Chaka Demus & Pliers

Chaka Demus & Pliers
Origin Jamaica
Genres Reggae
Years active 1992 - 1997
2007 - present
Labels Explorer
Members Chaka Demus
Pliers

Chaka Demus & Pliers are a Jamaican reggae duo made up of deejay Chaka Demus (born John Taylor) and singer Pliers (born Everton Bonner), best known for their hit "Tease Me". As a duo, they enjoyed more commercial success with mainstream pop fans after their collaboration began in the early 1990s than either had in his previous solo career.[1]

Career

Both artists were established musicians when they teamed up and earned international recognition during the early 1990s. The duo was the first Jamaican act to have three consecutive Top 5 hits on the UK Singles Chart; a record unsurpassed until Shaggy scored four consecutive Top 5 hits in 2001. Their first UK chart hit, "Tease Me", stayed in the Top 5 of the UK Singles Chart, for three months in 1993, reaching number three in July. After releasing a cover of the Isley Brothers' "Twist and Shout", the song reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, in early 1994. The duo's other Top 20 placements were "She Don't Let Nobody" (UK #4), "I Wanna Be Your Man" (UK #19), and "Gal Wine" (UK #20), with six hit singles in all taken from their debut album, Tease Me.[2] The re-release of Tease Me also charted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, in 1994; The album went on receive gold certification, selling more than 500,000 copies.[2] Pliers is one of the Bonner brothers, all of whom are reggae artists, including Richie Spice and Spanner Banner.

In 2007, Chaka Demus & Pliers reunited to record a track called "Need Your Lovin" which was released on vinyl, on Explorer Records. This song remained high on the Jamaican chart.

On 18 November 2007, Chaka Demus & Pliers performed "Murder She Wrote" alongside Alicia Keys at the 2007 American Music Awards. In the summer of 2008, they performed at the annual Detroit Caribbean Festival. Their latest album So Proud was released on 6 October 2008.

In 2012, Pliers released the album Billion Dollar Latte.[3]

In July 2013 Chaka Demus & Pliers performed at the B.E.T awards show in the reggae segment alongside Dawn Penn, Beenie Man and Elephant Man. Chaka Demus & Pliers are working on a new album soon to be released.

Discography

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions Album
AUS
[4]		 BEL
[5]		 FRA
[6]		 GER
[7]		 IRE
[8]		 NED
[9]		 NZ
[10]		 UK
[11]
1993 "Tease Me" 5 16 47 31 16 5 15 3 Tease Me/All She Wrote
"She Don't Let Nobody" 37 26 19 59 9 12 20 4
"Twist And Shout" (feat. Taxi Gang) 13 7 23 32 9 8 2 1
1994 "Murder She Wrote" — — — — — — — 27
"I Wanna Be Your Man" — — — — — — 30 19
"Gal Wine" — — — — — — — 20
1995 "Twist And Shout" (feat. Taxi Gang) (re-entry) — — — — — — — 67
1996 "Every Kinda People" — — — — — — 15 47 For Every Kinda People
1997 "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" — — — — — — 19 51 Single Release Only

References

  1. ↑ Du Noyer, Paul (2003). The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Music (1st ed.). Fulham, London: Flame Tree Publishing. p. 361. ISBN 1-904041-96-5.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Campbell, Howard (2012) "Chaka Demus and Pliers — murder they wrote", Jamaica Observer, 11 July 2012, retrieved 2012-07-12
  3. ↑ SkipHopz. "The Pliers of Chakademus to release solo album | SkiPh0pZ D0T C0M". Skiphopz.com. Retrieved 2013-02-07.
  4. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers Australian Singles". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  5. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers Belgian Singles". Ultratop.be. ULTRATOP & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  6. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers French Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  7. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers German Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  8. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers Irish Singles". IRMA 2006 - 2008. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  9. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers Dutch Singles". Hung Medien. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  10. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers New Zealand Singles". charts.org.nz. Retrieved 2013-11-30.
  11. ↑ "Chaka Demus & Pliers UK Singles". chartstats.com. Retrieved 2013-11-30.