Up The Fight' by Stranger Cole and Gladstone 'Gladdy' Anderson. The initial two thousand run being swallowed up by their Jukebox interests and so the steady flow of hits would run up to the brake through hit of 1975 'Right Time' by the Mighty Diamonds. 1977 saw Jo Jo extending his stays in New York to a semipermanent status, returning mainly to oversee recording sessions and then taking the results back to America for worldwide distribution. The Channel One studio would be upgraded in 1979 to sixteen tracks and although Jo Jo and Ernest still covered the mixing and engineering duties Kenneth would now supervise sessions.
An often untold part of Channel Ones history is the involvement of Producer Niney The Observer. The mid to late 1970's were heavy times both musically and politically and Maxfield Avenue was in the heart of this crossfire. Some artists and musicians were weary of using the establishment especially when sessions ended late at night and exiting the studio at these times could be somewhat dangerous. But Niney's fearlessness seen him over running and in many cases running the all night sessions with his trusted set of musicians loosely called The Soul Syndicate.
Having the run of the mighty Channel One studio's allowed Niney to build up and work on a stockpile of rhythms that he still has yet to unleash on the world. We have been lucky to select a bunch of material from Niney's vaults for this release. Some great unreleased rhythms and some different cuts to some tracks you might already know. Niney's work with Dennis Brown and his own distinctive heavy roots style productions have been documented and indeed his work on Channel Ones Yellowman releases stand tall also. We hope this fine set of Niney Productions set inside the hollowed walls of Channel One will sit beside them as they so richly deserve.