First Light was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national id ...

funk project of

Paul Hardcastle Paul Louis Hardcastle (born 10 December 1957) is a British composer, musician, producer, songwriter, radio presenter and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known for his song " 19", which went to number 1 in the UK Singles Chart in 1985. Early l ...

Overview

and Derek Green were originally members of the

Brit funk Brit funk (or Britfunk) is a musical style that has its origins in the British music scene of the late 1970s and which remained popular into the 1980s. It mixes elements from jazz, funk, soul, urban dance rhythms and pop hooks. The scene origina ...

band Direct Drive, however at the end of 1982, they decided to leave the band and become a duo. Following their formation, they released the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

"Don't Be Mistaken". In early 1983, they released their eponymous debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

which featured the song "Explain the Reasons". It reached No. 65 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

the same year. The follow-up single was "Wish You Were Here"; which peaked at No. 71 on the same chart. After the release of their second and last album ''Daybreak'' in 1984, Hardcastle and Green parted ways. Green moved to other projects and Hardcastle pursued a solo career. In 1989, Hardcastle resumed working on First Light. This time he worked with Kevin Henry who had previously provided vocals on his solo work. Produced and arranged entirely by Hardcastle, the new album ''You Had It All'' was issued on the Sgt. Peppers record label. Four subsequent singles from the album were released. In 2010, Hardcastle released a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a majo ...

album under the name First Light called ''East to West''.

Discography

Albums

* ''First Light'' (1983) * ''Daybreak'' (1984) * ''You Had It All'' (1989) * ''East to West'' (2010)

Compilations

* ''Time Machine – The Best of Direct Drive & First Light 1981–82'' (2001)

Singles

References

External links

First Light Discography
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

. Musical groups established in 1982 English musical duos English funk musical groups British soul musical groups English boogie musicians English electro musicians British post-disco music groups 1982 establishments in England {{England-band-stub