Billy Ocean
(born Leslie Sebastian Charles
, 21 January 1950, Fyzabad, Trinidad [1] [2]) is a Grammy Award-winning British-based popular music performer who had a string of rhythm and blues-tinged international pop hits in the 1970s and 1980s. He was the main British-based R&B singer / songwriter of the 1980s. [3] He waited seven years after scoring his first four UK top 20 successes, before accumulating a series of transatlantic successes, including three U.S. number ones.
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BILLY OCEAN TICKETS
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Biography
He was born in Fyzabad, Trinidad and Tobago to
Grenadian parents, and moved to
England with his family at the age of eight.
Oceans' musical influence came at an early age of his life, as his father was a musician, and realised he was inline to follow those ambitions as he was growing up. During his teenage years, he sang regularly in
London clubs while also working as a
tailor in London's
Savile Row.
[4] He released his first
single in 1972 on
Spark Records as Les Charles.
When in Trinidad as a boy he adopted the name Billy Ocean, taking the surname from the local football team 'Ocean's Eleven', who had gotten the name from the famous film of the same name. The next year, 1976, was when he
recorded his first
album,
Billy Ocean
, with its first single release, "Love Really Hurts Without You," charting at number 2 in the
UK Singles Chart and number 22 in the
U.S. Billboard Hot 100. More successes ensued, including "L.O.D. (Love On Delivery)". He also
wrote songs for other
artists, such as
La Toya Jackson.
In 1981, he scored the
U.S. R&B chart with "Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)".
Ocean's period of greatest success began with
Suddenly
during 1984, and its main single, "
Caribbean Queen". The song's title and
lyrics were changed for different regions, such that the song is also known as "African Queen" or "European Queen". The song won Ocean the
Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance at the
1985 Grammy Awards. The album's
title track also became a success, its score maximizing at #4 in both the US and the UK; and the song "
Loverboy", while also being a #2 US success during 1985, from the album, was also the background music for the first scene of the popular
UK BBC One TV series,
Casualty
, during 1986.
Ocean appeared at
Live Aid in 1985, singing "Caribbean Queen" and "Loverboy", from the
JFK Stadium in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
His 1986 album
Love Zone
also sold well. It included the successful singles "
When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" (the theme from the
film The Jewel of the Nile
); this was a number one success in the UK and a number two in the U.S.; and "
There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)" (a U.S. number one, and also a major UK success). Also included were the title track and "
Love Is Forever", which were #10 and #16 U.S. successes for Ocean, respectively.
In February 1986, Ocean's
video of "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going" was banned by the
BBC, owing to non-
union members (including
Michael Douglas,
Kathleen Turner and
Danny DeVito)
miming to
backing vocals.
[5]
Ocean's next album,
Tear Down These Walls
(1988) featured another number one single, "
Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car", while the album was certified
platinum.
His 1993 album
Time to Move On
failed to produce any major successes, but his 1989
Greatest Hits
collection has been a steady seller over the years, and his 1997 compilation
Love Is For Ever
made #7 on the UK album chart. Ocean's last
studio album for
Jive Records was
Time to Move On
, which he recorded in
Chicago with
R&B star
R. Kelly. It turned out that R. Kelly had been a long-time admirer of the way Ocean was able to mix the more emotive
soul style with a crossover popular style.
[6]
In 2002, the
University of Westminster awarded Ocean an
honorary doctorate of music.
[7] The awards ceremony took place in the
Barbican Centre, in London.
[8] He continues to tour and record in
Europe. He lives in
Sunningdale,
Berkshire with his wife of 27 years, Judy; and their three children Cherie, Antony and Rachel. Ocean is now a
patron for
Tech Music Schools in London
[9], made up of Drumtech, Vocaltech, Guitar-X and Keyboardtech. He regularly visits to hold clinics and seminars for the
students.
In 2004, "Caribbean Queen" was re-released as a digital single for its 20th anniversary, shooting up to #25 on the Billboard digital singles chart and garnering radio play across the US and UK. A remix of the single by Will.I.Am was released in 2005, and it later appeared on Pitchfork's "Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s" countdown, at #87.
[10]
In October 2007, Ocean commenced his first
British tour in over 15 years.
[11] In February and March 2008 he toured
Australia and the
Far East.
His new album,
Because I Love You
was released on 2 February 2009.
[12] To coincide with this new tour and album launch, Ocean has been working with Adoseof Design on a
website revision which is due March 2009.
Discography
Albums
- 1976: Billy Ocean
(GTO)
- 1980: City Limit
(GTO)
- 1981: Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)
(Epic Records) #152 U.S.
- 1982: Inner Feelings
(Epic Records)
- 1984: Suddenly
(Jive Records) #9 UK, #9 U.S.
- 1986: Love Zone
(Jive) #2 UK, #6 U.S.
- 1988: Tear Down These Walls
(Jive) #3 UK, #18 U.S.
- 1989: Greatest Hits
(Jive) #4 UK, #77 U.S.
- 1993: Time to Move On
(Jive)
- 1997: L.I.F.E. (Love is For Ever)
(Jive) (double album compilation) #7 UK
- 2002: Emotions in Motion
(Time Music International)
- 2003: On The Run
(Planet Media)
- 2003: Let's Get Back Together
(Jive) #69 UK
- 2004: The Ultimate Collection
(Jive) #28 UK
- 2009: Because I Love You
(Aqua Music)
Singles
| Year
| Song
| U.S.
Hot 100 [13]
| U.S.
R&B | U.S.
Dance | UK Singles Chart | Album
|
| 1976
| "Love Really Hurts Without You"
| 22
| -
| 8
| 2
| Billy Ocean
|
| "L.O.D. (Love on Delivery)"
| -
| 55
| -
| 19
|
| "Stop Me (If You've Heard It All Before)"
| -
| -
| -
| 12
|
| 1977
| "Red Light Spells Danger"
| -
| -
| -
| 2
|
|
| 1979
| "American Hearts"
| -
| -
| -
| 54
| City Limit
|
| 1980
| "Are You Ready/Stay The Night"
| -
| -
| 83
| 42
|
| 1981
| "Nights (Feel Like Gettin' Down)"
| -
| 7
| 4
| -
| Nights (Feel Like Getting Down)
|
| 1982
| "Calypso Funkin'"
| -
| 72
| -
| -
| Inner Feelings
|
| 1984
| "European Queen (No More Love On The Run)"
| -
| -
| -
| -
| Suddenly
(European version)
|
| "Caribbean Queen (No More Love On The Run)"
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 6
| Suddenly
|
| 1985
| "Loverboy"
| 2
| 20
| 1
| 15
|
| "Suddenly"
| 4
| 5
| -
| 4
|
| "Mystery Lady"
| 24
| 10
| -
| 49
|
| "The Long And Winding Road"
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1986
| "When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going"
| 2
| 6
| -
| 1
| The Jewel of the Nile
soundtrack
|
| "There'll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry)"
| 1
| 1
| -
| 12
| Love Zone
|
| "On the Run (Hold On Brother)"
| -
| -
| 48
| -
|
| "Love Zone"
| 10
| 1
| 43
| 49
|
| "Bittersweet"
| -
| -
| -
| 44
|
| "Love Is Forever"
| 16
| 10
| -
| 34
|
| 1988
| "Get Outta My Dreams, Get into My Car"
| 1
| 1
| 25
| 3
| Tear Down These Walls
|
| "Calypso Crazy"
| -
| -
| -
| 35
|
| "The Colour of Love"
| 17
| 10
| -
| 65
|
| "Tear Down These Walls"
| -
| -
| -
| -
|
| 1989
| "License to Chill"
| 32
| 33
| -
| -
| Greatest Hits
|
| "I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else's Bed)"
| -
| 60
| -
| -
|
| 1993
| "Everything's So Different Without You"
| -
| 91
| -
| -
| Time to Move On
|
| "Pressure"
| -
| -
| -
| 55
|
Ocean-penned songs recorded by other artists
- "Are You Ready?" - LaToya Jackson
- "Stay the Night" - LaToya Jackson
- "Love Is a Dangerous Game" - Millie Jackson
- "Love Is" - Randy Crawford
- "Taking Chances" - Ray, Goodman & Brown
- "Waiting For You" - Boyzone
- "Whatever Turns You On" - The Dells
- "Who's Gonna Rock You" - The Nolans
See also
- List of number-one singles (UK)
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- List of Euro disco artists
- List of Eastern Caribbean people
References
- Biography on his official website
- Allmusic biography - accessed January 2008
- British Hit Singles & Albums
- Musicianguide.com biography - accessed January 2008
- NME Rock 'N' Roll Years
- Ticketline.co website mini-biography
- Whatever Happened To (weht.net) - accessed January 2008
- TCM Breaking News @archives.tcm.ie
- Retroland.com biography - accessed January 2008
- Pitchfork.com's Top 500 Tracks of the 2000s
- Manchestereveningnews.co.uk article
- Tower.com
- Title Unavailable