Soul II Soul
| Soul II Soul | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| origin | London |
| Genre (s) | Contemporary R&B , Soul , Reggae , Dance , New Jack Swing |
| founding | 1982, 2009 |
| resolution | 1997 |
| Website | www.soul2soul.co.uk |
| Current occupation | |
DJ, producer |
Jazzie B |
singing |
Caron Wheeler |
Keyboard , producer |
Simon Law |
Guitar, keyboard, percussion |
Daddae |
producer |
Nellee Hooper |
| former members | |
singing |
Rose Windross |
singing |
Victoria Wilson James |
singing |
Lamya († 2009) |
singing |
Melissa Bell († 2017) |
singing |
Doreen Waddell († 2002) |
Rap, vocals, producer |
Tony "Dobie" Campbell |
singing |
Kym Mazelle |
DJ |
Aitch Bee |
DJ |
Jazzy Q |
Soul II Soul is a British dance - and R & B - band , which by its initiator Jazzie B (* 26. January 1963 in Hornsey, north London, as Trevor Beresford Romeo ) is dominated.
Band history
Soul II Soul was originally founded in the mid-1970s by the then 13-year-old Jazzie B and his school friend Philip "Daddae" Harvey as a sound system and has been called Jah Rico since the first gig in 1977 . In 1982 the name was changed to Soul II Soul. Its increasing popularity led to legendary parties at the Africa Center in Covent Garden and began to influence the black music scene in Britain. In 1988 they were finally signed by Virgin Records . First they worked with the producer Nellee Hooper and the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra. The result was an R&B sound with elements from Philly soul, disco, reggae and 1980s hip-hop.
The first singles Fairplay and Feel Free reached the British charts in 1988. With the title Keep on Movin ' sung by Caron Wheeler, the international breakthrough came in the following year. Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) , also sung by Wheeler, even surpassed the success of the previous single. The debut album Club Classics Vol. I rose to number 1 on the British album charts and won two Grammys in 1990 .
In 1990 Soul II Soul released their second album Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade , which in turn rose to number 1 in the British charts, and the hit singles Get a Life and A Dream's a Dream , which once again made their way into many international hit parades succeeded. The following releases People and Missing You could not build on this success and were only placed in Germany and Great Britain.
Nellee Hooper, who had meanwhile worked as a star producer for Massive Attack , Björk and Madonna , was missing from the later publications . Jazzie B. now increasingly worked with loosely engaged guest musicians and singers. The mixture of sluggish bass lines, the Philadelphia sound based soul harmonies and light reggae influences lost more and more of its energy.
Until the late 1990s, there were various album and single releases that reached chart listings, but could no longer build on earlier successes. The Soul-II-Soul-Soundsystem has been organizing party weekends on a regular basis since the late 1990s. In the current line-up, the band also appears live sporadically and released a studio concert as an album at the end of 2016 under the title Origins: The Roots of Soul II Soul . In addition to music, there is also its own fashion label.
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1989 | Club Classics Vol. One |
DE13 (25 weeks) DE |
AT11 (16 weeks) AT |
CH12 (9 weeks) CH |
UK1  × 3
(60 weeks)UK |
US14th × 3
(51 weeks)US |
also: Keep on Movin '(US version)
|
| 1990 | Vol. II (1990 - A New Decade) |
DE15 (18 weeks) DE |
AT15 (14 weeks) AT |
CH14 (12 weeks) CH |
UK1 (20 weeks)UK |
US21st  (19 weeks)US |
|
| 1992 | Volume III - Just Right |
DE29 (18 weeks) DE |
AT24 (8 weeks) AT |
CH19 (8 weeks) CH |
UK3 (11 weeks)UK |
US88 (8 weeks) US |
|
| 1993 | Volume IV - The Classic Singles 88-93 | - | - | - |
UK10 (13 weeks)UK |
- | |
| 1995 | Volume V - Believe |
DE77 (5 weeks) DE |
AT39 (1 week) AT |
- |
UK13 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1997 | Time for change | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 1999 | @ Remix.or.jp | - | - | - | - | - | |
Compilations
- 1998: [The.Club.Mix.Hits]
- 1998: The Greatest / ザ ・ グ レ イ テ ス ト (Japan only)
- 1999: Jazzie's Groove
- 2016: Origins: The Roots of Soul II Soul (box with 3 CDs; release: November 4th)
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
DE
|
AT
|
CH
|
UK
|
US
|
|||
| 1988 | Fairplay Club Classics Vol. One |
- | - | - |
UK63 (3 weeks) UK |
- |
feat. Rose Windross
|
| Feel Free Club Classics Vol. One |
- | - | - |
UK64 (2 weeks) UK |
- |
feat. Doreen
|
|
| 1989 | Jazzie's Groove Club Classics Vol. One |
- | - | - | - | - | |
| Keep on Movin ' Club Classics Vol. One |
DE13 (21 weeks) DE |
AT18 (10 weeks) AT |
CH18 (14 weeks) CH |
UK5 (14 weeks) UK |
US- |
feat. Caron Wheeler
|
|
|
Back to Life (However Do You Want Me) Club Classics Vol. One |
DE4 (21 weeks) DE |
AT13 (10 weeks) AT |
CH2 (20 weeks) CH |
UK1  (14 weeks)UK |
US4th (28 weeks)US |
feat. Caron Wheeler
|
|
| Get a Life Vol. II (1990 - A New Decade) |
DE6 (18 weeks) DE |
AT8 (13 weeks) AT |
CH12 (11 weeks) CH |
UK3 (13 weeks) UK |
US54 (11 weeks)US |
||
| 1990 | A Dream's Dream Vol. II (1990 - A New Decade) |
DE15 (14 weeks) DE |
AT16 (7 weeks) AT |
CH14 (11 weeks) CH |
UK6 (6 weeks) UK |
US85 (5 weeks) US |
|
| People Vol. II (1990 - A New Decade) |
DE46 (10 weeks) DE |
- | - | - | - | ||
| Missing You Vol. II (1990 - A New Decade) |
- | - | - |
UK22 (7 weeks) UK |
- |
feat. Kym Mazelle
|
|
| 1992 | Joy Volume III - Just Right |
DE21 (15 weeks) DE |
- |
CH21 (11 weeks) CH |
UK4 (7 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Move Me No Mountain Volume III - Just Right |
- | - | - |
UK31 (4 weeks) UK |
- |
feat. Kofi
|
|
| Just Right Volume III - Just Right |
- | - | - |
UK38 (2 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1993 | Wish Volume IV - The Classic Singles |
- | - |
CH35 (4 weeks) CH |
UK24 (4 weeks) UK |
- | |
| 1995 | Love Enuff Volume V - Believe |
DE74 (5 weeks) DE |
- | - |
UK12 (6 weeks) UK |
- | |
| I Care Volume V - Believe |
- | - | - |
UK17 (4 weeks) UK |
- | ||
| 1997 | Represent time for change |
- | - | - |
UK39 (2 weeks) UK |
- | |
| Pleasure Dome Time for Change |
- | - | - |
UK51 (1 week) UK |
- | ||
Web links
- Official website
- Soul II Soul at Discogs (English)
- Biography at musicline.de
Individual evidence
- ^ Jazzie B interview. (No longer available online.) DJHistory.com, archived from the original on January 10, 2015 ; accessed on November 19, 2019 .
- ^ Jazzie B: Back II his roots. (No longer available online.) Voice-online.co.uk, archived from the original on September 15, 2017 ; accessed on November 19, 2019 .
- ↑ Origins: The Roots of Soul II Soul
- ↑ Chart positions albums: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Gold / platinum awards: search on bpi.co.uk and on riaa.com
- ↑ Chart placements singles: DE AT CH UK US