James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer, known as a member of

Londonbeat 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 He ...

but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse".

Early years

Helms was born in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. His grandfather was a

Black Seminole The Black Seminoles, or Afro-Seminoles, are an ethnic group of mixed Native American and African origin associated with the Seminole people in Florida and Oklahoma. They are mostly blood descendants of the Seminole people, free Africans, and e ...

and a preacher. Helms discovered music when his aunt gave the family a radio, and went on to play trumpet in the school band. After high school, he moved to

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

. He released his first single, “Daddy! Daddy!” on Forest Records in 1962. He played with the Carl Sally band and moved to

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, where he worked as a session guitarist. He joined the US Army and played trumpet in the Fort Jackson Army Band. After 1970, Helms began to spend more time pursuing a music career in the UK. He released many singles on labels such as Cube, Capitol, Philips, and Pye. None of these releases made much of an impact, but they helped keep Helms in the spotlight.

Career

In Boston in 1970, Helms appeared in the Broadway musical ''

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'', in which he played the character Hud. Reviewing his performance, ''

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized in lowercase since 2013) is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events and styles related to th ...

'' noted: "He projects a personality that is vital." Helms signed to the UK’s

Fly Records Fly Records is a British independent record label, established in 1970 by the independent music publisher David Platz, and initially managed by Malcolm Jones from the offices of Essex Music in London. History Platz had been producing records ...

in 1972, and released "So Long Love" on its Cube Records subsidiary. However, he is best known for his No. 8 UK hit single, " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse" in 1973. Later releases such as "I'll Take Good Care of You" and "Jack Horner's Holiday" did not repeat the commercial success. "Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse" was written and produced by John Worth. Helms sang

Elmer Bernstein Elmer Bernstein ( '; April 4, 1922August 18, 2004) was an American composer and conductor. In a career that spanned over five decades, he composed "some of the most recognizable and memorable themes in Hollywood history", including over 150 orig ...

and Don Black's title song for the 1974 adventure film ''

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

,'' starring

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the actor to portray Ian Fleming's fictional secret agent James Bond (literary character), James Bond in the Eon Productions/MGM Studios film series, playing the ...

. In 1974 he worked on

Roger Glover Roger David Glover (born 30 November 1945) is a Welsh bassist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as a member of the hard rock bands Deep Purple and Rainbow. As a member of Deep Purple, Glover was inducted into the Rock and Roll ...

's concept album '' The Butterfly Ball and the Grasshopper's Feast'', performing "Waiting." The album also featured

Ronnie James Dio Ronald James Padavona (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010), known professionally as Ronnie James Dio, was an American heavy metal singer. He fronted numerous bands throughout his career, including Elf, Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Dio and Heaven & Hel ...

, Glenn Hughes,

David Coverdale David Coverdale (born 22 September 1951) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the founder and lead singer of the hard rock band Whitesnake. Coverdale was also the lead singer of Deep Purple from 1973 to 1976; he has had a solo car ...

Tony Ashton Edward Anthony Ashton (1 March 1946 – 28 May 2001) was an English rock pianist, keyboardist, singer, record composer, producer and artist. Early life Born in Blackburn, Lancashire, Ashton spent his formative years in the seaside town of Blac ...

and John Lawton. In 1976, Helms performed on two songs for

Eddie Hardin Eddie Hardin (19 February 1949 – 22 July 2015) was an English rock pianist and singer-songwriter. Born Edward Harding, he was best known for his associations with the Spencer Davis Group, Axis Point, and Hardin & York. Hardin, along with the ...

's ''Wizard's Convention'' album ("Loose Ends" and "She's a Woman.") Helms released a single and soundtrack album for the film '' Black Joy'' with producer

Biddu Biddu Appaiah (born 8 February 1945) is a British-Indian singer-songwriter, composer, and music producer who composed and produced many worldwide hit records during a career spanning five decades. Considered one of the pioneers of disco, Euro ...

in 1977.

1980s and 1990s

Helms worked on the soundtrack of the 1985 movie ''

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

'', and performed some songs on the album release of the 1980s stage musical ''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. During this period, he worked as a session musician with

Topper Headon Nicholas Bowen "Topper" Headon (born 30 May 1955) is an English drummer and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer of punk rock band the Clash. Headon was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the rest of the Clash in 2003. ...

Deacon Blue Deacon Blue are a Scottish pop rock band formed in Glasgow in 1985. The line-up of the band consists of vocalists Ricky Ross and Lorraine McIntosh, keyboard player James Prime, drummer Dougie Vipond, guitarist Gregor Philp and bassist Le ...

, Madness, and other groups. Helms was often heard singing vocals on many radio jingles on

Independent Local Radio Independent Local Radio is the collective name given to commercial radio stations in the United Kingdom. As a result of the buyouts and mergers permitted by the Broadcasting Act 1990, and deregulation resulting from the Communications Act 2 ...

stations in the United Kingdom. His voice was particularly prominent on the

Alfasound Alfasound was a radio jingle production company based in Manchester from late 1970s to mid-1990s founded by Alan Fawkes and ex- Piccadilly Radio DJ Steve England. Alfasound was responsible for some of the most memorable radio jingles in the 8 ...

produced ident packages for Pennine Radio, Radio Hallam and the

Yorkshire Radio Network The Yorkshire Radio Network was a group of three radio stations which shared programmes in the evening and at weekends. YRN was made-up of Pennine Radio in Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire ...

. Helms also voiced/sang the part of the Cilician pirate Isoricus on the track 'Trust Me', on Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of Spartacus released in 1992.

Londonbeat

In 1988 Helms, along with band members George Chandler (ex-

Olympic Runners The Olympic Runners were a 1970s British funk band, put together by record producer Mike Vernon who also played percussion, and fronted by singer George Chandler. They also included multi-instrumentalist Pete Wingfield, and had a number of hi ...

), Jimmy Chambers, and William Henshall formed the band

. The band reached initial success in the Netherlands, but quickly found a broader audience. The group's hits include "

I've Been Thinking About You "I've Been Thinking About You" is a song by British band Londonbeat, released in August 1990 by Radioactive Records, Radioactive and Anxious Records, Anxious as the lead single from their second studio album, ''In the Blood (album), In the Bloo ...

", " A Better Love", and "9 A.M (The Comfort Zone)", all written by William Henshall. The song "I've Been Thinking About You", written by Helms, produced his highest-ever profile, reaching No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart in September 1990, and No. 1 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...

in February 1991. It stayed on this chart for nearly five months. Londonbeat went on hiatus in 1995, but in 2003, it re-formed as New Londonbeat with a line-up consisting of Jimmy Helms, Jimmy Chambers, Myles Kayne and Marc Goldschmitz. Signed to the German record label

Coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...

, they released an album called ''Back in the Hi-Life'', which featured re-recordings of "A Better Love", "I've Been Thinking About You", and with new tracks added.

Discography

Albums

* ''Jimmy Helms'' (Oracle Records, 1969) * ''Gonna Make You an Offer!'' ( Cube Records, 1975) * ''Songs I Sing'' (

Pye Records PYE or Pye Records is an independent British record label. It was first established in 1955 and played a major role in shaping rock 'n' roll and pop music history. The Pye name was dropped in 1980 due to trademark issues, after which it produced ...

, 1975)

Singles

References

External links

*
Official websiteYouTube channelJimmy Helms "Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse" from YouTube
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms, Jimmy 1941 births Living people American soul musicians American male singer-songwriters American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American expatriates in England Singer-songwriters from Florida