Inner City (band)

Last updated

Inner City
Origin Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres
Years active1987–present
Labels KMS
Members
Past members
  • Paris Grey

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 (born September 5, 1964) and the Chicago, Illinois, vocalist Paris Grey (born November 5, 1965). 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. [1]

Contents

Musical career

Inner City topped the US Billboard dance chart five times, [2] and had nine top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart. The group is best known for its early dancefloor-pop music crossover tracks "Big Fun" (UK No. 8, US Dance No. 1) [2] and "Good Life" (UK No. 4, US Dance No. 1). [2] Other hits include "Do You Love What You Feel" (UK No. 16, US Dance No. 1) [2] and "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" (UK No. 12, US Dance No. 8). [2] The music videos to these songs received significant airplay throughout the world. Later work introduced a hybrid of techno, jazz and swing beats, with a more soulful sound in the vein of downtempo British groups such as Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. The group recorded three albums for Virgin/EMI Records and two singles for Columbia/SME Records.

In the early 1990s, Tommy Onyx was brought on to be the band leader for Inner City live shows. [3] Onyx co wrote the hits “Hallelujah”, “Fire” & “Bad Girl” and produced the Spanish language version of Good Life, “Buena Vida”.

In 2017, a new incarnation of the group was formed with Kevin Saunderson's youngest son Dantiez joining as a permanent fixture. [4] Dantiez and Kevin’s first single as Inner City, “Good Luck”, was released April 14, 2017 on KMS. [5] “Good Luck” features vocals from LaRae Starr and includes remixes from DEAS, Sure Is Pure and Chuck Daniels. In 2018, Steffanie Christi’an was added as vocalist.

In 2020, the Saundersons (Kevin and his son Dantiez) released a new Inner City album with Christi'an as the main vocalist. Called We All Move Together, the title track which featured a spoken word performance from actor Idris Elba. Elba also featured on the single "No More Looking Back", which was the first Inner City project to be released by Defected Records, a British independent record label specialising in house music. [6]

Discography

Albums

YearAlbumPeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
UK
[7]
US
[8]
AUS
[9]
GER
[10]
NED
[11]
NZ
[12]
SUI
[13]
CAD
[14]
1989 Paradise / Big Fun [A] 3162382174291855
1990Paradise Remixed17119
1990 Fire 166
1992Praise52135
1993Testament ’9333166
2003Good Life—the Best of Inner City
2020We All Move Together
"—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart.

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions Certifications
(sales thresholds)
Album
UK
[7]
US
[16]
US
Dance

[2]
AUS
[9]
AUT
[17]
GER
[10]
IRE
[18]
NED
[11]
NZ
[12]
SUI
[13]
1988"Big Fun"8157155534Paradise
"Good Life"4731521226685
1989"Ain't Nobody Better"10167212426409
"Do You Love What You Feel"1617622
"Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'"12768862412Big Fun
1990"That Man (He's All Mine)"4215143 Fire
1991"Till We Meet Again"47
"Let It Reign"5140Praise
1992"Hallelujah '92"22
"Pennies from Heaven"24112251
"Praise"59
"Follow Your Heart"2
1993"Till We Meet Again" (remix)55Non-album singles
"Back Together Again"49
1994"Do Ya"445
"Share My Life"6224
1995"Ahnonghay"97
1996"Your Love"28
"Do Me Right"47
1999"Good Life (Buena Vida)" (PIAS re-recording)107348
2001"Good Love"81
"Pump It Up Dub" (with E-Dancer)
2003"Big Fun" (remix)86
2004"Say Something"
2011"Future" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City)
2014"Bad Girl" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City)
2017"Good Luck"
2019"It Could Be" (with Armin van Buuren)Balance
"—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart.

Articles, interviews and reviews

See also

References

  1. "Greatest of All Time Top Dance Club Artists". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard . Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  3. Echlin, Hobey. "Pitch'd". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  4. "Inner City Feat. LaRae Starr - Good Luck". Discogs. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  5. "Dance phenomenon Inner City resurfaces with slice of old-school House: 'Good Luck' (feat. Larae Starr) | Armada Music - Home to the music you love". Armada Music - Home to the music you love. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  6. "Idris Elba & Inner City Join Forces for Defected Debut".
  7. 1 2 "UK Charts > Inner City". Official Charts Company . Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  8. "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Billboard 200". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  9. 1 2 Australian (ARIA) peaks:
  10. 1 2 "Offizielle Deutsche Charts > Suchen nach: Inner City" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved April 16, 2020. N.B. Select the Album tab to display albums chart peaks.
  11. 1 2 "dutchcharts.nl > Inner City in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  12. 1 2 "charts.nz > Inner City in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  13. 1 2 "hitparade.ch > Inner City in der Schweizer Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  14. "RPM > RPM (magazine)". RPM. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  15. 1 2 "British Phonographic Industry > Certified Awards > Search results for Inner City (from bpi.co.uk)". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved January 15, 2016 via Imgur.com.
  16. "Billboard > Inner City Chart History > Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  17. "austriancharts.at > Inner City in der Österreichischen Hitparade" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
  18. "The Irish Charts - All there is to know > Search results for Inner City (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved January 15, 2016 via Imgur.com.