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Londonbeat — Remembering the brief history of a One-hit wonder

7/12/2019

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Londonbeat is a British-American dance-pop act, that achieved mainstream success with their hit single I've Been Thinking About You, released in the early nineties. The song — that entered the music charts of several countries — made the band to be known worldwide; however, as with many other artists in the music industry, they were unable to duplicate the success with their following releases, and the band quickly faded into obscurity. Today, Londonbeat is mostly known as a One-hit wonder. 

Nevertheless, led by American singer James Helms — best known as Jimmy Helms —, the band remains active. Nowadays, however, the group's career is mostly dependent on live concerts, where they perform their old hits, since the band hasn't released any new material for more than fifteen years. Formed in the late eighties, the band's first album was the lackluster Speak, released in 1988. In 1990, they released In the Blood, the album containing the single that made them famous. They followed with the 1992 full length Harmony, that although was unable to match the success of its predecessor, still managed to produce two minor singles, "You Bring on the Sun" and "That's How I Feel About You". 

PictureToday, Londonbeat is a three-piece, consisting of Jimmy Helms, Jimmy Chambers and Charles Pierre.
Two years later, they followed with the self-titled Londonbeat. Unfortunately, it was too late. Too much time without a significant single meant that the band had already been forgotten by the vast majority of the public. The release passed by without receiveing any notice from the audience nor the music critics. In 1995, the band participated in the Eurovision Song Contest, but again, they were largely ignored. Without any mainstream success to back them, Londonbeat disbanded soon after.  

Some years later, though, in the early 2000's, the band reunited, when German record label Coconut offered them a deal. Since then, the band released two more albums, Back in the Hi-Life, in 2003, and Gravity, in 2004. Back in the Hi-Life featured re-recordings of their most significant successes, including, of course, I've Been Thinking About You. Both albums were largely ignored by the public, the music industry and the critics, and were commercial flops.

Currently active — performing occasional concerts in mostly small venues —, Londonbeat is now seen as a nostalgia act. Unfortunately, unable to break through the One-hit wonder category, Londonbeat certainly would always be known by their greatest hit, I've Been Thinking About You, which is relatively unfair, since the album Back in the Hi-Life is a very formidable release, and has fantastic songs, like 99 and Where Are U; tracks that, in my humble opinion, are even more amazing than the hit that made them famous. In the present day, the band is a trio, consisting of original members Jimmy Helms and Jimmy Chambers, alongside Charles Pierre.


​Wagner
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