Charly Records was founded in France in 1974 by Jean-Luc Young,[2] who had been a promoter of teen concerts but moved to the UK in 1975. In 1977 Charly started a jazz subsidiary, Affinity Records.
Charly Records began as the UK reissue label for Chess in the mid-1970s. Charly was originally known mainly for American-originated jazz and other modern oddities, such as the Bollock Brothers, but it is now mainly an album-oriented "retro" label. The Charly R&B imprint became another important sub-label, focusing on vintage blues and soul releases and themed compilations. Its most obvious rivals are Rhino and See for Miles (a label that Charly distributed in the 1980s).
When the label began issuing CDs in the mid-1980s, they were typically of poor-to-fair quality with a lot of surface noise.[3]
In Europe, Charly is distributed by Snapper Records, while licensing is through LicenseMusic.com. Charly is one of several labels currently controlled by Snapper Music.[4]
