Soul II Soul

Soul II Soul is a British double award-winning Grammy act that emerged from London at the end of the 1980s . The group initially attracted attention as a sound system, playing records at house and street parties (where their clothing style - dubbed "Funki Dred" - quickly made a splash, inspiring them to start a line of clothing). Founded by Jazzie B and featuring a changing roster of other musicians - notably Nellee Hooper, Simon Law, Phillip 'Daddae' Harvey and Caron Wheeler - Soul II Soul's experiments in music-making of their own resulted in the dub plate "Fairplay," which secured them a deal with Virgin Records. They had huge hits in 1989 with the singles "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)," both from their debut album Club Classics Vol. I. These songs (both featuring Wheeler on vocals) set the tone for early 1990s mainstream dance music in the UK.

Doreen Waddell, a former singer with Soul II Soul living in Clarendon Villas, Hove, died after being hit by three cars while fleeing from a shoplifting incident. The 36-year-old, who left behind a four-year-old son, sang some lead vocal parts on Soul II Soul's 1989 Club Classics Volume I album.

Their follow-up album, Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade, yielded the hits "Get A Life" and "A Dream's A Dream," the latter featuring operatic vocals by Victoria Wilson-James. While their U.S. following declined somewhat following its release, Soul II Soul continued to have hits in the UK, including 1992's #4 single, "Joy."

Soul II Soul reached Volume 5 of their series for Virgin in 1995, then released two more albums for Island Records.

In October 2004 "Keep on Movin" appeared in the videogame Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, playing on R&B, Soul radio station, CSR 103.9.

The Soul II Soul Sound System featuring Caron Wheeler toured Australia nationally in February 2009. They are also playing the Playground Weekender Festival near Sydney, New South Wales. The group are currently finishing up recording sessions for their seventh album to be released in 2009.

Soul II Soul will be performing live at the Yasalam free concerts in conjunction with the 2009 Formula 1TM Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix celebrations at the end of October 2009.

On 2 December 2008 a programme on Soul II Soul appeared on BBC Radio 4.

The daughter of former member Melissa Bell, Alexandra Burke, was the winner of the 2008, fifth season of the UK television talent competition/show, The X Factor.

From Wikipedia