Black Box (band)
Black Box | |
---|---|
Also known as |
|
Origin | Italy |
Genres | |
Years active | 1988–present |
Labels |
|
Members | Celestine Walcott-Gordon Daniele Davoli Valerio Semplici Mirko Limoni |
Past members | Katrin Quinol Charvoni Woodson |
Website | blackboxhouse |
Black Box is an Italian
History
1988–1989: Early beginnings
Daniele Davoli, Valerio Semplici, and Mirko Limoni formed a production team called Starlight (often credited as Starlight Invention Group).
1989–1992: Dreamland
In 1989, the group changed their name to Black Box and began working on their first album. They added
In May 1990, they released their debut album Dreamland. Despite its moderate performance on the charts, the album became certified gold in the United Kingdom and United States [11][12] and peaked at number one in the Australian chart. In late 1990, the album's fourth single, "Fantasy", a cover of the 1978 hit by Earth, Wind & Fire, peaked at number five on the UK Singles chart and became certified silver in the United Kingdom.[13]
In February 1991, "Strike It Up" was released as the album's fifth single. The song became another international top-ten hit for the group and earned them their third number-one single on the Dance chart. The album's final singles "Open Your Eyes" and "Hold On" performed moderately well on the charts. In the same year, Black Box released a re-issue of "Ride on Time" called "Bright on Time". Quinol, who did not contribute vocally or musically to the group's music, left Black Box in late 1991 after the band became the subject of a media backlash involving lip-syncing scandals and lawsuits.
1993–1999: Positive Vibration and lineup changes
In 1993, Black Box added American singer Charvoni Woodson to the lineup. They released the single "Rockin' to the Music", which performed poorly on the charts. In 1995, Black Box released their second album, Positive Vibration, which failed to chart or rise to the same level of success as their previous record. The album spawned the singles "Not Anyone" and "A Positive Vibration", both of which fared well on the charts. In 1997, the album was re-issued with three additional singles: "I Got the Vibration", "Native New Yorker", and "Fall into My Love".
In April 1998, Black Box released a compilation album, Strike It Up: The Best of Black Box. In June 1998, they released another compilation, Hits & Mixes. In 1999, a maxi single of remixes for "Bright on Time" was exclusively released in France.
2003–present
Woodson continued touring and performing as the lead vocalist of the group periodically until 2015. That year, Celestine Walcott-Gordon began performing live as the new lead vocalist. In 2018, the group released the single "Everyone Will Follow", featuring vocals by Walcott-Gordon.
Lip-syncing scandals and lawsuits
In 1990, American singer Loleatta Holloway and American producer Dan Hartman sued Black Box for copyright infringement and unauthorized sampling.[14] "Ride on Time" sampled Holloway's 1980 song "Love Sensation", which was produced and written by Hartman. Neither Holloway nor Hartman were consulted for permission to sample the song, and Black Box failed to credit Holloway's vocals in the song. Additionally, Black Box had used Quinol to lip-sync Holloway's vocals in the music video for "Ride on Time", which led the public to believe Quinol was the actual singer. Holloway and Hartman eventually received an undisclosed out-of-court settlement.[14] As a result, Black Box re-issued "Ride on Time", removing Holloway's vocals and featuring newly recorded vocals by English singer Heather Small. The group still retained the original version on their re-issued album Dreamland and added Holloway's name as the featured vocalist on "Ride on Time" as well as giving Hartman songwriting credits. Black Box would later issue another new version of the song called "Bright on Time" in 1991.
In September 1990, American singer
Discography
Studio albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Certifications
| |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AUS [18] |
CAN [19] |
FRA
[20] |
GER
[21] |
NZ
[22] |
NOR [23] |
SWE [24] |
SWI
[25] |
UK [26] |
US [27] | |||
Dreamland | 1 | 18 | 35 | 36 | 4 | 8 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 56 | ||
Positive Vibration |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Compilation albums
Title | Album details |
---|---|
Strike It Up: The Best of Black Box |
|
Hits & Mixes |
|
Remix albums
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
---|---|---|
NLD [32] | ||
Remixland | 58 | |
Mixed Up! |
|
— |
"—" denotes releases that did not chart |
Singles
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications
|
Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
ITA [33] |
AUS [18] |
BEL (FLA) [34] |
FRA
[35] |
GER
[21] |
NZ
[22] |
SWE [24] |
UK
[26] |
US [27] |
|||||
"Numero Uno"[a] | 1988 | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | 9 | — | — | Non-album single | |
"Airport 89"[b] | 1989 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 99 | — | — | ||
"Megamix" (featuring Lelewel) |
— | — | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Ride on Time" (featuring Loleatta Holloway) |
10 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | 39 | Dreamland | ||
"Grand Piano"[c] | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | — | 9 | — | — | Non-album single | ||
"I Don't Know Anybody Else" (featuring Martha Wash) |
12 | 6 | — | 9 | 12 | 25 | 8 | 4 | 23 | 1 |
|
Dreamland | |
" Everybody Everybody "(featuring Martha Wash) |
1990 | 7 | 35 | 39 | 11 | 41 | — | — | 16 | 8 | 1 | ||
"Fantasy" (featuring Martha Wash) |
17 | 3 | — | 21 | 16 | — | — | 5 | — | — | |||
"The Total Mix" | — | 24 | — | — | — | 39 | — | 12 | — | — | Remixland | ||
"Megamix" | 1991 | — | — | — | 34 | 33 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Bright on Time" | — | — | 48 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Strike It Up" (featuring Martha Wash) |
— | 20 | 13 | 26 | 26 | 29 | — | 16 | 8 | 1 | Dreamland | ||
"Open Your Eyes" (featuring Martha Wash) |
12 | 60 | — | 45 | 44 | — | 32 | 48 | — | — | |||
"Hold On" (featuring Martha Wash) |
1992 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Rockin' to the Music" | 1993 | — | 103 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 39 | — | — | Positive Vibration | |
"Not Anyone" | 1995 | — | 151 | — | — | — | — | — | 31 | — | — | ||
"A Positive Vibration" | 13 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"I Got the Vibration" | 1996 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 21 | — | — | ||
"Native New Yorker" | 1997 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | — | — | ||
"Fall Into My Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"The Beat of Your Heart" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Bright on Time ('99 Mix)" | 1999 | — | — | — | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album single | |
"Ride on Time (2003 Mix)" | 2003 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Everybody Everybody 2007" | 2007 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Ride on Time (20th Anniversary Mix)" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Everyone Will Follow" | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Superbest | |
"—" denotes the single failed to chart or was not released |
See also
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
Notes
References
- ^ "not anyone | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
- ^ "i got the vibration/a positive vibration | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com.
- ^ "Starlight Discography". Discogs.com.
- ^ Starlight > full Official Chart History. Official Charts. Retrieved on 7 July 2019
- ^ Wood Allen > full Official Chart History. Official Charts. Retrieved on 7 July 2019
- ^ Earls, John (13 September 2019)."Lawsuits! Miming! An M-Person! Rave-pop glory! 30 years on, the inside story of Black Box's '80s mega-hit 'Ride On Time'" NME. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
- ^ Award BPI for "Ride on Time" by Black Box. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 8 July 2019
- ^ Mixmaster > full Official Chart History. Official Charts. Retrieved on 7 July 2019
- ISBN 978-0-89820-180-2.
- ^ a b Black Box | Billboard Chart History. Billboard. Retrieved on 1 February 2019
- ^ Award BPI for "Dreamland" by Black Box. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 8 July 2019
- ^ a b "American certifications – Black Box". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ Award BPI for "Fantasy" by Black Box. British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved on 8 July 2019
- ^ a b Loleatta Holloway: Much-sampled disco diva who sued Black Box over their worldwide hit Ride on Time. Independent UK. Retrieved on 7 July 2019
- ^ Lawsuits Seek Truth in Music Labeling. The New York Times. Retrieved on 28 January 2019
- ^ a b "Read Her Lips : R&B Singer Says Hot Dance Hit Is Lip-Synced – Los Angeles Times". articles.latimes.com. 1991. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
- ^ Valentine's Disco Party At Playhouse Welcomes 'Weather Girl' Martha Wash Archived 9 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine. New Town Bee. Retrieved on 28 January 2019
- ^ a b Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Discography Black Box". Hung Medien. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
- "Numero Uno": "australian-charts.com > Discography Starlight". Hung Medien. Retrieved 18 October 2022.
- "Open Your Eyes": Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 31.
- Peaks for 'Rockin' to the Music' and 'Not Anyone': Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 2015-06-05. imgur.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 24 June 2015.
- ^ "CAN Charts > Black Box". RPM. Archived from the original on 25 May 2013. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Archived from the originalon 22 June 2012. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ Media Control Charts. Retrieved 18 December 2011.[dead link]
- ^ Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ "NOR Charts > Black Box". VG-lista. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ a b "SWE Charts > Black Box". Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ a b "UK Charts > Black Box". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- ^ a b c "US Charts > Black Box". Billboard. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1991 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ a b c "British certifications – Black Box". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 January 2022. Type Black Box in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.
- ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Black Box)". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Canadian certifications – Black Box". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- MegaCharts. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ "Classifiche". Musica e dischi (in Italian). Set "Tipo" on "Singoli". Then, in the "Artista" field, search "Black Box".
- ^ "ITA Charts > Black Box". ultratop.be. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
- Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 18 December 2011.
- ^ a b "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "Sverigetopplistan – Black Box" (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
- ^ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1991 Singles" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 1 January 2022.