Phats & Small

Last updated

Phats & Small
Origin Brighton, East Sussex, England
Genres House, dance-pop
Years active1998–present
Members
  • Jason "Phats" Hayward
  • Russell Small
Past members
  • Ben Ofoedu
  • Tony Thompson

Phats & Small are a British electronic dance music duo formed in Brighton, in 1998, and composed of Jason "Phats" Hayward and Russell Small. They are best known for their single "Turn Around", which became an international hit in 1999. [1]

Contents

Musical career

Phats & Small appeared on the scene in 1998 with "Turn Around", a track that featured sampled Toney Lee's "Reach Up" and Change's "The Glow of Love". [2] The song debuted at number three in the UK Singles Chart, before climbing to number two, with career sales of this hit amassing them £5,000 in total due to their recording contract. Singer Ben Ofoedu appears in the video for the track miming to the vocals. Future releases featured his voice but "Turn Around" featured Lee's voice. However, Ofoedu has been known to perform the track live. In 1999, they also released their first album, Now Phats What I Small Music , a play on their name and the compilation series Now That's What I Call Music! . [2] Ofoedu sang on two tracks, "Feel Good" and "Tonite", which were also released as singles. In 1999, Phats & Small also achieved notoriety for remixing the Earth, Wind & Fire track, "September" and Simply Red's "Ain't That a Lot of Love". Other remixes around the same time included PJ "Happy Days", Space Raiders "I Need The Disko Doktor", High Steppers "I Will Follow" and pop group A1's single "Be the First to Believe".

Ofoedu left the group to pursue a solo career as singer, songwriter and producer, and his backing vocalist Tony Thompson, was promoted to main vocalist. [3] [4] He sang on most tracks in Phats & Small's second album, This Time Around, released in 2001, [3] which featured an eponymous single, as well as "Change" and "Respect The Cock" (which was supposed to feature the phrase uttered by Tom Cruise in the film Magnolia ). [4] The second album was co-produced by Jimmy Gomez.

After a few years away from the recording studio, Phats & Small returned in 2005 with a new vocalist, Ryan Molloy, and a new album, Soundtrack to Our Lives, featuring the single "Sun Comes Out", this track sung by a returning Ofoedu and a new female vocalist, Carrie Luer.

In 2016, a new version of "Turn Around" was made featuring new vocals from Ofoedu.

Small is also one half of the production team The Freemasons , along with James Wiltshire (Jimmy Gómez) who was a co-producer for Phats & Small.

Small is a Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. fan after being taken to games as a youngster by his uncle.

Their song "Turn Around" was on the CD of the computer game K.S.-n-Kickin.

Discography

Studio albums

TitleAlbum detailsPeak chart positions
UK
[5]
EUR
[6]
GER
[7]
NED
[8]
SWI
[9]
Now Phats What I Small Music
  • Released: 11 November 1999
  • Label: Multiply (#MULTY6)
  • Formats: LP, CS, CD
10275198452
This Time Around
  • Released: 18 June 2001
  • Label: Multiply (#MULTY8)
  • Formats: CS, CD
Soundtrack to Our Lives
  • Released: 2004
  • Label: Modul (#82876512412)
  • Formats: CD
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles

YearTitlePeak chart positions Certifications Album
UK
[5]
UK
Dance

[10]
AUS
[11]
BEL
[12]
EUR
[13]
FRA
[14]
GER
[15]
IRE
[16]
NED
[8]
SWI
[9]
1999"Turn Around"21592129187108Now Phats What I Small Music
"Feel Good"7421283564254620
"Tonite"11264448364015
2000"Harvest for the World"9059
2001"This Time Around"1598462924661This Time Around
"Change"45309696
"Respect the Cock"
2003"You're Rude (Get Fucked)"Non-album single
2004"Sun Comes Out"305745Soundtrack to Our Lives
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hear'Say</span> 2001–2002 British pop group

Hear'Say were a British pop group. They were created through the ITV reality TV show Popstars in February 2001, the first UK series of the international Popstars franchise. The group, who were signed to Polydor Records, originally consisted of Danny Foster, Myleene Klass, Kym Marsh, Suzanne Shaw, and Noel Sullivan.

Propellerheads were an English electronic music duo, formed in 1995 in Bath and consisting of Will White and Alex Gifford.

Freak Power was a band founded by bassist Norman Cook, Ashley Slater, and backing vocalist Jesse Graham. Their music was a mix of acid jazz, funk, soul, and trip hop. Although not credited, the London-based session bass player Dale Davis recorded bass and guitar on their debut album Drive-Thru Booty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DJ Sammy</span> Spanish DJ and record producer (born 1969)

Samuel Bouriah, better known by his stage name DJ Sammy, is a Spanish DJ and record producer. He has released five albums and has had five top-10 hits, including a cover of Bryan Adams' "Heaven", which reached number one in the UK in 2002. His career started with ex-wife Marie-José van der Kolk in the making of his first singles, under the stage name of DJ Sammy featuring Carisma.

Fragma is a German vocal trance music group, originally comprising three producers. The group was successful in the early 2000s when they released several singles that charted successfully across Europe, especially the United Kingdom and Ireland, but also found some success in the United States and Australia. They continued to produce music until 2012 following the departure of vocalist Damae. After several years of hiatus, Fragma recruited a new vocalist in 2017, Tess, to front the group.

Urban Cookie Collective are a British Eurodance band, best known for their 1993 hit single "The Key the Secret". The band was founded by keyboardist/songwriter Rohan Heath.

<i>Thank You</i> (Jamelia album) 2003 studio album by Jamelia

Thank You is the second studio album by British recording artist Jamelia, released in the UK via Parlophone on 29 September 2003. Recording sessions for Thank You took place from mid-2002 until early 2003 and features production from a variety of record producers including, Colin Emmanuel, who produced the majority of the album, Cutfather, Soulshock, Peter Biker, Matt Kent and Cameron McVey, among others. It was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize in 2004. Thank You is Jamelia's best-selling album to date, with sales of over three million copies shipped worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABC discography</span>

Here is the discography of the English pop band ABC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neil Diamond discography</span>

This is the discography of American singer-songwriter Neil Diamond. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists in history. Billboard ranked him as the 25th greatest artist of all time. According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), Diamond has sold 49.5 million albums in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rush discography</span>

Rush was a Canadian progressive rock band originally formed in August 1968, in the Willowdale neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario. For the overwhelming majority of its existence, the band consisted of bassist, keyboardist, and lead vocalist Geddy Lee, guitarist Alex Lifeson, and drummer and lyricist Neil Peart. The band achieved this definitive form when Neil Peart replaced original drummer, John Rutsey, in July 1974.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">September (Earth, Wind & Fire song)</span> 1978 song by Earth, Wind & Fire

"September" is a song by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire released as a single in 1978 on ARC/Columbia Records. Initially included as a track for The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1, "September" was very successful commercially and reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, No. 8 on the US Billboard Hot 100, and No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song remains a staple of the band's body of work and has been sampled, covered, remixed, and re-recorded numerous times.

<i>Get It On...Tonite</i> 1999 studio album by Montell Jordan

Get It On...Tonite is the fourth studio album by the American singer Montell Jordan. It was released by Def Jam Recordings's spin-off label Def Soul on November 9, 1999, in the United States. The production was by Jordan, Anthony "Shep" Crawford, and Jazz the Man. Another success, it peaked at number 32 on the US Billboard 200 and number 3 on the top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The title track found also found success on the Billboard charts, peaking at number 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Morrison discography</span>

This is the discography of Northern Irish singer Van Morrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De La Soul discography</span>

This article is a detailed listing of releases by the hip hop group De La Soul. They have one platinum and two gold records, and one Grammy Award. The group have sold over 5 million albums in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Astley discography</span>

The discography of English singer and songwriter Rick Astley consists of nine studio albums, five compilation albums, two remix albums, and twenty-four singles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Barlow discography</span>

English singer Gary Barlow has released six studio albums, eighteen singles, twenty-two music videos and five featured songs. Barlow has had fifteen number-one UK singles, eleven number-one albums and has written thirteen UK number-one singles, selling over 50 million records worldwide and over seven million concert tickets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del Amitri discography</span>

The discography of Del Amitri, a Scottish pop rock band formed in 1983, includes seven studio albums, one live album, three compilation albums and 24 singles. Five of their studio albums reached the top 10 in the UK Albums Chart. Their first album, which is a self-title album released in May 1985 did not enter the UK Albums Chart at all, and their final studio album Fatal Mistakes, released in May 2021, peaked at number 5. The band's most successful studio album was their third Change Everything, which reached second place in the UK Albums Chart. Also the band's compilation album, Hatful of Rain: The Best of Del Amitri, got to fifth place in the UK Albums Chart. The band broke up in 2002. They played a reunion gig at The Hydro Glasgow on 24 January 2014. A live album, Into the Mirror, recorded on the reunion tour in January and February 2014 was released on 20 October 2014.

<i>Dark Matter</i> (CamelPhat album) 2020 studio album by CamelPhat

Dark Matter is the debut studio album by English DJ and production duo CamelPhat, released on 30 October 2020 through Sony Music Entertainment. The album features their hits "Cola", "Panic Room", "Breathe" and "Hypercolour", and includes guest appearances from the likes of Maverick Sabre, Ali Love and Noel Gallagher.

Benedict Spencer Ofoedu is a British singer-songwriter. He is best known for being the former fiancé of Vanessa Feltz and for his media appearances thereby, though he had some success as a vocalist, having sung on ten UK Singles Chart entries as part of Benz, Phats & Small, and Intenso Project; a solo single, "Your Love", charted at No. 76 on the same chart.

Anthony Benedict Thompson, known professionally as Tony Thompson and Darkboy, is a British singer. He sung in Benz, who had two UK top 40 singles, sung on Phats & Small's second album This Time Around, including on "Change", which charted at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart, and Four Story, who partook in Making Your Mind Up.

References

  1. Potts, Diana. "Phats & Small Biography". AllMusic . Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  2. 1 2 Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 308. ISBN   0-7535-0427-8.
  3. 1 2 "Tony Thompson from Phats & Small". Phoenix FM. 7 December 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 Phats & Small - This Time Around , retrieved 6 May 2023
  5. 1 2 UK chart peaks:
  6. European albums chart peaks:
  7. German albums chart peaks:
  8. 1 2 "Dutch chart peaks". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Swiss chart peaks". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  10. UK dance singles chart peaks:
  11. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 217.
  12. "Belgian (Flanders) chart peaks". ultratop.be.nl. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  13. European singles chart peaks:
  14. "French chart peaks". lescharts.com. Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  15. German singles chart peaks:
  16. Irish singles chart peaks:
  17. "Certified Awards Search". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 20 October 2020. Note: User needs to enter Phats and Small in the "Search BPI Awards" field and press Enter
  18. "Belgian 1999 certified awards". BEA . Retrieved 20 October 2020.
  19. "French certified awards". SNEP . Retrieved 20 October 2020.