Brand New Heavies, The - 2 in 1: All About the Funk & Get Used to It '2004 / 2011

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Boogie (03:52)
2. Need Some More (03:57)
3. Waste My Time (03:29)
4. Keep on Shining (04:20)
5. What Do You Take Me For? (04:34)
6. Surrender (03:47)
7. Many Rivers to Cross (03:32)
8. How Do You Think (03:49)
9. Every Time We Turn It Up (03:42)
10. It Could Be Me (04:35)
11. I Feel Right (05:55)
12. How We Do This (05:50)
13. We've Got (04:43)
14. I Don't Know Why (I Love You) (03:32)
15. Get Used to It (03:26)
16. Sex God (04:54)
17. Let's Do It Again (05:08)
18. We Won't Stop (04:08)
19. Right On (04:05)
20. Music (03:35)
21. I Just Realized (04:35)
22. All Fired Up (04:12)
23. Love Is (04:15)
24. I've Been Touched (04:11)



 moreFormed in 1985 by drummer/vocalist Jan Kincaid, guitarist Simon
Bartholomew, and bassist/keyboardist Andrew Levy -- school friends from the
London suburb of Ealing -- the Brand New Heavies were originally an instrumental
unit inspired by the James Brown and Meters records the musicians heard while
clubbing in the rare groove scene that gave rise to acid jazz. The trio soon
began recording their own music, gaining enormous exposure when their demo
tracks were spun at the influential Cat in the Hat club. The Brand New Heavies
added a horn section and built a cult following throughout the London club
circuit. After a recording deal with Cooltempo yielded the single "Got to Give,"
the Heavies -- now including vocalist Jay Ella Ruth -- signed with the fledgling
indie label Acid Jazz and were subsequently boosted by an affiliation with the
larger FFRR. Recorded on a budget of just 8,000 pounds, the group's self-titled
LP appeared in 1990 to strong critical acclaim, landed at number 25 on the U.K.
album chart, and was powered by three Top 40 singles. Ruth left the band, and
Delicious Vinyl, their new label for the U.S., hand-picked N'Dea Davenport as
the successor. The Heavies subsequently re-recorded tracks from the debut for
their first Stateside effort, also an eponymous release, which appeared in 1992.
"Never Stop," which had narrowly missed the Top 40 in the U.K., reached number
three on Billboard's R&B/hip-hop chart. A New York performance augmented by
rappers Q-Tip and MC Serch inspired the group to cut another '92 release, Heavy
Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1, which featured collaborations with Gang Starr, Main
Source, and the Pharcyde, among other hip-hop acts that enhanced their
credibility overseas.

The 1994 effort Brother Sister hit number four in the U.K. and went platinum
thanks to four Top 40 hits, including "Dream On Dreamer." Davenport left for a
solo career and was replaced by Siedah Garrett, a veteran R&B singer/songwriter
known most as the co-writer of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror." The
Heavies didn't miss a beat with Shelter, a 1997 LP that also contained four Top
40 singles and was certified platinum. Two years later, the group reappeared
with a U.K. anthology entitled Trunk Funk: The Best of the Brand New Heavies, a
set that also included new material fronted by Carleen Anderson, previously of
Talkin' Loud signees Young Disciples. The title was recycled the following year
for a U.S. compilation, Trunk Funk Classics: 1991-2000, which also featured a
new song recorded with Davenport. After 2003's We Won't Stop, fronted primarily
by Sy Smith, and 2004's Allabouthefunk, a self-issued collaboration with Nicole
Russo, Davenport returned for a longer period that saw the Heavies through
numerous projects well into the 2010s. Among these were 2006's Get Used to It,
2013's Forward, and the intermediary date Live in London. The musicians during
this period also recorded an LP of library-style funk instrumentals titled Dunk
Your Trunk.

Dawn Joseph, who had contributed to Forward, took the spotlight on Sweet Freaks,
the band's 2014 offering, but she left afterward, as did Jan Kincaid. The band,
guided still by founding members Simon Bartholomew and Andrew Levy, continued
performing over the next few years with different vocalists, and in 2019
returned to the Acid Jazz label for TBNH. Co-produced by longtime superfan Mark
Ronson, its lead vocals were exchanged by past and current members N'Dea
Davenport, Siedah Garrett, and Angela Ricci and guests including Beverley Knight
and Angie Stone. Shibuya 357, a live set originally released only in Japan, was
given wide digital release in 2021, almost 25 years after its first edition.
© Andy Kellman

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