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Summer Season 07.3 On punishment, oops, on
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Featured Artist /
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THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES BIOGRAPHY –
JUNE 2007 UPDATE
“They are back with a vengeance.” So said The
Hollywood Reporter’s Craig Rosen in his glowing May
2006 review of The Brand New Heavies’ sizzling
performance at the legendary Roxy Nightclub in Los
Angeles, USA, their first US performance in nearly a
decade.
The Heavies’ triumphant return marks the
re-emergence of one of the most innovative,
influential, R&B and funk
groups of the last 15-plus years. In
the mid-1980s, after bonding over their love of
American funk and soul music - notably James Brown
and the Meters - Simon Bartholomew, Jan Kincaid and
Andrew Levy formed The Brand New Heavies as an
instrumental outfit. Based in west London, the band
fitted perfectly into the rare groove and then acid
jazz club scenes at the time, which also became
associated with other notable long standing career
artists such as Jamiroquai and Incognito.
In 1990, the Heavies found its voice with the
addition of N’Dea Davenport, introduced to the band
via their US label, the successful independent
Delicious Vinyl, which was having hits at the time
with Tone Loc and Young MC. In 1991, the group
scored a US No. 3 R&B hit with “Never Stop,” a
highlight from its self-titled debut album. In the
UK the debut album was receiving rave reviews and
spawned further hits in “Dream Come True” and “Don’t
Let It Go To Your Head”.
The Heavies’ second album, 1992’s Heavy Rhyme
Experience: Vol. 1, featured the group pairing with
such red-hot rappers as Grand Puba, Kool G. Rap and
Gang Starr’s Guru, among others. The album
solidified the group’s standing in both the rap and
R&B worlds. “It made perfect sense,” says Kincaid of
Heavy Rhyme Experience in April 2006. “Hip-hop kids
loved all the old samples and suddenly they could
see this new band playing the funk just like they
heard it on their old albums.”
The group’s third album, 1994’s Brother Sister,
continued the momentum with big crossover hits
“Dream On Dreamer,” “Midnight At The Oasis” and
“Back To Love.” A tremendous run of critical acclaim
and four Top 20 hits -- “Never Stop,” “Stay This
Way” (1991), “Dream on Dreamer” (1994) and
“Sometimes” (1997) -- established the Heavies as a
creative and commercial force whose influence helped
birth the neo soul movement, the acclaimed artistic
explosion of the mid 1990s that included D’Angelo,
Erykah Badu, Jill Scott and a host of others.
At the peak of their success in the mid 90’s N’Dea
Davenport decided to leave pursue a solo career. The
Heavies replaced N’Dea with a succession of talented
vocalists but none could quite capture the magic
that the band created with their original lead
singer.
Since leaving Warner Music in 2000, the band have
largely existed under the radar of the hit obsessed
music industry. They have maintained their touring
activities, with consistent demand for them to
appear all over the world. In 2002 they released a
Japan only new album “We Won’t Stop”, now a sought
after fan rarity, and in 2004 returned to the UK
after a prolonged absence with AllAbouTheFunk, which
was critically well received by the media, but
didn’t repeat their earlier commercial success.
And after a decade apart the original Heavies are
back!
“Get Used To It”, the return to form new studio
album was initially released in the US at the end of
June 2006, via their long standing relationship with
Delicious Vinyl, and supported by Starbucks as well
as traditional retail distribution. It is now
available around the world via a variety of license
and distribution deals.
Meeting with universal acclaim from media and fans
alike, the last year has gone by in a blur – over 30
US tour dates, coast to coast, including an
invitation to perform at the legendary soul venue
Apollo Theatre in Harlem, New York City and Voodoo
and Essence Music Festivals. Then rave reviews for
their return to London at the Scala in September;
tour dates in Japan; promotion in Europe; and TV
performances in the US on the big networked
entertainment shows Conan O’Brien and Jimmy Kimmel,
and in the UK on Charlotte Church, performing a
killer version of White Stripes’ Seven Nation Army.
And to finish the year and by popular demand, more
UK dates in Manchester and London.
The band are also having ongoing success with music
synchronizations, more recently for Chris Rock’s new
movie “I Think I Love My Wife”; Scholl’s Party Feet
UK TV ad; US and UK box office no.1 smash movie
Happy Feet, which features Jump N Move from the
classic Brand New Heavies album The Heavy Rhyme
Experience – Volume 1. Which demonstrates the
Heavies music is as relevant as its ever been.
And now to 2007. The Heavies were invited to
headline, and completely sold out, the Barbican in
London in February as part of the BBC’s Soul
Britannia TV series. In May the band headlined the
prestigious 40th Anniversary of the infamous
Southport Soul Weekender, and have dates lined up
across Europe through the summer. In August the band
return to the US for their third nationwide tour in
a year – this time they will co-headline with Macy
Gray, which should prove a treat for fans of both
acts. The album continues to do well, re-awakening
the band’s fanbase who have waited so long for N’Dea
to re-join.
N’Dea comments “Its been interesting coming back
after being apart…its like riding a bicycle but our
different interests since we last worked together
now have an opportunity to flourish. We were going
in different directions but I think we are now right
back where we should be with this new album”.
