Loose Ends (also known as Loose End) was a British R&B band that achieved several

hit record A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

s throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s. The trio was formed in London in 1980, initially comprising vocalist and guitarist Carl McIntosh, vocalist Jane Eugene, and

keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Mus ...

player and vocalist Steve Nichol. Despite enjoying success throughout the 1980s, both Nichol and Eugene left the group in 1990 due to personal differences.

Career

Loose Ends signed with

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

in 1981 under the name 'Loose End'. Some of their debut material was written for them by Chris Amoo and Eddie Amoo, who had achieved UK Singles Chart success in the 1970s with their group The Real Thing. The trio changed their name to Loose Ends in 1983 and continued to record for Virgin. They were distributed in the U.S. by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. The group was founded by Steve Nichol after he left the London

Guildhall School of Music and Drama The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music school, music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz al ...

. Nichol went on to tour with

The Jam The Jam were an English rock band formed in 1972 in Woking, Surrey, consisting of Paul Weller, Bruce Foxton and Rick Buckler. They released 18 consecutive top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in ...

in 1982 as a trumpet, trombone, and keyboard player. Together, the trio achieved their first success with "

Hangin' on a String (Contemplating) "Hangin' on a String (Contemplating)" is the seventh single by British soul band Loose Ends from their second studio album, '' So Where Are You?'', and was released in February 1985 by Virgin Records. In the group's native UK, the single made th ...

" in 1985, which reached No. 13 in the British

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. "Hangin' on a String" also reached No. 1 on the US ''Billboard'' R&B chart, making Loose Ends the first African-British band to top that chart. They reached No. 16 with the single "Magic Touch" in the same year. The disc was produced in the US, as was their 1986 hit "Slow Down" (later used as the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

for Canadian

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

's ''Soul in the City'' programme). At this time, Carl McIntosh also arranged and played on a number of tracks from

Five Star Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) were a British Pop music, pop group, formed in 1983 and comprising siblings Stedman Pearson, Stedman, Lorraine, Denise Pearson, Denise, Doris, and Delroy Pearson. From 1985 to 1988, Five Star had four top-20 a ...

's debut album, including the single " Let Me Be The One," which reached No. 2 in the same listings later in 1986. In spite of subsequent falling sales, the trio notched their final

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

hit in 1988 with "Watching You (Watching Me)." The group's line-up changed in 1990 due to differences in its proposed musical direction. Eugene and Nichol decided to leave and were replaced by Linda Carriere and Sunay Suleyman. '' Look How Long'' turned out to be the final studio album released under the Loose Ends name, and featured their final hit single, " Don't Be a Fool" (1990). McIntosh went on to work behind the recording desk with the new members and has continued to do so to this day. He has since produced several artists' work, most notably that of

Caron Wheeler Caron Melina Wheeler (born 19 January 1963) is a British singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born and raised in London, she performed in various singing competitions as a teenager and began her recording career as one of the found ...

, Ruth Joy, and Kwesi. The original line-up of Carl McIntosh, Jane Eugene, and Steve Nichol briefly reunited in 1998 for a guest appearance on "Take Your Time", a song from

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

's debut solo album, '' Soul Survivor'', which was released as a single the following year. All three also appeared in the music video for the song.

2015–present

During 2015, McIntosh was interviewed by Daniel Falconer of the celebrity magazine ''Female First'' to speak about his top 10 career moments. Also in the same year, he participated in a charity fundraising event in Glasgow, Scotland, in aid of supporting Gambia. In 2016, leading Toronto newspaper ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

'' interviewed McIntosh about his role in introducing Toronto to UK soul music in the 1980s and 1990s. In 2017, McIntosh was asked by

Red Bull Music Academy The Red Bull Music Academy (RBMA) is a world-traveling series of music workshops and festivals that was founded in 1998 by Red Bull GmbH. The main five-week event is held in a different city each year. The public portion of its program is a festiv ...

in Melbourne, Australia, to speak about how he had previously produced Loose Ends' songs. During 2020, Smooth Radio presenter

Angie Greaves Angie Greaves (born in London) is a British radio presenter. Radio career Greaves started her media career in 1982 as a BBC Administrator at Television Centre. In 1986 she moved to London's Capital London, Capital Radio, where she began working o ...

interviewed McIntosh about how he continued with Loose Ends after the departure of former members, explaining how the group did not break up when two members left. Soon after, McIntosh was asked by

Roland Corporation is a Japanese multinational manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, electronic equipment, and software. It was founded by Ikutaro Kakehashi in Osaka on 18 April 1972. In 2005, its headquarters relocated to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefect ...

music to discuss and demonstrate how he produced the drum programming using the legendary

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

drum machine for the hit song "

". McIntosh went into great detail explaining how it was produced. McIntosh continues to perform and write new songs under the name Loose Ends with the 1990 line-up of Linda Carriere and Sunay Suleyman. In 2021, Loose Ends signed a new record deal with the

British hip hop UK rap, also known as British hip hop or UK hip hop or British rap, is a music genre and culture that covers a variety of styles of hip hop music made in the United Kingdom. The development of UK rap was shaped by a distinct set of regional inf ...

label Digital Jukebox Records to release new singles and albums.

Discography

Studio albums

Compilation albums

Singles

References

External links

* {{Authority control Musical groups established in 1980 Musical groups disestablished in 1990 British contemporary R&B musical groups Contemporary R&B musical groups from London Virgin Records artists MCA Records artists Black British musical groups British soul musical groups British post-disco music groups