To judge by the few of its products that I have seen, Downing seems to have been a small independent - or possibly a custom recording - company. The fact that Merseysiders Tony Crane (of the Merseybeats), Lee Brennan and Dave Roylance all issued or produced records on the label makes it a good bet that Downing was from that part of the country, and over on the 45cat site Recordman46 has suggested that a chap named Ronald Downing who ran a record shop in Liverpool in the late 70s may have been the driving force behind the company - it sounds like a good bet, to me. Robert Bowes, who kindly let me know that the label existed, reports that in addition to the Lee Brennan single shown above, 'I Never Loved Anyone More' (DR-1001), there was at least one other, 'Funny Face' by Elaine Marie and Maverick (RKD-005), which had a white label of the same design. The latter single was issued in 1979, which suggests that the Lee Brennan record (which was pressed by RCA) is from slightly earlier. The only other Downing record that Googling revealed was an LP by Tony Crane, 'Tony Crane Sings Elvis'.
Copyright 2011 Robert Lyons.