Damage (British group)

Damage are a British R&B boy band who achieved success in the 1990s with eleven hit singles, including four top 10 successes on the UK Singles Chart.[1] They have sold 2.6 million records worldwide. The band consists of Jade Jones, Rahsaan J Bromfield, Andrez Harriott, Coreé Richards and Noel Simpson.

Damage
OriginLondon, England
Genres
Years active
  • 1995–2001
  • 2014–present
Labels
Members
  • Rahsaan J Bromfield
  • Andrez Harriott
  • Jade Jones
  • Noel Simpson
Past members
  • Coreé Richards

History

1995–1999: Formation and Forever

The band was formed by Rahsaan "Ras" Bromfield and Noel Simpson who were students at the Barbara Speake Stage School in the London neighbourhood of Acton. They rapped and danced at school assemblies. Jade Jones was brought into the band when Bromfield and Simpson heard him sing a high note. Andrez Harriott, a student at Sylvia Young Theatre School, was recruited after he and Jones performed together in the musical play Carmen Jones. Coreé Richards was asked to join the band after he was heard singing at a bus stop.[2] The band sent a demo tape of a cover version of the Jackson 5 song "Anything" to Jazz Summers of Big Life Records in early 1995. Damage made inroads into the UK Singles Chart and the second single "Love II Love" reached number 12 while the follow-up, "Forever", charted at number 6 during the Christmas period.[1] "Forever" was also notable for being both the first song that Steve Mac and Wayne Hector wrote together, and the song that caught the ear of Simon Cowell and effectively led to Mac becoming the chief songwriter-producer for Cowell's subsequent projects.[3]

Damage's debut album Forever followed in 1997, along with two further UK top 10 singles – "Love Guaranteed" and a cover version of Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight", the latter reaching number 3.[1] The quintet subsequently embarked on an extensive touring schedule while negotiating a new recording contract following the collapse of Big Life. Jones remained in the media spotlight through his long-term romance with Emma Bunton of the Spice Girls.[4][5]

2000–2001: Since You've Been Gone and split

In 2000, they signed with Cooltempo Records and released the second album's first single, "Ghetto Romance". The song was produced by production duo Tim & Bob, and peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart.[6] On 30 August, "Rumours" was released as second single. The song is a mixture of R&B and 2-step. The CD2 single contains UK garage remixes of "Rumours" and their previous single "Ghetto Romance", as remixed by Ed Case & Carl H and Groove Chronicles, respectively. The second album was initially due for release on 25 September 2000, following the release of "Rumours". However, the release date was subsequently pushed back to allow for new material to be recorded. This resulted in the album's track listing being revised. The initial track listing includes the tracks "Feelin' Me" and "Midnight Caller", as well as an outro called "Before We Leave".

The second album, Since You've Been Gone, was released on 2 April 2001. However, the final release omits the last tracks and instead replaces them with "I Don't Know" (featuring Emma Bunton), "After the Love Has Gone" and a Mushtaq mix of "So What If I".[7] In August, after the third and fourth singles – "Still Be Lovin' You" and "So What If I" – Richards decided to leave the band. The four members released "After the Love Has Gone" as the fifth and final single and decided to split in December 2001. Harriott and Jones formed CherryBlackStone in 2002, but the duo lasted only a few months.[8] Damage performed a one-off gig at Party in the Park in Leeds on 25 July 2010, but did not officially reunite at that time.[9]

2014–present: Return

In early 2014, Damage reformed as a quartet without Richards for the second series of the ITV2 documentary The Big Reunion along with other groups such as Eternal and A1,[10][11] although Richards did appear on the show to talk about the band and meet with his bandmates one last time.

Discography
Main article: Damage discography

Concert tours
  • Forever Tour (1998)
  • Live in Concert (2014–present)

References
  1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 138. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. Smith, Sean (2012). Alesha. Simon and Schuster. p. 41. ISBN 9781471102202.
  3. "Interview With Steve Mac". HitQuarters. 12 April 2010. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  4. "Former Spice Girl Emma Bunton engaged to Jade Jones", Newsbeat, BBC, 25 January 2011.
  5. "Emma Bunton has a baby boy", Now, 10 August 2007.
  6. UK Singles Chart, Week Listing
  7. Danny Walker, "Big Reunion bosses had 'security on standby' for boyband Damage's ITV2 comeback", Mirror, 6 February 2014.
  8. "Emma Bunton’s fella becomes a chef", Now, 30 July 2007.
  9. "Video: Leeds Party in the Park 2010 round up", Yorkshire Evening Post, 26 July 2010.
  10. Wightman, Catriona (27 December 2013). "Eternal, A1 and a supergroup: Big Reunion series two lineup unveiled". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  11. Rigler, Natasha (28 January 2014). "Ex-Damage star Coreé Richards on Big Reunion: "Untrue things are hurtful"". Reveal. Nat Mags. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
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