From a Sound System at the Africa Centre to a Number One Album

Long before Soul II Soul had a record deal, they were a sound system, run by founder Jazzie B and playing nights in London, including their own at the Africa Centre. The room held about 300 people, yet attendance often went past that number, with crowds gathering outside. Jazzie B has recalled that the controversy around the nights only made them more popular. By 1988 the official line-up included Caron Wheeler, Nellie Hooper, Simon Law, Doreen Waddell, Rose Windross, Daddae, Aitch B and Jazzie Q.

Their first single, “Fairplay”, with Rose Windross on lead vocals, reached number 63 in the UK, and “Feel Free” with Doreen on lead reached number 64. The weekly night then moved to the much larger Fridge nightclub in Brixton, which became the place where the collective tested its tracks on a dance floor. The mix there blended British, Caribbean, African and African American influences. The venue closed in 2010 and reopened as the Electric Brixton, and a plaque now marks the collective's influence there. Jazzie B also hosted a show on the pirate station KISS-FM.

In March 1989 came “Keep On Movin'”, with Caron Wheeler singing lead: UK number five, US number eleven, and more than a million copies sold in the US. The album Club Classics Vol. One reached number one in the UK and sold over four million copies worldwide. The next single, “Back to Life”, became the biggest hit, number one in the UK and top five in the US, and won the first of their Grammy Awards in 1990.

Change came quickly. Doreen Waddell and Rose Windross left in late 1989, and Marcia Lewis joined, singing lead on “Get a Life”, which reached number three in the UK. Early in 1990 Wheeler left for a solo career, and Jazzie B brought in Kym Mazelle, Lamya and Victoria Wilson-James. The second album, Vol. II: 1990 – A New Decade, also went to number one in the UK. Whoever sang lead, the groove stayed the same, and songs like “Joy” still carry it.