| Another Level | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | R&B, Boy band |
| Years active | 1997–2000 |
| Labels | Northwestside Records |
| Past members | |
| Mark Baron Dane Bowers Bobak Kianoush Wayne Williams Martin Hugh Kelly Benjamin Matthew Robinson |
|
Another Level were an English soul and R&B influenced boy band, active in the late 1990s.
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The members were Mark Baron born 17 August 1974, Dane Bowers born 29 November 1979, Bobak Kianoush born 1 November 1978 and Wayne Williams born 19 January 1978. Bowers and Williams were both students of the BRIT School of Performing Arts & Technology in the London Borough of Croydon, when they were discovered. Williams enrolled at the school in 1995, while Bowers was in the year below, but started in 1994.
Another Level were originally conceived by Nick Raphael and Christian Tattersfield for their new record label project Northwestside Records, a BMG sub-label in the United Kingdom that had also signed Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records unit in 1998. They felt there was a gap in the market for an interracial boyband. Raphael and Tattersfield asked future Epic A&R Jo Charrington to put the group together and then manage them. Charrington recruited the members by auditioning singers from the BRIT School and modelling agencies.[1]
Due to Northwestside's position as an urban marketed record label, a number of R&B and hip-hop stars guested on Another Level's records. These included Ghostface Killah and TQ amongst others.
Another Level had seven Top Ten singles in two years, including 1998's UK Number One "Freak Me" (a cover of the 1993 hit by US group Silk), and a platinum selling, eponymous debut album. 1999's gold selling Nexus followed, along with BRIT Awards nominations, and the opening slot on Janet Jackson's European tour.
The group split up in 2000 after the release of their second album Nexus, with member Dane Bowers going on to have success with Jonny L and Victoria Beckham as part of the Truesteppers' record "Out of Your Mind", as well as two, number nine, solo hit single releases. Wayne Williams went on to start up his own record label with his brother Jason. His debut album Fame and Fortune failed to make an impact on the UK chart.
In 2006, Bowers appeared in the follow-up TV show to Totally Scott-Lee, called Totally Boyband, in which five boyband members from past groups were to be modelled into a new singing act. The group featured him alongside Lee Latchford Evans of Steps, Jimmy Constable of 911, New Kids on the Block's Danny Wood and S Club's Bradley McIntosh. The series commenced on MTV in the UK in September 2006 yet their first single was a commercial disaster and charted at #35 with the group name Upper Street. They disbanded after the end of the series.
| Date | Title | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[2] | ||||
| November 1998 | Another Level | 13 | ||
| March 1999 | Another Level Remixed | – | ||
| September 1999 | Nexus | 7 | ||
| September, 2002 | From the Heart | – | ||
| December 2002 | Love Songs | – | ||
| Date | Single | Chart position | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK[2] | SE [3] |
|||
| February 1998 | "Be Alone No More" | 6 | — | Another Level |
| July 1998 | "Freak Me" | 1 | 11 | |
| October 1998 | "I Guess I Was a Fool" | 5 | 31 | |
| January 1999 | "I Want You for Myself" (featuring Ghostface Killah) | 2 | 50 | |
| March 1999 | "Be Alone No More (Remix)" (featuring Jay-Z) / "Holding Back the Years" | 11 | — | Another Level Remixed |
| May, 1999 | "From The Heart" | 6 | 25 | Nexus |
| August 1999 | "Summertime" (featuring TQ) | 7 | — | |
| November 1999 | "Bomb Diggy" | 6 | — | |
Singles
| Date | Single | Chart position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| April 2000 | "Buggin'"(with Truesteppers)[4] | 6 | |
| August 2000 | "Out of Your Mind"(featuring Victoria Beckham)[4] | 2 | |
| February 2001 | "Shut Up And Forget About It"[4] | 9 | |
| June 2001 | "Another Lover"[4] | 9 | |
| July 2010 | "All She Needs" | ||
(as Upper Street)
| Date | Single | Chart position | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | |||
| October 2006 | "The One" | 35 | |
Albums
| Date | Title | Chart position | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | ||||
| May 2004 | Fame & Fortune | — | ||
Singles
| Date | Single | Chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| July 2001 | "He Can't Love You" | 134 | Non-Album Single |
| May 2003 | "Anything is Possible" | 84 | Fame & Fortune |
| October 2003 | "All About the Sex" | — |