BLACK MUSIC MONTH HIGHLIGHT: LOOSE END'S 25 YEAR RUN AND IMPACT

When UK R&B trio Loose Ends emerged onto the music scene in 1985, they captured America by story with their music, lyrics and accent. The group was founded by Steve Nichol, a classically trained musician, who discovered Carl McIntoish at a club and Jane Eugene at a college fashion show.
The trio inked a deal with MCA Records and released their debut album "So Where Are You" which contained the single "Hanging On A String" which topped the US R&B Charts and became a favorite among music lovers, who loved the opening line 'Put your loving arms around me boy." The group appeared on many shows in the US including Soul Train, while their video were in heavy rotation on New York City Hot Tracks.
Their follow up Zarago fared better by peaking at # 7 on the US R&B/Soul charts thanks to the hit "Stay A Little While" which peaked at the top of the R&N/Soul Charts making them the first Black British Group to have two # 1 R&N hits in the US. Their follow up single "Slow Down" became a hit as well and many fans were waiting to see how far the group was going to go.
Sadly they didn't reach their peak. By the late 1980's the group became to have creative differences: Nichol had wanted to experiment with other styles of music while Jane and Carl wanted to continue recording Soul and Pop music so they two left and were replaced by two female vocalists Linda Carriere and Sunay Suleyman, and while the new line-up scored a top then hit with "Don't Be A Fool," many of the fans weren't feeling the new line-up, so they disbanded two years later.
During the late 1990's many Hip-Hop and R&B artists had began to honor the group's legacy by sampling and redoing their songs including Mariah Carey, who sampled the trio's hit "Stay Awhile" for the remix of her ballad "My All" which featured rap duo Pete Gunz and Lord Tariq, while Hip-Hop producer and DJ Pete Rock asked original vocalist Jane and Carl to sing on his single "Take Your Time" introducing the group's music and legacy to a new generation and legion of fans, while having longtime fans excited and anticipating a reunion. Well the trio has plans to reunite soon.