Sam’s Jams: The First Black British Band to Top the Billboard R&B Chart
Loose Ends is an 1980’s era R&B group from the United Kingdom that topped charts on both sides of the Atlantic.
Artist: Loose Ends
Song: Nights of Pleasure
Loose Ends is an R&B group from the UK. The trio originally started in London in 1980 with vocalist and guitarist Carl McIntosh, vocalist Jane Eugene, and keyboardist Steve Nichol. The group was originally titled Loose End, but the trio changed its name to Loose Ends in 1983 and were signed to Virgin Records.
Their first hit was “Hangin’ on a String (Contemplating)” in 1985, which reached No. 13 in the UK chart. “Hangin’ on a String” also reached No. 1 on the US Billboard R&B chart, making Loose Ends the first black British band ever to top that chart. The group split up and eventually reunited to appear on a single by hip-hop producer Pete Rock called “Take Your Time” 1998.
My favorite albums are A Little Spice (songs Tell Me What You Want, Dial 999, A Little Spice, and Zagora (songs Stay a Little While, Child and Night of Pleasure).
Sam’s Jams is the weekly song selection of WDET’s creative producer Sam Beaubien, a longtime Detroit musician who also helms the soul-funk band Will Sessions.
From 70 years ago to contemporary releases today, Sam’s Jams is the musical equivalent of digging for hours in dusty record store bins to find forgotten-but-should-be-remembered deep cuts pulled from the genres of funk, jazz and soul genres.
