The Brand New Heavies
are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.
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BRAND NEW HEAVIES TICKETS
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Biography
The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental
acid jazz group called Brother International.
The group came up with the Heavies name after signing their first record contract, borrowing from a liner note on a
James Brown single declaring the artist "Minister of New Super Heavy Funk".
[1] As The Brand New Heavies they gained a cult following in the London club scene and soon signed to
Cooltempo as acid jazz replaced rare groove in clubs. The band would issued a debut recording for Eddie Pillar's
Acid Jazz label in 1990 with Jay Ella Ruth as lead singer.
[2]
A single, "Got to Give", came out on Cooltempo before the Brand New Heavies signed to
Acid Jazz Records and released
Brand New Heavies
to critical acclaim. The band signed to a division of
Chrysalis Records in the UK,
[3] and American distribution was picked up by influential label
Delicious Vinyl, and
N'Dea Davenport (who had signed an
artist development deal with
Delicious Vinyl) joined the group. A revamped version of the first album with vocals by N'Dea Davenport was then released, and the singles "Dream Come True", "Never Stop" and "Stay This Way", all with Davenport on lead vocals, became hits on both sides of the
Atlantic, with the latter becoming a music video directed by Douglas Gayeton that saw heavy rotation on MTV.
The group's appearance with
MC Serch (formerly of
3rd Bass) and
Q-Tip (of
A Tribe Called Quest) at a performance in
New York City, inspired the group to incorporate elements of
hip hop music. Their next album was the critically acclaimed
Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1
, which included collaborations with
Guru of
Gang Starr and
The Pharcyde, among others, but lacked any female vocals.
While under management by
Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildlife Entertainment, The Brand New Heavies released
Brother Sister
(1994) which was the last album for a while with N'Dea Davenport, who had left to complete her solo album (which she had put on hold to join the Heavies). The album spawned more singles, though one of them, a cover of
Maria Muldaur's "
Midnight at the Oasis," was popular only in the UK because it was not included in the US version of the album.
Siedah Garrett joined the group for their next album,
Shelter
(1997). It contained the minor hit, the
Carole King-penned song "You've Got a Friend" that was originally made famous by
James Taylor. Again, though, this song did not appear on the US version of the album. The album also contained the hit "Sometimes". The remix of "Sometimes" included the rap vocals of Q-Tip from Tribe.
The Brand New Heavies then released their greatest hits album,
Trunk Funk - The Best of The Brand New Heavies
(2000) with
Carleen Anderson on vocals for some newly recorded songs, followed by the Japan only album
We Won't Stop
(2003) featuring a variety of vocalists and
Allaboutthefunk
(2004) featuring British singer
Nicole Russo on vocals.
In April 2006, the Brand New Heavies reunited with N'Dea Davenport and former label Delicious Vinyl. A new album,
Get Used to It
was released on 27 June 2006 via
Starbucks and more traditional music retail outlets. The album was recorded in
New York and London; and the lead single "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)" was issued in early May. The single was notable for being one of very few late releases to feature the trademarked "
A Tom Moulton Mix", as the legendary disco pioneer had been asked to contribute mixes. Later that year, their song "Jump 'N' Move" was featured on the
soundtrack for the 2006 computer animated
feature film,
Happy Feet
, and the in-game soundtrack for 2004's
NBA Live 2005
. The band toured at the end of 2006.
After the release of a live CD
Live at the Indigo2
in late 2008, the Brand New Heavies announced they would be releasing a new album in 2009 with N'Dea Davenport on vocals.
Members
| Band Member
| Instrument
| Dates
|
Jan Kincaid
(born 17 May 1966 in Ealing)
| drums, keyboards
| 1985—
|
Simon Bartholomew
(born 16 October 1965 in Ealing)
| guitar, vocals
| 1985—
|
Andrew Levy
(born 20 July 1966 in Ealing)
| bass, keyboards, writer, producer
| 1985—
|
Lascelles Gordon
| percussion, guitar
| debut album (1991)
|
Jim Wellman
| tenor sax, soprano sax, keyboards
| debut album (1991)
|
N'Dea Davenport
(born 6 May 1966 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA)
| vocals
| 1990–1995, 2005—
|
Jay Ella Ruth
| vocals
| 1990
|
Siedah Garrett
(born 24 June 1960 in Los Angeles, California, USA)
| vocals
| 1997
|
Carleen Anderson
| vocals
| 2000
|
Nicole Russo
| vocals
| 2004
|
Sy Smith
| vocals
| 2003
|
Max Beesley
(born 15 January 1971)
| live percussion, live keyboards
|
|
Discography
Studio albums
- 1990: The Brand New Heavies
- 1991: The Brand New Heavies
(featuring N'Dea Davenport)
- 1992: Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1
(featuring vocals by various hip hop groups and rappers)
- 1994: Brother Sister
(featuring N'Dea Davenport)
- 1997: Shelter
(featuring Siedah Garrett)
- 2003: We Won't Stop
(2003, Japan only release; featuring vocals by various singers)
- 2004: Allaboutthefunk
(featuring Nicole Russo)
- 2006: Get Used to It
(featuring N'Dea Davenport)
- 2009: TBA (featuring N'Dea Davenport)
Compilation albums
- 1990: Original Flava
- 2000: Trunk Funk - The Best of The Brand New Heavies
(featuring Carleen Anderson)
- 2002: Acid Jazz Years
- 2006: The Brand New Heavies: Platinum Collection
Remixes albums
- 2001: Excursions, Remixes & Rare Grooves
- 2007: Elephantitis - The Funk + House Remixes
- 2008: Get Used to It - The Tom Moulton Mixes
(featuring N'Dea Davenport)
Singles
- 1988: "Got to Give"
- 1990: "Dream Come True (Brand New Mix)" (Acid Jazz; different version from the single two years later)
- 1991: "Never Stop" (UK #43)
- 1991: "Stay This Way" (UK #24)
- 1992: "Dream Come True '92" (UK #24)
- 1992: "Ultimate Trunk Funk EP" (UK #19) (Stay This Way/Mr. Tanaka/Don't Let It Go...)
- 1992: "Don't Let It Go to Your Head" (UK #24)
- 1992: "Stay This Way" (UK #40)
- 1992: "Bonafied Funk/Death Threat"
- 1994: "Dream on Dreamer" (UK #15)
- 1994: "Back to Love" (UK #23)
- 1994: "Midnight at the Oasis" (UK #13)
- 1994: "Spend Some Time" (UK #26)
- 1994: "Brother Sister"
- 1995: "Close to You" (UK #38)
- 1995: "Mind Trips"
- 1996: "World Keeps Spinning" (From The Truth About Cats & Dogs
soundtrack)
- 1997: "Sometimes" (UK #11)
- 1997: "You Are the Universe" (UK #21)
- 1997: "You've Got a Friend" (UK #9)
- 1997: "Shelter" (UK #31)
- 1997: "Top 5 Heavy Hits"
- 1997: "You Can Do It"
- 1999: "Saturday Nite" (UK #35)
- 1999: "Apparently Nothing" (UK #32)
- 2000: "Worst Case Scenario/Saturday Nite (Jay Dee Remix)" (Split EP with Fat Lip
- 2003: "What Do You Take Me For" (Flower Records)
- 2004: "Boogie" (OneTwo Records/Edel Records, UK #66)
- 2005: "Can We/Sometimes (Bullseye Remixes)" (Split EP with SWV)
- 2005: "Surrender" (OneTwo Records)
- 2006: "Get Used to It"
- 2006: "I Don't Know Why (I Love You)"
[4]
Live
- 2008: "Live At The IndigO² London" (16 October)
References
- Interview with Jon Scragg, Jazz FM 102.2 (London), 22 October 2004.
- N'Dea Davenport Interview
- Interview: Simon Bartholomew
- British Hit Singles & Albums