Editing Bruce Channel (section)

==Career==
Channel performed originally for the radio program ''[[Louisiana Hayride]]'' and then joined with the harmonica player [[Delbert McClinton]], singing [[country music]]. Channel [[songwriter|wrote]] "[[Hey! Baby]]" with Margaret Cobb in 1959 and performed the song for two years before recording it for [[Fort Worth]] record producer Bill Smith.<ref name="AMG"/> It was issued originally on Smith's LeCam label, but as it started to sell well, it was acquired for distribution by [[Smash Records]],<ref name="AMG"/> a subsidiary of Mercury. The song went to number one in the US in March 1962 and held that position for three weeks. Besides topping the [[Billboard Hot 100|U.S. popular music charts]], it also became number two in the United Kingdom.<ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums">{{cite book
| first= David
| last= Roberts
| year= 2006
| title= British Hit Singles and Albums
| edition= 19th
| publisher= Guinness World Records
| location= London
| isbn= 1-904994-10-5
| page= 100}}</ref> It sold more than one million copies and was awarded a [[music recording sales certification|gold disc]].<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">{{cite book
| first= Joseph
| last= Murrells
| year= 1978
| title= The Book of Golden Discs
| edition= 2nd
| publisher= Barrie and Jenkins
| location= London
| page= [https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/143 143]
| isbn= 0-214-20512-6
| url-access= registration
| url= https://archive.org/details/bookofgoldendisc00murr/page/143
}}</ref> Channel had four more singles on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including "Number One Man" (which peaked at number 52), "Come On Baby" (number 98), "Going Back to Louisiana" (number 89), and "Mr. Bus Driver" (number 90, produced by [[Dale Hawkins]] in Memphis and recorded by [[Terry Manning]]), but none of them was as successful as "Hey! Baby", and he is considered a [[one-hit wonder]].

Channel toured Europe and was assisted at one gig by the [[the Beatles|Beatles]], who were then little known.<ref name="AMG"/> [[John Lennon]], who had "Hey! Baby" on [[John Lennon's jukebox|his jukebox]], was fascinated by McClinton's harmonica.<ref name="AMG"/> A popular [[urban legend|legend]] is that Lennon was taught to play harmonica by McClinton, but by that time Lennon had already been playing the instrument live for some time. The harmonica segment in "Hey! Baby" inspired Lennon's playing on the Beatles' first single, 1962's "[[Love Me Do]]", as well as later Beatles records,<ref name="AMG"/> and the harmonica break on [[Frank Ifield]]'s "[[I Remember You (1941 song)|I Remember You]]."

Channel's only other [[top 40]] recording in the [[UK Singles Chart]] was "Keep On" (June 1968), which reached number 12; it was written by [[Wayne Carson Thompson]] and produced by [[Dale Hawkins]].<ref name="AMG"/><ref name="British Hit Singles & Albums"/> "Keep On" also charted in Australia. Channel disliked [[concert tour|touring]], so he settled as a songwriter in [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]],<ref name="AMG"/> scoring a number of [[Broadcast Music Incorporated]] award-winning songs during the 1970s and 1980s – "As Long As I'm Rockin' with You", for [[John Conlee]]; "[[Don't Worry 'bout Me Baby]]", for [[Janie Fricke]]; "Party Time", for [[T. G. Sheppard]]; "You're the Best", for [[Kieran Kane]]; and "Stand Up", for [[Mel McDaniel]]. In 1987, "Hey! Baby" was featured in the popular movie ''[[Dirty Dancing]]''.

In 1995, Channel recorded his [[cover version|cover]] of the song "Stand Up" for the [[Memphis, Tennessee|Memphis]]-based record label Ice House. Delbert McClinton reprised his harmonica role on it and several other tracks, including another version of "Hey! Baby". Channel then recorded a project in 2002 with the singer-songwriter Larry Henley (ex-[[The Newbeats|Newbeats]]), billed as Original Copy.

Channel was inducted into the [[Rockabilly Hall of Fame]]. He continues to perform in cruises with other 1960s musicians.