A small independent label. West One Records was an offshoot of a firm called West One Leisure Productions, which was incorporated in August 1977. It released what appears to have been its first record in 1978, a selection of tracks licensed from Avenue Records (q.v.) and called 'Super Soul Sounds, Volume 4'; the album was mainly of interest because it featured several songs featuring Elton John. Its catalogue number was HWS-001. Eighteen other LPs and an EP followed, all of them in Club / Cabaret vein. They appear to have shared the same WOR-000 numerical series, though for some reason the EP and one of the albums had the same number, WOR-002. None of them had a date on it, which is awkward, though The Fortunes' eponymous album is reported by that band's Vintage UK Fan Base to be from 1980. Fortunately the sole EP, by Robbie York, was pressed by Lyntone; its matrix number, LYN-6303, enables us to pin it down to 1979 and justifies West One getting a page on this site. As well as the songs shown in the scan the EP offered versions of 'Whiter Shade Of Pale' and 'I Can't Stop Loving You'. As can be seen from the scan, unlike those of the albums the EP's labels didn't have the company's name on them. The ten or so West One LPs that I have seen pictured were produced by Nick White, which suggests that he played a leading role in the company. West One Records was removed from the London Gazette's register of companies in August 1983.
Copyright 2018 Robert Lyons.