619 Hello Londonbeat - 9AM ( The Comfort Zone )

Chart  entered : 26  November  1988

Chart  peak :  19

Number  of  hits : 10

I  thought  we  were  done  with  saying  hello  to  anyone  who  had  recorded  in  the  sixties  but  I'd  forgotten  about  these  guys.

Londonbeat  started  to  come  together  in  1984  when  Paul  Young  decided  to  freshen  up  his  backing   band.  Out  went  The  Fabulous  Wealthy  Tarts  and  in  came  three  experienced  soul  guys  to  be  his  backing  vocalists. Jimmy  Chambers  was  born  in  Trinidad  and  came  over  to the  UK  in  the  late  sixties.He  joined  Dada  ( see  Hello  Elkie  Brooks )  but  was  one  of  those  dumped  when  they  slimmed  down  into  Vinegar  Joe.  He  hung  around  the  edges  of  the  music  scene  and  recorded  a  couple  of  singles  in  the  seventies.  I  haven't  heard  his  1977  single  "Love  Don't  Come  Easily  Girl". His  second  was  "You  Can't  Fight  It"  which  grafted  his  vocal , lyrics  about  urban  violence  and  some  Kenny  Lynch  brass  parts  to  the  brooding  main  theme  from  John  Carpeter's  terrifying  Assault  on  Precinct  13 . It  sounded  much  better  without  them  frankly. He  worked  with  Amii  Stewart, Elkie  Brooks, Chris  Rea  and  Wham ! before  taking  Young's  call.

George  Chandler  was  born  in  Atlanta. He  started  singing  in  his  local  Baptist  church  before  moving  to  Italy  in  1965. He  formed  a  group  The  Four  Kents  in  with  three  servicemen  posted  there  by  NATO,  George's  voice  was  similar  to  Levi  Stubbs  and  the  group  were  modelled  on  The Four  Tops . They  had  a  hit  there  in  1965  with  the  Italian-language  "Sei  Lontana"  , a  Latin -flavoured  soul  tune. In  1968  they  released  an  English  language  version  "The  Moving  Finger  Writes". Jimmy  was  briefly  in  the  line  up. The  band  broke  up  in  the  early  seventies  and  George  moved  on  to the  UK. He  was  immediately  snapped  up  by  the  funk  outfit  Gonzalez  who  also  acted  as  a  pick  up  band  for  visiting  soul  artists. George  was  their  lead  singer  when  they  got  a  deal  with  EMI  and  recorded  their  eponymous  debut. At  that  time  they  had  a  hard  funk  sound  as  on  debut  single  "Pack  It  Up". In  1974  George  was  replaced  by  Lenny  Zakatek.

At  the  same  time, George  was  recruited  by  producer  Mike  Vernon  along  with  a  number  of  session  musicians  to  make  an  album  with  American  blues  guitarist  Jimmy  Dawkins. Dawkins  missed  his  flight  and  the  boys  made  up  a  track  in  the  studio  while  they  were  waiting.  "Put  The  Music  Where  Your  Mouth  Is"  a  loose  funky  instrumental  ( I'm  not  sure  what  George  did  on  the  track  )  with  some  scorching  guitar  was  put  out  as  a  single  under  the  name  Olympic  Runners and  made  the  US R &  B  charts. Encouraged, the  guys  stayed  together  as  a    studio  act  ( though  they  appeared  on  Top  of  the  Pops )  and  made  a  number  of  albums  in  the  seventies. Towards  the  end  of  the  decade  they  went  in  a  more  disco  direction  and   enjoyed  a  short  run  of   modest  UK  hit  singles. "Get  It  While  You  Can " ( number  35, 1978 )  is  the  best  for  Pete  Wingfield's  manic  piano  solo.

George  also  started  releasing  solo  singles  from  1976  onwards. I  haven't  heard  the  handful  he  made  with  RCA  but  his  1982  single  for  Polydor  "This  Could  Be  The  Night "  is  a  solid  slice  of  George  Benson-ish  pop funk. He  also  recorded  a  dreadful  single  for  the  Burnley  Building  Society  "The  Best  Dreams"  with  truly  satanic  verses  by  a  young  advertising  hack  called  Salman  Rushdie.

Along  with  Tony  Jackson,  who  was  never  involved  in  Londonbeat,  they  sang  on  all  four  hit  singles  from  Young's  album  The   Secret  of  Association  including  the  US  number  one  Every  Time  You  Go  Away.  Jimmy  and  George  were  not  retained  for  his  next  album.

In  1987  they  were  contacted  by  Jimmy  Helms  about  forming  a  new  band. Jimmy  already  had  a  long  career  behind  him. He  was  born  in  Florida  in  1941  and  mastered  both  the  trumpet  and  the  guitar  as  well  as  singing. He  began  working  as  a  session  musician  in  the  late  fifties  and  released  his  first  single  "You're  Mine  You"  on  the  Symbol  label  in  1963. It's  a  likeable  early  sixties  R &  B  number  which  later  became  a  Northern  Soul  favourite. Jimy  then  joined  the  US  Army  where  he  played  trumpet  in  the  Fort  Jackson  Army  Band.

He  came  out  of  the  army  to  begin   the  most  frustrating  of   solo   careers. He  had  a  terrific  voice  like  Tom  Jones  with  an  added  falsetto  range  and  an  ear  for  a  good  song  but   it  only  came  together  for  him  once  at  the  beginning  of  1973  with  "Gonna  Make  You  An  Offer  You  Can't  Refuse ", a  soft  soul  classic   which  got  to  number  8   in  the  UK   at  the  dawn  of  my  interest  in  pop. It  was  the  first  pop  record  my  mum  liked  which  meant  I  wasn't  so  keen  at  the  time  but  it  now  sounds  glorious. It  was  almost  the  last  hit  for  songwriter  Johnny  Worth  ; he  also  wrote  the  follow  up  single  "Jack  Horner's  Holiday "  a  clever  if  a  little  over-elaborate  song  in  a  similar  vein  which  couldn't  break  into  the  Top  50. The  following  year  he  sang  the  theme  tune  for  the  Roger  Moore  film "Gold"  but  that  wasn't  a  hit  either. He  also  sang  on  Roger  Glover's  concept  album "The  Butterfly  Ball  and  the  Grasshopper's  Feast ". Earlier  American  singles  such  as  "That's  The  Way  It  Is"  and  "Your  Past  Is  Beginning  To  Show"  were  popular  on  the  Northern  Soul  scene  so  Pye  signed  him  up  in  1975  hoping  to  capitalise  on  that   but  half  a  dozen  singles  later  he  was  still  a  one  hit  wonder.  After  that,  he  worked  as  a  session  singer  specialising  in  jingles  for  independent  radio  stations  and  was  main  vocalist  on  former  Clash  drummer  Topper  Headon's  solo  album  "Waking  Up"  in  1986.

The  fourth  member  was  a  much  younger  white  guy  with  a  stupid  haircut , Willy  "M"  Henshall   who  had  been  producing  bands  in  the  Bristol  area. A  multi-instrumentalist,  he  took  on  the  role  of  arranging   and  producing  their  material. Their  demo  tape  was  heard  by  Eurhythmic  Dave  Stewart  who  made  them  one  of  the  first  signings  to  his  new  Anxious  label.

The  first  single  "There's  A  Beat  Going  On"  was  released  in  June  1988  and  was  a  mistake.Willy  came  up  with  a pounding  electrofunk  backing  track  over  which  the  boys  chant  slogans  and   then  produce  a  ham-fisted  self-referential  rap  section  which  is  just  embarrassing. The  title  is  endlessly  repeated  trying  to  bludgeon  you  into  submission. The  "boys"  dressed  in  leather  and  studs  and  leered  into  the  camera  in  the  video  which  only  compounded  the  impression  that  they  had  strayed  well  outside  their  comfort  zone. Having  said  all  that,  it  was  a  Top  20  hit  in  Holland  which  gave  them  some  encouragement.

For  the  second  single  "Falling  In  Love  Again"  they  changed  tack.  The  street  gang  image  was  jettisoned  and   Jimmy  H  emerged  as  the   lead  singer  on  a  piece  of  lush  pop  soul  not  too  far  removed  from  Jimmy  C  and  George's  former  employer. Jimmy  H's  voice  remains  completely  intact  and  there's  a  half-decent  tune. It  was  a minor  hit  on  re-release  in  1989.

"9 AM  ( The  Comfort  Zone )" was  their  third  single. I  know Jimmy  H  regards  it  as  his  best  song   but  I  have  to  say  it  doesn't  do  very  much  for  me  apart   from  the   nice  instrumental  break. The  premise  is  quite  original, a  man  on  a  train  going  to  work  thinking  about  the  woman  he's  left  in  bed   but  it  doesn't  go  anywhere   Willy's  arrangement  is  beatless   with  the  voices  floating  on  warm  synths  and  an  understated  bass. The  harmonies are  impressive  but  the  chorus  comes  round  too  often . There's  too  much   taste  and  not  enough  song.

Chart-wise  it's  difficult  to  think  of  too  many  solo  artists  who've  come  back  as  lead  vocalist  in  a  group  after  so  long  away. The  only  other  example  I  can  call  to  mind  is  Roy  Orbison  whose  debut  single  with  The  Travelling  Wilburys  was  coincidentally  in  the charts  at  the  same  time  as  this.