Big Fun was a British

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Ma ...

that was active between 1988 and 1994. The band consisted of

Phil Creswick Philip Creswick (born 12 October 1965) is an English musician and songwriter, and a former member of the boy band, Big Fun. Career Creswick initially was a dancer in the ensemble dance troupe Seventh Avenue. He was then a backing vocalist in the ...

, Mark Gillespie and Jason John (a.k.a. Jason Herbert). They were produced by

Stock Aitken Waterman Stock Aitken Waterman (abbreviated as SAW) are an English songwriting and record production trio consisting of Mike Stock, Matt Aitken, and Pete Waterman. The trio had great success from the mid-1980s through the early 1990s. SAW is considered ...

Career

Before they were Big Fun, Creswick and John were in another regroup of

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...

's boy band Seventh Avenue with Mark Long. The other member of the group at that time was Steve Crawley who provided lead vocals for the group, and sang live at nightclub appearances across the UK. Other original Big Fun members included Keith Davies from Stretford in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, who went on to star in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

''. Their only album, ''

A Pocketful of Dreams ''A Pocketful of Dreams'' is the debut album by the English boy band Big Fun. It was released in 1990 and reached the Top 10 of the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #7. The album includes their UK Top 40 hit singles "Blame It on the Boogie" (a cove ...

'' was released in 1990, and reached the top 10 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

. Singles released from the album included "

Blame It on the Boogie "Blame It on the Boogie" is a song released in 1978 by English singer-songwriter Mick Jackson. It has been covered by numerous other artists, including The Jacksons. The song was performed on ''Musikladen'' (January 1979), ''Aplauso'' (February ...

", a cover version of

The Jacksons The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

' 1978 hit, " Can't Shake the Feeling", and "

Handful of Promises "Handful of Promises" is a pop-dance song written by Stock Aitken Waterman for British boys band Big Fun. It was the third single from their 1990 debut studio album '' A Pocketful of Dreams'' on which it is the first track. The B-side of the vari ...

". "I Feel the Earth Move" was intended to be their first single (and promo copies were circulated), but its release was cancelled in favour of "Blame It on the Boogie". Their final single " Stomp!" was issued in 1994, under the name 'Big Fun II' as Jason John had left the band. Although this failed to obtain the commercial success of their earlier work, it reached the dance chart in the United States. All three members of the band were gay and had been advised by

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman, (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, radio and club DJ, television presenter, president of Coventry Bears rugby league club and a keen railway enthusiast. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterm ...

to keep their sexuality quiet, as he believed it would ruin their career. After disbanding, Creswick became a painter and decorator, Phil was convicted of drug supply and possession John returned to being a model booker and music manager. John died in Brazil in 2019.

Members

Personnel *

- backing vocals *Mark Gillespie (Born November 26, 1966) - lead vocalist * Jason John - backing vocals * Keith Davies

Discography

Singles

Albums

*1990 – ''

'' – UK No. 7, GER No. 39

Video

* 1990 – "A Pocketful of Dreams – The Video Hits"

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Big Fun (band) 1988 establishments in England 1994 disestablishments in England English dance music groups English pop music groups Dance-pop groups English boy bands English LGBT musicians Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1994 British musical trios Jive Records artists