Inner City (band)
| Inner City | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | House, techno, Detroit techno |
| Years active | 1987–1993; 1998–present |
| Labels |
Virgin/Atlantic Records Virgin/EMI Records Columbia/SME Records Ten Records (United Kingdom) |
| Members |
Kevin Saunderson Paris Grey |
| Past members |
Ann Saunderson Tommy Onyx Static Revenger |
| Notable instruments | |
| Roland TR-909 | |
Inner City is an American house and techno group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1987. The group is composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson and the Chicago, Illinois native Paris Grey. Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three—along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May—high school friends who later originated the Detroit techno sound.
Musical career
Inner City topped dance charts in America and the UK eight times, hit the Top 40 in the UK Singles Chart nine times,[1] and sold around six million records. The group is best known for its early dancefloor-pop music crossover tracks "Big Fun" (UK #8, US Dance #1) and "Good Life" (UK #4, US Dance #1). Other hits include "Do You Love What You Feel" (UK #16, US Dance #1) and "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" (UK #12, US Dance #8). The music videos to these songs received significant airplay throughout the world. Later work introduced a hybrid of techno, jazz and swing beats with a more soulful sound in the vein of downtempo British groups such as Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. The group recorded three albums for Virgin/EMI Records and one single for Columbia/SME Records.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | UK [1] |
US | AUS [2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Paradise (renamed Big Fun in the U.S.) | 3 | 162 | 38 |
| 1990 | Paradise Remixed | 17 | — | — |
| 1990 | Fire | — | — | — |
| 1992 | Praise | 52 | — | — |
| 1993 | Testament ’93 | 33 | — | — |
| 2003 | Good Life—the Best of Inner City | — | — | — |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Certifications (sales thresholds) |
Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [1] |
US [3] |
US Dance [3] |
AUS [4][5] |
AUT [6] |
GER | IRE [7] |
NED [8] |
NZ [9] |
SUI [10] | ||||
| 1988 | "Big Fun" | 8 | — | 1 | 57 | 15 | 5 | 5 | 3 | — | 4 | Paradise | |
| "Good Life" | 4 | 73 | 1 | 52 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 5 | |||
| 1989 | "Ain't Nobody Better" | 10 | — | 1 | 67 | — | 21 | 24 | 26 | 40 | 9 | ||
| "Do You Love What You Feel" | 16 | — | 1 | 76 | — | — | 22 | — | — | — | |||
| "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" | 12 | 76 | 8 | 86 | — | — | 24 | 12 | — | — | Big Fun | ||
| 1990 | "(That Man) He's All Mine" | 42 | — | 15 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Fire | |
| 1991 | "Till We Meet Again" | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Let It Reign" | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 40 | — | — | Praise | ||
| 1992 | "Pennies From Heaven" | 24 | — | 1 | — | — | — | — | 51 | — | — | ||
| "Follow Your Heart" | — | — | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Hallelujah '92" | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Praise" | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Till We Meet Again" (remix) | 55 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1993 | "Back Together Again" | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Singles only | |
| 1994 | "Do Ya" | 44 | — | 5 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Share My Life" | 62 | — | 24 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1995 | "Ahnonghay" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Your Love" | 28 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| 1996 | "Do Me Right" | 47 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1999 | "Good Life (Buena Vida)" PIAS re-recording) | 10 | — | — | — | — | — | — | 73 | 48 | — | ||
| 2000 | "Good Love" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001 | "Pump It Up Dub" (with E-Dancer) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2004 | "Say Something" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2011 | "Future" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2014 | "Bad Girl" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 269. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ↑ "Australiancharts.com Inner City 'Paradise' Australian chart run". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Inner City. "Inner City - Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-12-13.
- ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988-2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
- ↑ "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry (submitted to charts.mail@aria.com.au), received 2014-01-17". imgur.com. Retrieved 2014-11-16.
- ↑ Austrian peaks
- ↑ Search for Irish peaks
- ↑ Dutch peaks
- ↑ New Zealand peaks
- ↑ Swiss peaks
- ↑ "Certified Awards". BPI. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
