80s brit soul - big hair, smooth grooves

uk soul artists in the 80s were not obviously from these shores on first glance. sure, if you listened carefully or read smash hits you would find out soon enough that they were from basildon or wigan rather than minneapolis or atlanta. they didn't go out of their way to represent britain, maybe because the music wasn't as distinct as it is today. they dressed like their us counterparts, sounded like them and some even had as much success across the pond.

many of these acts embraced jheri curl soul in all its aesthetic glory, and so visually you probably wouldn't realise say, that loose ends and midnight star were from different parts of the world. they wore the same metallic suits and piled their hair high on one side (the girls, mostly).

others, well they just did their thing and some endeared themselves to the american record buying public more than the home crowd. critics often believe british artists make cynical attempts to crack the us market by adopting a us-style persona and sound, and that this is the secret of their success. the truth is, they stick out like a sore thumb over there.

what the british acts did have though, despite copycat images and sounds, was a certain sweetness and honesty that shone through their lyrics. most preferred to sing about relationships and avoided the overconfident posturing that captured the essence of the soul glo genre so well.

ten brit soul classics from the 80s - download here

loose ends - hanging on a string (1985)

loose ends are still held up as shining examples of 80s soul - both here and across the atlantic. this 1985 hit from their second album 'so where are you' was one of their many chart successes. one time vocalist trish lewin's daughter, lisa roxanne, has carried on the family pop legacy in recent years.

royalle delite - i'll be a freak for you (1983)

not that much is known about this group, although they had several other club hits which I don't remember but would love to find. great squelchy bass, nonchalant vocals and stop-start percussion.

princess - say i'm your number one (1985)

princess was part of the saw stable...but a million miles from kylie, jason and er, big fun. in 2005 she resurfaced on 'hit me baby one more time', miming. vernon kay barely hid his disgust...wish i hadn't seen it. this was my jam and i nagged my way to a '1' earring like she had in the video. even though it would be another 5 years (of rows) before I was allowed to get my ears pierced.

mica paris - my one temptation (1988)

mica was only 19 when she released her debut album 'so good' in 1988 inlcuding a duet with will downing. never quite hitting the big time, her sound heralded a more sophisticated late 80s, like the aural equivalent of a glossy coffee table book, an ideal background to dinner parties and wine bars nationwide. don't get me wrong, i like mica, but i've never been as surprised at her lack of lasting crossover success as she seems to be.

jaki graham - round and around (1985)

jaki was perhaps best known for several duets with david grant. the former ub40 backing vocalist had a long run of solo hits between 1985 and 1988, of which this was the first. i can remember making myself sick trying to recreate the dizzying spinning dance she does in the video.

errol brown - your personal touch (1987)

he is of course, known primarily as the lead singer of 70s soul band hot chocolate, and this track was released from errol's first solo albun in 1987. after being somewhat ubiquitous around london in the 90s, charming his way around the club and bar scene, he's now living a more settled life with long-suffering wife ginette in the bahamas.

cool notes - in your car (1985)
this south london group started life as a lovers' rock act in the late 70s, morphing via disco to true eighties jheri soul artistes. their biggest hits were this track and 'spend the night' in 1985, from their much sought-after album 'have a good forever'. band couple steve and lorraine mcintosh are the parents of bradley from s club 7. tsk, it's always a shame when the parents are so much cooler than the kids...

pasadenas - enchanted lady (1988)
the pasadenas were a band that paid homage to 60s/70s soul greats - hence 'tribute' in 1988. despite a lot of covers and straight jacking the o'jays, they were decent songwriters, as evidenced by this 1988 track. ok, one of the reasons i like it is also because it featured in the episode of only fools and horses when rodney and cassandra get it together, in the nightclub under the watchful eye of mickey pearce and jevon.

sade - the sweetest taboo (1985)

sade, whilst a respected and successful artists amongst the soul fraternity, was also a favourite of estate agents and dinner party hosts. especially her first album in 1984 'diamond life'. if it ain't broke, don't fix it - she carried this theme through her next five albums. she also invented (or reinvented) the 'croydon' facelift' ponytail . except she looked good in it. she found her work extensively remixed, covered and sampled in the 90s.

billy ocean - caribbean queen (1984)
lazy 80s music journalists labelled billy ocean the uk's answer to michael jackson. i don't remember this ludicrous comparison but i did always dance to 'caribbean queen' in a line with my friends at school discos after one too many cherryades. hilariously, in current chris rock sitcom, 'everybody hates chris', his younger sister tonya is a huge billy ocean fan, and claims that he invented the moonwalk not wacko, who stole it. it would have been great if that were true.

just let your soooul glow

sometime in about 1984 surfaced a phenomenon that would last well into the late 80s - jheri curl soul.

borne out of the post-disco movement, curl soul was a more electronic style that made use of damn near every new sound available. jheri curl soul identified itself in a number of ways -

1. the hair, obviously. before eddie murphy and co satirised said hairdo in 'coming to america', the jheri curl was big business. cue glistening curls and plenty of grease-stained sofas
   
2. the bands often resembled an extended family photo - it was not uncommon for groups to have more than five members


3. a glitzy name - bonus points for inclusion of the word 'star' or 'band' and for translating your name into faux-francais: atlantic starr, five star, midnight star, the sos band, the bb&q band, royalle delite, club nouveaux, intrique


4. if you can't convince your family to join in, or are a norman-no-mates, a duo is your best bet - rene and angela, aurra, ashford and simpson
   
5. reflective and/or brightly coloured silk suiting must be standard issue, and don't forget those shoulder pads. essential for the moody yet inviting, hands on hips pose favoured by many of said bands
   
6. allude to yet more glamour and excitement in your lyrics. recommended themes are - gold and silver, notoriety, electricity, being the finest, a freak, turning someone on, having secret affairs, taking your clothes off
   
7. sprinkle liberally with tinkly sounds, synths, squelchy basslines and hyperactive drum patterns

for all that, the music should have been shit. but it was amazing. yes it was manufactured, so what. it sounds positively organic next to the late 90s robo-pop of the backstreet boys and britney spears. nothing quite sums up the 80s and a sunny day as effectively as this glossy, aspirational music. nothing made me more desperate to grow up and go to a real club so i could pretend to be one of these perfect specimens.

but since i was ooh, a good 8 years from being able to slip into a club with fake id, i danced in front of the tv in my pixie boots and silver dress, hair piled high and as much makeup as i could get away with. i strutted and pointed and pouted, to my parent's amusement.

ten jheri curl soul classics - download here

midnight star - midas touch
midnight star comprised nine members. the exact role of each is unclear, but they all sported the prerequisite curls and loud suit, so contributed in some small way to the band's success. this ode to all things gold was their biggest uk hit, in 1986.

klymaxx - the men all pause
pioneering 'curl soul. klymaxx were a six-piece girl band in the traditional sense - they all played an instrument. this track was from their 1984 album ' meeting in the ladies room'.

lillo thomas - sexy girl
textbook 1987 example of the genre. associate of kashif and paul laurence, lillo was an olympic calibre athlete before an accident in 1984 forced him to pursue an alternative career.

the sos band - no one's gonna love you
exquisitely produced track that almost sums up the genre. lovely bells, swooshes and that bassline. if it sounds familiar, it was sampled by r&b singer maxwell for a remix of his first hit 'ascension' in 1996.

rene and angela - i'll be good
slightly scary example of the curl'n'suit combo who had several sizable hits in the mid-80s. this 1985 hit was later used to good effect by jay-z and foxy brown.

jermaine stewart - we don't have to take our clothes off
song that we delighted in singing at brownies, because we thought it was rude. from the poppier end of jheri curl soul and in fact, jermaine had unnaturally straight hair. perhaps in protest? can't have been any easier to maintain...

atlantic starr - silver shadow
active throughout the 80s, atlantic starr are best known for ballads 'always' and 'secret lovers'. this track was only released in the uk, where it prospered on the back of the club scene ignited by loose ends et al.

kashif - i just gotta have you
a big part of the 80s soul scene, producer kashif's own releases aren't as well known as his work for others, including disco queen evelyn champagne king, george benson and dionne warwick, amongst others.

mac band - roses are red
a good example of the simple but effective lyrics used in many jheri soul cuts. this track still gets played out today.

the jets - curiosity
this polynesian eight-piece family act first rose to fame in 1987 with the poppy 'crush on you' led by then 15 year old vocalist elizabeth. since their late 80s success, younger siblings have replaced those retiring, from a pool of seventeen candidates.