The record label of Lecester-based publishing company Charnwood Music. Charnwood Music was set up by professional accordionist Francis Wright in 1958; he established the Leicester School of Music some six years later. The company specialized in accordion music, and in fact still does so today. Its printed output appears to have far outweighed its vinyl, which seems to have been sporadic. The earliest record that googling reveals is a 10" LP from 1969, 'Springtime Symphony' by the New British College of Accordionists Orchestra, which was numbered CH-01. The orchestra managed two follow-ups: a single, 'In The Shadows' b/w 'The Boulevardier' (CH-2; 1969), and a 12" album 'Maritime Suite' (CH-03; 1972). The record that qualifies the label for this site, however, is the one shown above, Robert Walker's 'Selected Guitar Studies' EP. That was numbered CH-04, and it came out in 1979. The EP was made through the Leicester Recording Company (q.v.), of Thurcaston Road, Leicester, as were the previous two records. Its labels are big enough to cover the anti-slip ridges but the perimeter text at the top has still been cropped, which is slightly odd - perhaps they were originally intended to be used on LPs. Just for once I've included scans of both sides, in case anyone is desperate to know the track listing. The style of the pressing marks strongly suggests that manufacture was by Linguaphone. Two albums by local artists were issued in or around 1983 on a Charnwood label, but the catalogue numbers were in a different series and the logo was different; either this company was dipping its toe in the Pop music market or another company was using the name. Just out of interest the albums were a self-titled LP by Graham Cooper (CWS-100) and the Dallas Boys' 'Love Is A Many Splendoured Thing' (CWS-101; 1983). If anyone can confirm a connection - or a disconnection - between the two concerns, or can supply details of any missing releases, I'd be interested to hear from them.
Copyright 2015 Robert Lyons.