Eruption (band)

Eruption were a British disco, R&B and soul recording act in the 1970s and 1980s. They are best known for their covers of Ann Peebles's "I Can't Stand the Rain" and Neil Sedaka's "One Way Ticket", which were big disco hits in 1978 and 1979, respectively.

For the early 1970s German experimental music group, see Eruption (German band).

Eruption
OriginUnited Kingdom
GenresPop, disco, dance-pop, R&B
Years active1969–1985
LabelsRCA, Hansa, Jupiter

History

The band was formed in 1969 as a school band in the United Kingdom as Silent Eruption, and consisted of musicians of Caribbean origins.[1] The group changed the name to Eruption in 1974. In 1975 Precious Wilson joined the band as a backing singer and they won the RCA Soul Search contest and their first single "Let Me Take You Back in Time" was released.[2] Finding their success quickly drying out, lead singer Lindel Leslie (sometimes referred to as Leslie Johnson) left the group in 1976. The group didn't find a singer who could replace Lindel Leslie so backing singer Precious Wilson became the lead singer. According to Precious Wilson RCA forgot all about them because of acts like David Cassidy who had much bigger success. RCA told them to quit their jobs. Without any success they didn't have any money. Their manager signed a contract for several concerts in Germany. In 1977 they went on the road in Germany where they were discovered by Hans-Jörg Mayer who worked as a talent scout for Frank Farian (the producer of Boney M.) Farian signed the group with the Germany-based Hansa Records and the band was the backing band and the support act for Boney M's first European tour.

Their 'comeback' single "Party, Party" flopped in 1977, but their cover of "I Can't Stand the Rain" released in December 1977 was an international hit, reaching No. 1 in Belgium and Australia, No. 5 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 18 in the US Billboard Hot 100. Afterwards, in the spring of 1978, "Party, party" was re-released and became a hit in the Benelux countries. Both songs were included in their first album, released in December 1977. It was followed by their second album titled Leave a Light, launched towards the end of 1978. The first single off the album, "Leave a Light", delivered the second single, "One Way Ticket" (a cover of Neil Sedaka's song written by Jack Keller and Hank Hunter), catapulted them to the top of the charts (a UK No. 9 hit).

In 1979, Eruption and Boney M. were both featured in the 1979 German film Disco Fever. Precious Wilson left the group in the same year to pursue a solo career and was replaced by singer Kim Davis. The group enjoyed their third German top 10 hit with "Go Johnnie Go" from the third album Fight Fight Fight. Shortly after, a tragedy hit when Davis succumbed to a brain haemorrhage, although some sources claim she died in a car accident.[3] The band decided to continue and singer Jane Jochen stepped in. A new recording, a cover of Del Shannon's "Runaway" was released in December 1980, and peaked at No. 21 in the German charts. After a compilation album in the spring of 1981 and the single release of "You (You Are My Soul)" from Fight Fight Fight, the band signed to Ralph Siegel's Jupiter Records.

By now, without the lead vocals of Precious Wilson, success was drastically diminishing, and the singles from their fourth album Our Way received little notice. In 1983, the drummer Eric Kingsley left Eruption, and Andi Weekes Barbados joined the group to play drums during last two years of the band's activity. In 1985, Eruption disbanded. In 1988, a new version of "I Can't Stand the Rain" was released. In 1994, Farian released the CD Gold – 20 Super Hits which featured five remixed and two original Eruption titles and 13 tracks from Precious Wilson's solo album. The new version of "One Way Ticket" was released as a single in the same year to promote the compilation. In 1997, Wilson became the legal owner of the trademark Eruption. She continues to tour promoting her solo projects, and also as Eruption with her new group, but none of the band's original members perform in the latest line-ups.

Band members
  • Greg Perrineau (guitar)
  • Morgan Perrineau (bass)
  • Gerry Williams (keyboards) (1969-1985) (died May 14th 2020)
  • Eric Kingsley (drums)
  • Lindel Leslie (Leslie Johnson) (lead singer 1969–76) (died in August 2015)
  • Precious Wilson (lead singer 1974–79)
  • Kim Davis (lead singer 1980) (died in 1980)[4]
  • Jane Jochen (lead singer 1980–85)
  • Andi Weekes Barbados (drums 1983–85)

Discography

Studio albums
Year Title Peak chart positions
AUS[5] NOR
[6]		 SWE
[7]		 USA
[8]
1977 Eruption 14 — 25 133
1979 Leave a Light 42 19 — —
1980 Fight Fight Fight — — — —
1983 Our Way — — — —

Compilations

Hansa

  • 1981: The Best of Eruption

BMG

  • 1994: Gold – 20 Super Hits (Precious Wilson + Eruption)
  • 1995: I Can't Stand the Rain

Sony Music

  • 2006: "Best of the best" (previous released as "Gold")
  • 2007: Greatest Hits (previous released as "Gold")

Big Break Records

  • 2017: The best of Eruption (1981 album + 5 bonus tracks, CD, CDBBRX0365)

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK
[9]		 AUS[5] AUT
[10]		 BEL
[11]		 GER
[12]		 IRE
[13]		 NLD
[14]		 NOR
[6]		 SWE
[7]		 SWI
[15]		 USA
[8]
1975 "Let Me Take You Back in Time" — — — — — — — — — — — N/A
1977 "Party, Party" — — — - — — - — — — — Eruption
"I Can't Stand the Rain" 5 1 4 1 7 6 4 6 2 8 18
1978 "Computer Love" — — — — — — — — — — —
"Party, Party" (re-release) - — - 19 - - 16 - - - -
"Love Is a Feelin'" — — — — — — — — — — — N/A
"Leave a Light" — — — — 43 — — — — — — Leave a Light
1979 "One Way Ticket" 9 10 1 2 7 13 5 — 8 1 —
1980 "Go Johnnie Go" — — 12 — 8 — — — — 10 — Fight Fight Fight
"Runaway" — — — — 21 — — — — — — The Best of Eruption
1981 "You (You Are My Soul)" — — — — 65 — — — — — —
"In a 1000 Years" — — — — — — — — — — — Our Way
1982 "Up and Away" — — — — — — — — — — — N/A
"Joy to the World" — — — — — — — — — — — Our Way
1983 "I Can't Help Myself" — — — — — — — — — — —
"Sophisticated Lady" — — — — — — — — — — — N/A
1985 "Where Do I Begin" — — — — — — — — — — —
1988 "I Can't Stand the Rain 88" — — — — — — — — — — —
1994 "One Way Ticket (Remix '94)" — — — — — — — — — — — Gold – 20 Super Hits

References
  1. Yuri German. "Eruption Biography AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  2. Lindel Leslie. "History". shoetownmusicproductions.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  3. Roger Smith. "Kim Davis – 13/12/2011". readysteadygone.co.uk. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  4. Kim Davis - Ready Steady Gone! Retrieved 2019-05-11
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 104. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. "Discography Eruption". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  7. "Discography Eruption". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. "Eruption Awards AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  9. "ERUPTION Artist Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  10. "Discographie Eruption" (in German). austriancharts.at. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  11. "Discografie Eruption" (in Dutch). ultratop.be. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  12. "Eruption Single-Chartverfolgung" (in German). musicline.de. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  13. "The Irish Charts – All there is to know". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 3 June 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  14. "Discografie Eruption" (in Dutch). dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  15. "Discographie Eruption" (in German). hitparade.ch. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
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