THE CHANNELS - by Al Kelly

Last night Kenny Vance did a great version of "Bye Bye Baby," so I went back
and found this song, just to hear it - and it's still one of the really
great group songs.  A real surprise about this song is Earl Lewis, the
lead, is not backed by the Channels BUT by Jackie & the  Starlites. The
Channels started out  with five guys from Harlem section of NYC in '55
and they called themselves the Channels. After a month the lead and bass
left the group and one of the members met Earl Lewis and asked him to be
their lead, Earl know a bass singer so the group was in business again.
They won a local talent show after that. They somehow met Bobby
Robinson, who signed the group to a two year contract with Whirlin' Disc
Records. They recorded  a song that 15 year old Lewis wrote called
"Closer You Are" and it was a big hit for the group.  Their second
release "The Gleam In Your Eye"  was wriiten when Earl was 10.  All of
the releases were great records  (and a real favorite of collectors
today) but none met success. They left the label and recorded for George
Goldner's  Gone label. They recorded the great "That's My Desire"  which
was arranged by Richard Barrett.  The record took off in cities on the
east Coast and gave the group new life.  In '59 the group went back to
Robinson and recorded for his new  Fury label. This is the song from
that return. The reason that Jackie & the Starlites backed Lewis on this
record was the group was an hour late for the session and Robinson was
paying studio time by the minute, he pulled the Starlites in to back
Lewis . The group drifted  to Hit, Herald, Groove  and Rare Bird label
before Earl started the Channel label.

If you would like to read a really detailed life of the Channels, pick
up a copy of "They All Sang On The Corner" by Phil Groia. The book came
out in '83 and it keeps getting pressed each year because of the demand.
I've read it four times (every 3 or 4 years, I pick it up and read it
again). One of the all time great books on groups from NYC.