Duke (musician)

Duke (born Mark Carson Adams)^[1] is a British singer, songwriter and producer.

He had two Top 10 hits on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: his deep house version of "So In Love With You," which was his biggest hit, reaching #1 in 1997, and his follow-up "Greater," which peaked at #9 in 1998.

Early life

Mark Adams was born in the West End in Newcastle upon Tyne, in the North East of England. While still in his teens, Mark put together his first band with a thrash sound similar to that of Iggy and the Stooges. The band was named Catch 22 after the film. For three years the band performed for the Newcastle club scene, with a repertoire of 1950s classics rendered in a high-octane style, mixed with their own three-chord rock songs.

Career

After Catch 22 disbanded, Adams began to search for another musical group. He has remarked: “When I saw the band One Hand One Heart on local TV they blew my mind, They were tight and shiny something was going to happen for them.” Hearing that the band needed a singer, Mark approached then and was hired. They were picked up by manager Chas Chandler, (bassist with The Animals). Years of touring followed and they landed a recording contract with Epic records. Two singles and an album were released before One Hand One Heart disbanded.

Later, Mark went solo and wrote his first hit So In Love With You. It entered the charts first in the Netherlands and became a dance hit worldwide, topping the mainstream and club charts in the Netherlands, France, Spain and Italy. It reached Number 22 in the UK mainstream charts, with the Full Intention mix and a Club Billboard Number 1, which brought Duke to the attention of audiences in the U.S.

Discography

Albums

• The Ten Commandments of Love (1995)

Singles and EPs

• "So In Love With You" (1994)
• "New Beginning" (1994)
• "Make Believeland" (1995)
• "Womanchild" (1997)
• "Greater" (1998)
• "Untitled" (2000)
• "Soul Sister Soul Brother" (2002)
• "So In Love With You (K-Klass & Triple Dee \ Hoxton Whores \ MiOn)" (2012)

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart

References