Loose Ends (band)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Loose Ends | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genre(s) | Soul, R&B, Urban |
| Years active | 1980 – 1990, 1998, 2005 - Present |
| Label(s) | MCA, Virgin Records |
| Members | |
| Carl McIntosh Jane Eugene Steve Nichol |
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Loose Ends was a successful English R&B band that had several urban contemporary hits. The trio was formed in London in 1980, initially comprising vocalist and guitarist Carl McIntosh, vocalist Jane Eugene, and keyboard player, writer and founder Steve Nichol. The latter two left the group in 1989, bringing an end to the band's most successful phase.
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[edit] Career
The group was originally called Loose End, and signed with Virgin Records in 1981. Their debut material was written for them by Chris Amoo and Eddie Amoo, who had had UK Singles Chart success of their own in the 1970s, with their group The Real Thing. The trio changed its name to Loose Ends in 1983 and signed with the American MCA label in 1984.
The Group was founded by Steve Nichol after he left the prestigious London Guildhall School of Music and Drama where he was classically trained. Most of the band's material was written and supplied by Nichol. Nichol auditioned McIntosh at a bar in central london and found Eugene through a college fashion show. They achieved their first success with "Hangin' On A String (Contemplating)" in 1985, which reached #13 in the UK. They reached #16 with the single "Magic Touch" in the same year. The disc was produced in the U.S., as was their 1986 hit "Slow Down" (later used as the theme song for MuchMusic's Soul in The City program). Later that year, a track they had written and produced for Five Star, "Let Me Be The One," reached number two in the same listings. Subsequent falling sales saw the threesome notch up their final transatlantic hit in 1988 with "Watching You".
The group shuffled its line-up in 1990 due to differences in musical direction for the group, with Eugene & Nichol wanting to remain true to the groups sound and McIntosh wanting to be more experimental. Jane and Steve decided to leave, and were replaced by joined by Linda Carriere and Sunay Suleyman. For the release of what turned out to be the final studio album released under the Loose Ends name, Look How Long, which featured their final big hit single, 'Don't Be A Fool', a song that reached high on the R&B charts in the UK and United States in 1990. McIntosh himself went on to work behind the recording desk following the group's peak popularity, but the new trio soon disbanded. He has since produced several artists' work, most notably that of Caron Wheeler.
In 1998, all three original members of the group reunited and appeared on a single by Pete Rock called "Take Your Time". They also appeared in the music video for the track.
Since 2005, the original band members (sometimes without Carl McIntosh) reunite intermittently to perform in the US and the UK. They have no current plans to record new material.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
- 1984[1]: A Little Spice (Virgin) - UK #46, US #46, R&B #5
- 1985: So Where Are You? (Virgin) - UK #13, US #189
- 1986: Zagora (MCA) - UK #15, US #59, R&B #7
- 1988: The Real Chuckeeboo (MCA) - UK #52, US #80, R&B #16
- 1990: Look How Long (MCA) - UK #19, US #124, R&B #28
- 1992: Tighten Up Volume 1 (EMI) UK #40
- 2003: The Best of Loose Ends (EMI)
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song | UK singles | US Hot 100 | U.S. Hot Dance Music/Club Play | U.S. R&B | Album | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | "We've Arrived" | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| 1982 | "In The Sky" | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| 1983 | "Don't Hold Back Your Love" | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| 1984 | "Tell Me What You Want" | 74 | - | 29 | - | A Little Spice | ||||||
| 1984 | "Emergency (Dial 999)" | 41 | - | - | - | A Little Spice | ||||||
| 1985 | "Choose Me (Rescue Me)" | 59 | - | - | 47 | A Little Spice | ||||||
| 1985 | "[[Choose Me (Rescue Me){Remix}]]" | - | - | 25 | - | 1985 | "Hangin' On A String (Contemplating)" | 13 | 43 | 12 | 1 | A Little Spice |
| 1985 | "Magic Touch" | 16 | - | - | - | So Where Are You? | ||||||
| 1985 | "Golden Years" | 59 | - | - | - | So Where Are You? | ||||||
| 1986 | "Stay A Little While, Child" | 52 | - | - | 18 | "[[Stay A Little While, Child {Remix}]]" | - | - | 49 | - | Zagora | |
| 1986 | "Slow Down" | 27 | - | - | 1 | "[[Slow Down {Remix}]]" | 27 | - | 42 | 1 | Zagora | |
| 1986 | "Nights Of Pleasure" | 42 | - | - | 58 | Zagora | ||||||
| 1987 | "You Can't Stop The Rain" | - | - | - | 32 | Zagora | ||||||
| 1988 | "Mr Bachelor" | 50 | - | - | 11 | The Real Chuckeeboo | ||||||
| 1988 | "Watching You" | - | - | - | 2 | The Real Chuckeeboo | ||||||
| 1989 | "Life" | - | - | - | 32 | The Real Chuckeeboo | ||||||
| 1990 | "Don't Be A Fool" | 13 | - | 50 | 10 | Look How Long | ||||||
| 1991 | "Cheap Talk" | - | - | - | 28 | Look How Long | ||||||
| 1991 | "Love's Got Me" | 40 | - | - | 76 | Look How Long | ||||||
| 1992 | "Hangin' On A String (re-mix)" | 25 | - | - | - | Tighten Up Volume 1 | ||||||
| 1992 | "Magic Touch (re-mix)" | 75 | - | - | - | Tighten Up Volume 1 |
[edit] References
- ^ A Little Spice at Allmusic. AMG gives 1983 as the release date, but specifies 1984 for the LP release.
