Phil Fearon
| Phil Fearon | |
|---|---|
| Born |
30 July 1956 London, England |
| Genres | R&B, post-disco, funk |
| Years active | 1982–present |
| Labels | Ensign, Chrysalis, Production House |
Phil Fearon (born 30 July 1956) is an English record producer. He was the lead singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist for the 1980s band Galaxy.
Fearon was born in Jamaica in 1956, but moved to London with his parents at the age of five. After running a reggae sound system, he joined Hott Wax (which evolved into Brit funk pioneers Hi-Tension after he left) and in the late 1970s was a mainstay of hit group Kandidate which scored a number 11 chart hit in 1979 with "I Don't Wanna Lose You". He set up a studio in his north London house and initially recorded with the group Proton on Champagne Records. Fearon’s first recording as Galaxy (with assistance from singers Julie and Dorothy) was "Head Over Heels" on Ensign Records in 1982, which became a club hit. The first success came with the Top 5 hit "Dancing Tight" in 1983 and over the next 15 months they chalked up a further four UK Top 40 singles including the Top 10s "What Do I Do" and "Everybody’s Laughing". Their radio-friendly pop/soul debut album, Phil Fearon & Galaxy also made the Top 10 in 1984. After a quiet period, Fearon returned to the Top 10 for the last time with a revival of Tony Etoria’s "I Can Prove It" in 1986 (also a minor US R&B hit). He continued to run a production company from his home making commercial dance records.
Similar to the RAH Band, Galaxy was not a true group of musicians but a front for an individual producing all the music in a studio environment, with two female backing singers to supplement the recording sound (Dorothy Galdes & Julie Gore). Galaxy's best known hits were "Dancing Tight", "What Do I Do?", "Everybody's Laughing" and "I Can Prove It", which were all up-beat commercial pop songs, hitting the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart. They also had a near-hit with 'You Don't Need A Reason' which stalled at number 42 on the UK chart in 1985. Galaxy's records were distinctly early 1980s in style, with prominent use of synthesizers, and their version of "Ain't Nothing but a House Party" was produced by .
...
Wikipedia