Harmony and harmonies...
The wealth of a blend of stunning talents ....
Melodies and words
speaking and belonging to everyone.
"THIS IS THE MUSIC...THESE ARE THE MOMENTS...
THE MEMORIES OF HOW, WHEN AND WHERE ...
This is The Journey we are blessed to share with you"
THE LONDONBEAT STORY
LATE 80s
Jimmy Helms, Jimmy Chambers and George Chandler have known each other for a long time.
They regularly tour together as choristers for artists such as Paul Young, Fine Young Cannibals, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, Madness,
Godley & Crème...
An unexpected call
Barely back home after doing a TV show in the north of England (The Tub), Jimmy Helms gets a call.
Willy M who saw the show is excited! He's looking to find some people to write songs with...
...ARE YOU GUYS INTERESTED ?
This call was the birth ... which started to roll the whole thing.
Hard work and increased inspiration combined with a special and very collaborative way of writing and composing... in a few months, the first album is ready! Our 4 adopted Londoners have found their own rhythm/beat, the "LONDONBEAT"
They first grabbed the public’s attention in Holland in 1988, reaching Top Ten with their single
'There’s A Beat Going On', followed by '9AM (The Comfort Zone)' which blipped on the British pop charts.
Both songs were extracted from their first album 'SPEAK'.
90s
Armed with their many individual experiences and enriched by the harmony of their harmonies, they continue to write and compose, fine-tuning their identity.
Vibrant and prolific time.
They have the titles of a new album and one in particular that seems to them successful...
The 2nd studio LP, 'IN THE BLOOD' , written and recorded in their own Studio in London,
high-light the chemistry between the three-part harmonies, and Willy Henshall’s quirky guitar. Add the pop-gospel lead vocals, and the unique Londonbeat sound emerges.
"When love is in the heart,
the Beat is In The Blood..."
This album produced by Martyn Philips put them on the world pop music map in 1990 with 'A Better Love' and THE world-wide smash hit
'I’ve Been Thinking About You'.
One of those magical songs that makes the sun rise on your face.
You hear it just once and you never forget it.
"We wrote 'Thinking' in a couple of hours,
then rewrote it a dozen times before we realized the first idea was the best."
'I've Been Thinking About You' was turned down by quite a few record producers & record companies.
They finally got a deal. The critics were wrong...
But after the fact, it was the incredible success!
"First time we heard 'I've Been Thinking About You' on the radio was bliss...
The bliss of knowing your music is connecting on a global scale!
If everyone could know that bliss just once in their lives!"
... MTV… all the major music channels… Suddenly their videos were in heavy rotation all around the globe.
"We’d check into our hotel rooms and Thinking… was playing!… Surreal!"
They were at the American Hotel in Amsterdam after a hectic few days of radio and tv promotion.
Their manager took a call at reception, and came rushing back flushed with excitement to tell them
“We’re number one in Holland!”
That set off a chain of phone calls that evening from the record company, saying they’d just gone to number one in no less than twelve territories around the globe, all in the space of a few hours.
The song was released during the gulf war. Fans with loved ones in war zones connected with the words, the feelings of their song. That’s what music is meant to be about – connecting us all through our life experiences.
'I've BeenThinking About You' went to N°1 in the charts in 27 countries including USA.
More than 5 million copies sold and suddenly the guys of Londonbeat were global pop-superstars.
Their close harmony almost 'a capella' style of music was certainly out of step with the sound of the time and endeared them to a large radio audience keen to hear 'real' vocals again.
The group's wealth of experience in all musical fields gave them a unique sound infused with the influence of gospel, house, rap and rare groove!
A series of infectious hit singles followed including
'You Bring On The Sun' (another Top Ten) and a version of the Bob Marley classic 'No Woman, No Cry'.
Then came 'HARMONY', their third album.
The title track is inspired by all Native Americans and indigenous people of every land.
"beneath the surface of your sleep
there runs a river quiet and deep
to catch the current - float upstream
to find the meaning of your dream
you wake up flying a brave new river in the sky
in the place where beauty lies
you wake up flying
up where my feet don't touch the ground
I lay me down in fields of cloud
to float in zero gravity in some unknown reality
I wake up flying
we lightly touch down on the moon, like children dancing in the dunes we wake up flying"
After 5 years of intense collaboration, from studio to promo, the independent artists they are all are gradually feeling the need to take the time to return to their more personal aspirations.
George Chandler is the first one to leave the band.
The now trio is back in the charts with
'Come Back' in 1994, which introduce
the fourth LP simply titled 'LONDONBEAT'.
Londonbeat put forward their song
'I'm Just Your Puppet......On A (String)!'
on the national UK final for the entry in the Eurovision Song Contest.
They are not selected to represent UK but the song was released as a single and charted at No.55 in the UK.
The video shows all the fantasy, avant-garde and energy of the band.
But at the end of that year, the original line-up finally split.
THE CONTINUING STORY
Lead singer Jimmy Helms called Charles Pierre who had worked backstage (behind the scene) as a co-producer and programmer on many of Londonbeat's hit recordings.
They began working on the project of a new album in a small studio in London in a family garage.
Drum, brass and bass era
Add to that a little trumpet, new rhythms and sounds.
Atypical mixtures taking them to a new musical expression.
The inspiration is all the more prolific! They move their studio to a large hangar and then to
Windsor, with a direct view of the castle!
During this collaboration, Jimmy and Charles wrote a good thirty titles.
Early 1996, Jimmy started getting calls to put Londonbeat back on the road, but there was no Londonbeat...
They meet Tony Blaize. Born and raised in Liverpool, Tony began singing at an early age and went on to front many bands in and around Liverpool throughout the 80's and 90's.
Debut of a new line up...the NEW LONDONBEAT!
Final production collaborating with the famous Danish producers JAM & DELGADO
and they come back with re-recorded, re-mixed version of "I've Been Thinking About You" followed by a new single titled "Between Your Eyes".
The trio performs regularly in Europe and the Middle East until the early 2000s.
In 2000, Tony leaves the band and Charles Pierre moves to the US, taking a new direction of career as music coach and producer.
The 00s
Coconut Music, a German record company, contacted Jimmy Helms. Their plan is to reform Londonbeat and work on new songs ...
Return of Jimmy Chambers
Boosted by this alluring opportunity, Jimmy Helms called Jimmy Chambers. They decided to "recruit" 2 other guys to join them
and thus take up the torch!
Myles Kayne, talented singer/guitarist and Marc Goldshmitz, a german guitarist.
They then recorded 2 new albums, BACK IN THE HI-LIFE in 2003 and GRAVITY in 2004 with Coconut, keeping the trademark Londonbeat spirit and , with that same unique sound of blending harmonies.The requests for shows continue to flow and after the departure of Marc who joined the group The Leash, it is a new trio which again takesto the road at a sustained pace. In 2010, Londonbeat collaborated on 2 titles as Featured guests on Deodato's album 'The Crossing'.
It is also a period when many festivals are born bringing together artists from the 90s in great demand in Northern and Eastern Europe, taking their shows to the borders of China.
Huge stages attracting fans by the tens of thousands.
Remixed many times by many DJs throughout these 30 years, the unforgettable success of "I've been thinking about you" remains in everyone’s hearts and continues to fill the dance floors.
In 2018, Myles Kayne left the group and Charles Pierre returned from the United States then took his place.
The line up now composed by Jimmy Helms, Jimmy Chambers and Charles Pierre has struck a balance between their own personalities and all the many influences that make Londonbeat what it is, giving a "new touch" to the unforgettably famous hits from the 90's.
2019
Back to the Dance Charts
Klaas, young and talented German DJ who has the wind in his sails, remixes the magical song nicknamed by some fans the "Chi pooh pooh " song.
Once again "I've Been thinking about you" reaches the peaks arriving at # 1 of the USA Billboard Dance Charts in the summer of 2019.
This new success also announces the release of a compilation for the 30 years of the group which also includes 2 new titles "Summer" and “I’m Alive".