Leslie Sebastian Charles, known professionally as Billy Ocean, is a Trinidadian-born British singer and songwriter. Between 1976 and 1988, he had a series of hit songs in the UK and internationally.
Lisa Jane Stansfield is a British singer, songwriter, and actress. Her career began in 1980 when she won the singing competition Search for a Star. After appearances in various television shows and releasing her first singles, Stansfield, along with Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, formed Blue Zone in 1983. The band released several singles and one album, but after the success of Coldcut's "People Hold On" in 1989, on which Stansfield was featured, the focus was placed on her solo career.
Inner City is an American electronic music group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1987. The group was originally composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson and the Chicago, Illinois, vocalist Paris Grey. Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three—along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May—high school friends who later originated the Detroit techno sound. In February 2018, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 69th most successful dance artists of all-time.
"I Want You" is a song written by songwriters Leon Ware and Arthur "T-Boy" Ross and performed by singer Marvin Gaye. It was released as a single in 1976 on his fourteenth studio album of the same name on the Tamla label. The song introduced a change in musical styles for Gaye, who before then had been recording songs with a funk edge. Songs such as this gave him a disco audience thanks to Ware, who produced the song alongside Gaye.
"Dancing in the Street" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. It first became popular in 1964 when recorded by Martha and the Vandellas whose version reached No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and peaked at No. 4 in the UK Singles Chart. It is one of Motown's signature songs and is the group's premier signature song. A 1966 cover by the Mamas & the Papas was a minor hit on the Hot 100 reaching No. 73. In 1982, the rock group Van Halen took their cover of "Dancing in the Street" to No. 38 on the Hot 100 chart and No. 15 in Canada on the RPM chart. A 1985 duet cover by David Bowie and Mick Jagger charted at No. 1 in the UK and reached No. 7 in the US. The song has been covered by many other artists, including The Kinks, Tages, Black Oak Arkansas, Grateful Dead, Little Richard, Myra and Karen Carpenter.
Jocelyn Lorette Brown, sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American R&B and dance singer. Although she has only one Billboard Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name, she has an extensive background in the music industry and is well known in the world of dance music. Brown sang on 23 hit singles from the Official UK Singles Chart, 8 of which have reached the top 20.
Steve W. "Silk" Hurley, also known as J. M. Silk, is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter.
Londonbeat are a British dance-pop band who scored a number of pop and dance hits in the early 1990s. They currently consist of vocalists Jimmy Helms, Jimmy Chambers, and Charles Pierre. Former members include multi-instrumentalist William Henshall, George Chandler, Marc Goldschmitz, and Myles Kayne. As of 2024, the band has released six studio albums and numerous compilations.
KooKoo is the debut solo album by American singer Debbie Harry, released on July 27, 1981, by Chrysalis Records. Produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, the album was recorded whilst Harry took a break from her band Blondie. It was a moderate commercial success, reaching number 25 on the US Billboard 200 and number six on the UK Albums Chart.
"Good Life" is a song by American electronic music group Inner City, featuring vocals by Paris Grey, and was released in November 1988 as the second single from their debut album, Paradise (1989). It is written and produced by Kevin Saunderson, and became a hit all over the world, reaching number-one in Finland and number four in the UK. In the US, it peaked at number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. Its music video is directed by Andrew Doucette and filmed in London. "Good Life", along with "Big Fun", has been considered for being prototypes for Belgian act Technotronic's 1989 hit "Pump Up The Jam", and is today widely considered a classic of its genre.
"Games People Play" is a song written, composed, and performed by American singer-songwriter Joe South, released in August 1968. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1969 and won the 1970 Grammy Awards for both Best Contemporary Song and the Song of the Year.
Paradise is the debut album by Detroit-based electronic music duo Inner City, released in 1989. The album was a great success in the UK and in US clubs, and was one of the first techno albums to cross over to the mainstream charts, particularly in Europe. Group member Kevin Saunderson is renowned as one of the originators the Detroit techno sound. The vocals on Paradise were performed by the group's other member, Paris Grey.
"Sweat (A La La La La Long)" is a song by Jamaican reggae fusion band Inner Circle, released in July 1992 by Warner Records as the lead single from their twelfth album, Bad to the Bone (1992). It was written by the band's Ian and Roger Lewis, and produced by them with another bandmember, Touter Harvey. The song became a number-one hit in Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Switzerland, and Zimbabwe. The music video, depicting the group on the beach, was directed by Mathias Julien. Australian music channel Max included "Sweat" in their list "1000 Greatest Songs of All Time" in 2017.
"Love's Gonna Get You" is a 1985 dance single by Jocelyn Brown, a singer who had sung with the groups Salsoul Orchestra and Inner Life. The single was the first of four that Brown took to number one on the US dance chart. It also reached number thirty-eight on the R&B singles chart, and was her second R&B top 40 hit as a solo artist.
"Big Fun" is a song by American electronic music group Inner City, released in August 1988 by 10 Records and Virgin as the first single from their debut album, Paradise (1988). The song went to number-one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart for one week, and was the first of five releases by the band to reach the top spot. "Big Fun" also peaked at number fifty on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In the UK, it was a top-ten hit, peaking at number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
"Ain't Nobody Better" is a song by American house/techno group Inner City. The single was the third consecutive number-one on the Billboard dance chart in the US. It also made it into the top 10 in the United Kingdom, Finland and Switzerland. However, the single failed to place on the soul singles chart and on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Defected Records is a British independent record label specialising in house music recordings, compilation albums, events, publishing, artist booking and management. One of the longest running independent labels of its kind, Defected has paved the way for house music in the UK and remained a well-respected constant in the music industry for over 20 years.
Gorgon City are an English electronic music production duo consisting of two North London producers Kye "Foamo" Gibbon and Matt "RackNRuin" Robson-Scott. Their 2014 singles "Ready for Your Love" and "Here for You" reached the top ten in the UK. They are currently signed to the UK-based record label Positiva Records which is a division of Universal Music Group.
"Pennies from Heaven" is a song by American electronic music group Inner City, released in 1992 as the third single from their fourth album, Praise (1992). Despite the title, it is not a cover of the 1936 song of the same name. It became the duo's fifth and final number-one single on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, reaching the top of the chart in August 1992 for two weeks. In the UK, it peaked at number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, while reaching number two on the UK Dance Singles Chart. British magazine Mixmag ranked it number 62 in its "100 Greatest Dance Singles Of All Time" list in 1996.
"Inner City Life" is a song by British electronic musician Goldie featuring vocals by British singer Diane Charlemagne, released in November 1994 by FFRR as the first single from his acclaimed debut album, Timeless (1995). The song was written by Goldie with Rob Playford, and is widely considered one of the most iconic drum and bass works of its era. Accompanied by a music video directed by Mike Lipscombe, it peaked at No. 39 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 6 on the UK Dance Chart. NME ranked "Inner City Life" No. 11 in their list of the "50 Best Songs of 1994". In 2013, it was ranked No. 30 in Mixmag's list of "50 Greatest Dance Tracks of All Time".
