Lighthouse Family

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lighthouse Family


Img_capt = Tunde Baiyewu, Paul Tucker
Background = group_or_band
Origin =
Genre = R&B, Soul, Pop, Easy listening
Years_active = 1993 - 2003
Label = MCA Music, Inc./Wildcard/Polydor
Associated_acts =
URL =
Current_members = Tunde Baiyewu
Paul Tucker
Past_members =

Lighthouse Family were a British musical duo active from the mid-1990s to the early 2000s. Vocalist Tunde Baiyewu and keyboard player Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK after meeting at university. Their 1995 debut album "Ocean Drive" sold more than 1.6 million copies in the UK alone and established them as a popular easy listening duo throughout Europe.

Although none of their singles reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, they did reach number one on the Australian Singles Chart with the song "High".

Lighthouse Family split up in early 2003 because of what they called a "heavy promotional schedule" following the release of "Whatever Gets You Through the Day" in 2002. This led to both men pursuing individual projects. Baiyewu is now a solo artist, while Tucker joined a rock band, The Orange Lights.

According to their management, the band has not split up despite being inactive: "there is always the possibility of another Lighthouse Family album one day."Citation | last=Thomson | first=Daniel | author-link= | year=July 17, 2007 | title=Keith celebrates with a No. 1 album | periodical=The Journal | volume= | issue= | pages=31 | id= | url= http://icnewcastle.icnetwork.co.uk/journallive/culture/tm_method=full%26objectid=19465230%26siteid=50081-name_page.html ]

History

Both Baiyewu and Tucker were working in bars when they first met; together, they recorded demos of a number of songs Tucker had written during the late 1980s.cite web | author = Pattenden, Mike | date = November 18, 1996 | url = http://web.archive.org/web/19980205031031/http://www.dotmusic.com/MWtalentlfamily2.html | title = Dotmusic Talent: Lighthouse Family | format = | work = | publisher = Dotmusic (retrieved from the Internet Archive) | accessdate = 2007-04-16 | accessyear = ] Among these, a demo of "Ocean Drive" attracted the attention of Polydor Records A&R director Colin Barlow, who, in 1993, signed the band to a six-month development deal.Citation | last=Jackson | first=Alan | author-link= | year=May 12, 1995 | title=Beam us up, star-trekkers | periodical=The Times | volume= | issue= | pages=1 | id=ISSN 0140-0460 | url= ]

The band were funded for the recording of additional demos, and teamed with songwriters Martin Brammer (formerly of Kane Gang), Tim Kellett (formerly of Simply Red), and Tim Laws (co-writer of "Dreams" by Gabrielle). Eventually, the band was signed to record an album proper; finished in August 1994, "Ocean Drive" also included songs written by Shaun Ward (also of Simply Red), Junior Giscombe, and Alan Glass, and was produced by Mike Peden.

The band was managed throughout its career by Keith Armstrong and Phil Mitchell, co-founders of Newcastle-based Kitchenware Records; the label had gone on hiatus during the 1990s in order to handle the management of Lighthouse Family and other musicians. [ [http://82.112.112.156/newsletters/newsletter_info.php?id=29 Generator Newsletter #19 Oct.-Dec. 95] ]

In the wake of an economic recession in the UK, British record labels were, at the time, primarily signing artists with the goal of short-term profit. In contrast, Barlow, in "The Times", expected that the band could last for "ten years or more". At the time of the launch of the first album, Polydor's investments in the band totaled ₤250,000. Peden's hiring was described as a "big spend", and music videos were filmed overseas in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

The lead single, "Lifted", received airplay on BBC Radio One as well as a number of BBC Local Radio stations, and "The Chart Show" aired its music video. Still, this did not translate to considerable single or album sales within 1995; it wasn't until "Lifted" was re-released in 1996 that it reached the top five on the UK Singles Chart, and "Ocean Drive", which had been deleted, rebounded and was certified double platinum by the end of the year.

Discography

Albums

*"Ocean Drive" (1996)
*"Postcards from Heaven" (1997)
*"Whatever Gets You Through the Day" (2001)
*"Greatest Hits" (2002)
*"The Very Best of Lighthouse Family" (2003)

UK singles

*"Lifted" (#61 1995)
*"Ocean Drive" (#34 1995)
*"Lifted" " [Re-Release] " (#4 1996)
*"Ocean Drive" " [Re-Release] " (#11 1996)
*"Goodbye Heartbreak" (#14 1996)
*"Loving Every Minute" (#20 1996)
*"Raincloud" (#6 1997)
*"High" (#4 1997)
*"Lost in Space" (#6 1998)
*"Question of Faith" (#21 1998)
*"Postcard from Heaven" (#24 1999)
*"(I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be) Free / One" (#6 2001)
*"Run" (#30 2002)
*"Happy" (#51 2002)
*"I Could Have Loved You" (2003) - didn't reach the UK Top 75

References

External links

* (Flash media not archived; see [http://www.presencemultimedia.co.uk/work/casestudies/3 here] for appearance)
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* [http://ireland.iol.ie/~kasst/lighthouse/ Unofficial Lighthouse Family]
* [http://hem.bredband.net/funkyflyy/lhouse/index.html Interviews and discography]