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Londonbeat are a British
dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...
band who scored a number of pop and dance hits in the early 1990s. They currently consist of vocalists
Jimmy Helms James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years Helms was born in Florida. His grandfather was a Bl ...
, Jimmy Chambers, and Charles Pierre. Former members include multi-instrumentalist William Henshall, George Chandler, Marc Goldschmitz, and Myles Kayne. As of , the band has released six studio albums and numerous compilations.


History

Formed in England's capital city, Londonbeat's career took off with the song "There's a Beat Going On", from their 1988 debut album, '' Speak''. The song peaked on the UK chart at number 88. The track "9 A.M (The Comfort Zone)", from the same record, subsequently became a modest success in the UK, rising to number 19. Londonbeat are best known for their 1990 single "
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 ...
", from their second album, '' In the Blood'', released the same year. After capturing the number 2 spot in the UK in September 1990, the song hit number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the
Hot Dance Music/Club Play The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set lists to determine the mos ...
charts in February 1991. Their follow-up single, "
A Better Love "A Better Love" is a song by British-American dance-pop band Londonbeat, released on 12 November 1990 by Anxious and RCA as the second single from the group's second studio album, '' In the Blood'' (1990). It was the follow-up to their internati ...
", became a ''Billboard'' Top-20 hit. The band issued the album ''
Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
'' in 1992 and followed it two years later with ''Londonbeat'', which spawned the single "Come Back", bringing them back to the top of the dance charts. In 1995, Londonbeat entered the UK heats of the
Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...
with their non-album track "I'm Just Your Puppet on a ... (String)". However, they were not selected to enter the main contest (losing out to rap group
Love City Groove Love City Groove were a musical group who represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1995, with their self-titled song after being the winner in a public vote. The song finished tenth with 76 points; and peaked at No. 7 on th ...
), and the single stalled at number 55 on the UK Singles Chart. In 2003, they regrouped with a new lineup and signed to 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, ...
. An album called ''Back in the Hi-Life'' was released and featured re-recordings of "A Better Love" and "I've Been Thinking About You". The band issued ''Gravity'' in 2004, and in 2019, they published the retrospective ''30 Years'', which included two original tracks as well as several previously unreleased songs and remixes.


Other projects

Jimmy Helms James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years Helms was born in Florida. His grandfather was a Bl ...
has had a successful solo career and sang
radio jingle Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...
s for
Radio Hallam Hits Radio South Yorkshire, formerly Hallam FM, is an Independent Local Radio station based in Sheffield, England, owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK as part of the Hits Radio network. It broadcasts to South Yorkshire and Chesterfield, ...
and
Hereward Radio Heart Peterborough (formerly Hereward FM) was an Independent Local Radio station serving Cambridgeshire, south Lincolnshire and west Norfolk. Launched on 10 July 1980 as Hereward Radio 225, the station was the first local service in the area, wi ...
in the UK. George Chandler is a founding member and former frontman of the band
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 ...
. Chambers and Chandler were backing vocalists for
Paul Young Paul Antony Young (born 17 January 1956) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & the Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, he became a teen idol with his solo success in the 1980s. H ...
's 1985 album, ''
The Secret of Association ''The Secret of Association'' is the second studio album by the English singer Paul Young. Released in 1985, it reached number one on the UK album charts and the Top 20 in the US. The album spawned hits including a cover of Hall & Oates' 1980 son ...
''. Helms, Chandler, and Chambers were backing vocalists on the
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 ...
1987 single " When Will You Make My Telephone Ring", and they sang on the tracks " Good Thing", "Tell Me What", and "It's OK (It's Alright)" from the
Fine Young Cannibals Fine Young Cannibals (FYC) are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham, West Midlands, in 1984 by former The Beat band bassist David Steele and guitarist Andy Cox with singer Roland Gift (formerly of the Akrylykz). Their self-titled ...
' 1989 album, '' The Raw & the Cooked''. Chandler, Chambers, and Helms were backing vocalists on the 1988
Godley & Creme Godley & Creme were an English rock duo formally established in Manchester in 1977 by Kevin Godley and Lol Creme. The pair began releasing music as a duo after their departure from the rock band 10cc. In 1979, they directed their first music v ...
album, ''
Goodbye Blue Sky "Goodbye Blue Sky" is a song by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It appears on their 1979 double album, ''The Wall''. Plot In a brief prologue, a skylark is heard chirping. The sound of approaching bombers catches the attention of a child (voi ...
''.


Band members

Current *
Jimmy Helms James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years Helms was born in Florida. His grandfather was a Bl ...
* Jimmy Chambers * Charles Pierre Past * William Henshall (credited as Willy M) * George Chandler * Marc Goldschmitz * Myles Kayne


Lineups

Jimmy Helms is the only member present in every Londonbeat lineup. Jimmy Chambers is also present in every lineup, with the exception of 1999, when the band was known as New Londonbeat, due to his absence. 1988–1992 * Jimmy Helms * Jimmy Chambers * George Chandler * Willy M 1994–1995 * Jimmy Helms * Jimmy Chambers * Willy M 1999 * Jimmy Helms * Charles Pierre * Tony Blaze 2003–2004 * Jimmy Helms * Jimmy Chambers * Myles Kayne * Marc Goldschmitz 2004–2018 * Jimmy Helms * Jimmy Chambers * Myles Kayne 2018–present * Jimmy Helms * Jimmy Chambers * Charles Pierre


Discography

* '' Speak'' (1988) * '' In the Blood'' (1990) * ''
Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
'' (1992) * ''Londonbeat'' (1994) * ''Back in the Hi-Life'' (2003) * ''Gravity'' (2004)


See also

*
List of number-one hits (United States) This is a list of songs that have peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and the magazine's national singles charts that preceded it. Introduced in 1958, the Hot 100 is the pre-eminent singles chart in the United States, currently m ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.) This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard'' magazine's weekly singles chart(s). This list spans from the issue dated January 1, 1955 to the present. Prior to the creation of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, ''Bil ...
*
List of number-one dance hits (United States) ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine has published Billboard charts, charts ranking the top-performing dance music songs in the United States since 1974. Originally a top-ten list of tracks that garnered the largest audience response in N ...
*
List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart This is a list of recording artists who have reached number one on ''Billboard magazine's'' Dance Club Songs chart. ''Billboard'' began ranking dance music on the week ending October 26, 1974, and this is the standard music popularity chart in ...


References


External links

* * {{Authority control British dance music groups Black British musical groups British musical trios Musical groups established in 1988 Pop music groups from London