Commodores, often billed as the Commodores, are an American funk and soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer.
Afrodiziak was a British singing group composed of Caron Wheeler, Claudia Fontaine, and later Naomi Thompson, that was active in the 1980s. As a duo, Wheeler and Fontaine were best known for performing backing vocals on the Jam's final single "Beat Surrender" in 1982 and Elvis Costello's 1983 album Punch the Clock, especially its lead single, the international hit "Everyday I Write the Book".
702 is an American musical girl group whose most notable line-up comprised LeMisha Grinstead, Irish Grinstead, and Meelah Williams. The group began their musical career as Sweeter than Sugar, formed in 1993 in Las Vegas, Nevada. After years of limited success, the original quartet comprising LeMisha Grinstead, Irish Grinstead, Orish Grinstead, and Amelia Cruz, were signed in 1995 to Biv 10 Records as 702. The group was launched into mainstream success following the release of the song "Get It Together" and their best-selling second album 702 (1999), which contained the top-five single "Where My Girls At?". Despite critical and commercial success, the group experienced lineup changes with Orish and Childs being replaced by Meelah Williams and Tiffany Villarreal.
Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven "Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four "Back to Life". They have won two Grammy Awards, and have been nominated for five Brit Awards—twice for Best British Group.
Charlotte Kelly is a British singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and record producer. Kelly rose to fame in the mid-1990s as one of the lead singers of British R&B group Soul II Soul, one of London's best-selling groups of all time. She performed lead vocals on their single "I Care" for their fourth studio album Volume V: Believe (1995). She continued to record and perform with the group until the release of their final studio album Time for Change (1997). During their hiatus, Kelly released her debut solo album Just Another Girl (1998), which sold exclusively in Japan. She released her second album Charlotte (1999), which included number-one dance hit "Skin".
Lamya Al-Mugheiry, better known as her mononymLamya, was a Kenyan-born English singer-songwriter and record producer. She rose to fame in the early 1990s as one of the lead singers of R&B group Soul II Soul, and later as a backing singer for Duran Duran. In 2002, she released her debut album Learning from Falling, which spawned the number 1 Dance chart single "Empires ".
Penny Ford is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, she rose to fame in the 1980s after signing a recording contract with Total Experience Records and releasing her debut solo album Pennye. The album spawned the singles "Change Your Wicked Way" and "Dangerous", which were produced and written by Ford.
Claudia Fontaine was a backing vocalist from Peckham, London.
"Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" is a song by British R&B band Soul II Soul featuring the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. It is an alternate version of a song that appears on their secondary debut album, Club Classics Vol. One (1989) (titled Keep On Movin' in the United States), and was released as its second single on 29 May 1989 by Virgin. "Back to Life" is one of two songs on the album featuring British singer Caron Wheeler and gained success in both North America and Europe, topping the charts in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and peaking at number four in the United States. Its music video, directed by Monty Whitebloom & Andy Delaney, of Big TV!, sees the group performing in a forest. Soul II Soul won their first Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal with the song in 1990. It was later included on a tenth-anniversary edition of the album.
"Keep On Movin'" is a song by British soul and R&B band Soul II Soul. It was the second single released in March 1989 by Virgin from their debut album, Club Classics Vol. One (1989), after "Fairplay". It is one of two songs on the album that features British R&B singer Caron Wheeler and it became one of Soul II Soul's most successful songs. It reached number five on the UK Singles Chart upon its release in March 1989 and number 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and was even more successful on Billboard's R&B charts, where it hit number one.
Carol Simms, better known as Kofi, is a British lovers rock singer who was a member of the group Brown Sugar prior to embarking on a solo career.
Brown Sugar was a British, London-based female vocal group who formed in 1976. The members were Pauline Catlin, Caron Wheeler and Carol Simms. Although short lived, the trio were influential and topped the British Reggae Chart on three occasions.
UK Blak is the debut studio album by British singer Caron Wheeler. It was released on 15 May 1990 by EMI Records. Recording sessions for the album took place from January 1990 to March 1990 at several studios, during the hiatus from her group Soul II Soul. As executive producer of the album, Wheeler took a wider role in its production, co-writing a majority of the songs, choosing which ones to produce and sharing ideas on the mixing and mastering of tracks. The album includes the single "Livin' in the Light", which reached the UK Top 20, plus three further singles, "UK Blak", "Blue " and "Don't Quit".
"Livin' in the Light" is a song by British singer-songwriter Caron Wheeler, released in August 1990 as the first single from her debut solo album, UK Blak (1990). Wheeler wrote the song with N. P. Hail, and produced it with Afrika Baby Bam and Blacksmith. It is a soul song that incorporates elements of neo soul, electronica, and 1970s-style funk music. Its lyrics describe people being dragged away from their culture and having to survive within a new surrounding. The song references slavery and reparations.
British musical group Soul II Soul has released five studio albums, two compilation albums, two live albums, and 18 singles.
British singer and songwriter Caron Wheeler has released two studio albums, one live album, one compilation albums, and 14 singles. She has sold over 6.6 million records collectively as a solo artist and, with Brown Sugar and Soul II Soul.
Volume IV The Classic Singles 88–93 is the first compilation album by British group Soul II Soul, released in 1993. Along with the band's biggest hit singles released up to 1993, the album also includes one new song, "Wish".
Victoria Wilson-James is an American-born British singer, songwriter and record producer. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, she performed in various theatre plays and musicals as a teenager. Following the release of her debut single "I Want You in My Movie", she was recruited by Jazzie B to join a newly reformed line-up of R&B group Soul II Soul. Managed by her bandmate, Jazzie B, the group became one of London's best-selling groups of all time. Their second album, Vol. II: 1990 – A New Decade (1990), which achieved gold-status in the US and UK, featured the top-charting single "A Dream's a Dream" with Wilson-James on lead vocals.
"Missing You" is a song by British Contemporary R&B band Soul II Soul, released in November 1990 as the fourth and last single from their second album, Vol. II: 1990 – A New Decade (1990). It features American singer-songwriter Kym Mazelle on lead vocals and Lamya on background vocals. It was a top 30 hit in Ireland and the UK. Outside Europe, it peaked at number nine in Zimbabwe, number 39 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in the US and number 166 in Australia. A black-and-white music video was produced to promote the single. It shows Mazelle and Jazzie B dancing together on a dancefloor while performing it.
Volume III Just Right is the third album by the English music collective Soul II Soul, released in 1992 through Ten and Virgin Records. Its first single was "Joy".
