The Famous Charisma Discography

called Marty Machat who was basically the only American lawyer I knew as he was Shel’s
lawyer and at the time one of the biggest in the music business, representing Phil Spector,
Leonard Cohen, The Four Seasons, Alan Klein etc.9

As to the name ‘Charisma’ being already in existence, this is confirmed by Stratton Smith who stated
that he had previously offered this as a name for a group being put together by Tony Ashton after the
break up of The Remo Four:

Tony Ashton…asked Stratton Smith…to come up with a name for his new group. Stratton Smith
offered the name Charisma, which Ashton turned down…“I was really grateful to him because
if he had taken it I would have had to call the label Ashton, Gardner and Dyke.”10

The upshot of all this was that Stratton Smith wrote to Lee Gopthal on 15th October 1969 with a
letter of intent to enter “…into an agreement with B&C Records Limited to launch a label to be
known as, ‘CHARISMA RECORDS’, Charisma being a Trade Mark of Stratton Smith Music Ltd.”

Gopthal’s business was originally based in Neasden, where the sales department was to remain for
several more years, but 37, Soho Square now became their main business address. Soho offices were
de rigeur for record companies that wanted to keep their metaphorical fingers on the pulse of the
current music scene. With B&C acting as distributor for Charisma a close working relationship was
formed between the two companies and this went so far as to include, confusingly, Charisma’s sharing
of B&C’s main LP catalogue number sequence until late 1971 and its single catalogue sequence until
1972 when the B&C record label was discontinued. Later, the two companies were to work out of
the same address on Soho Square, but to begin with Charisma’s business premises were less than
conducive to running a record label.

Charisma’s first address was 7, Townsend House, 22, Dean Lane, which was nothing more than
Stratton Smith’s own flat. This housed not only the early Charisma staff, but also Margaret Russell,
the Nice’s secretary, who left after their break up, and Terry Slater, who organised the Sunday at the
Lyceum concerts, which, oddly enough, showcased many Charisma artists. Add to this the usual
coming and going of various itinerant musicians and associated hangers-on and Stratton Smith’s
custom of insisting on his morning bath, in which he would soak, often for hours, and the result was
described by Pete Frame in The Charisma Story family tree (commissioned by Gail Colson for the
label’s 10th anniversary and otherwise unpublished) as, “…absolute chaos.” Of this period, Gail
Colson remembers:

7 Townsend House was indeed the first office and what a wonderful place it was, Tony, me,
Margaret, Glen, Terry (the Pill) Slater, Ken the cleaner – I would have to get the family tree out
to remind myself of the rest of the gang.11

In September 1970, Charisma moved out of Stratton Smith’s flat to offices at 87, Brewer Street,
which, typically, were above a dirty bookshop. By the time of the first anniversary, Charisma had
had a major UK and European hit with Rare Bird’s first single, Sympathy, as well as a best-selling
album in the Nice’s Five Bridges. The current roster of Rare Bird and Van der Graaf Generator, along
with the new bands put together by Lee Jackson and Brian Davidson after the Nice broke up, had by
now been augmented by, amongst several others, Lindisfarne, Audience and Genesis:

...so it was the end of an astounding first year that combined both instant success with the early
formation of a potentially strong roster. Financially Charisma showed a profit of £266 – blown
on a Christmas party for the company's staff of six...12