Disco Montego (earlier known as Kaylan) was an Australian R&B and

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

trio. The Dowlut brothers Dennis and Darren, together with Tony Vass formed Kaylan in Melbourne in 1995. They released an R&B album '' No Commandments'' in 2000, which reached No. 23 in Australia and spawned three top 50 singles. In May 2001, they became the studio based group Disco Montego, and released further singles followed by ''

Disco Montego Disco Montego (earlier known as Kaylan) was an Australian R&B and dance music trio. The Dowlut brothers Dennis and Darren, together with Tony Vass formed Kaylan in Melbourne in 1995. They released an R&B album '' No Commandments'' in 2000, whic ...

'' in September 2002. Their production work included remixing

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

's "

Boy (I Need You) "Boy (I Need You)" is a song by American singer Mariah Carey, taken from her ninth studio album, ''Charmbracelet'' (2002). It was written by Carey, Justin Smith, Norman Whitfield and Cameron Giles, and produced by the former and Just Blaze. T ...

" in 2004. The trio's music career was cut short when Darren died of cancer on 5 August 2005, six weeks after being diagnosed with a chest tumour. In 2010, Dennis Dowlut revived the Disco Montego name with Michael Abdul and released "Hearts on Fire" to celebrate the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

. In 2010, Dennis Dowlut's new band, Electric Empire, released their album independently. Electric Empire have sold over 30,000 copies of their debut album worldwide, with releases in the UK, Japan and France.

History

Dennis Dowlut was born c. 1974 in the United Kingdom; his younger brother, Darren, was born c. 1978 in

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. The Dowlut family relocated to Melbourne, Australia. By 1995, Dennis and Darren formed Kaylan as an R&B performance group; it was named for a nephew. Their parents returned to Mauritius. In 1996, the band signed with

Warner Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

. From 1998, Kaylan started recording tracks with

Rockmelons Rockmelons, often referred to as the Rockies, were an Australian pop/dance/ R&B group formed in 1983 in Sydney. Primary members are Bryon Jones, his brother Jonathon Jones and Raymond Medhurst. They had two Australian top five hit singles in t ...

' Ray Medhurst, Bryon Jones and Jon Jones producing. Their first release was " Rock Me All Night" in March 2000, which peaked at No. 14 on the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

(ARIA) Singles Chart. "

Shake It "Shake It" is a song by American pop band Metro Station, released as the third single (and debut British single) from the group's 2007 self-titled debut studio album. "Shake It" was the band's first charting single, peaking at number 10 on the ...

" followed in August (No. 15) with the album, '' No Commandments'' (No. 23 on the ARIA Albums Chart), appearing in September. A third single, "Because of You" was released in March 2001 (No. 50). While working on ''No Commandments'', the Dowlut brothers also wrote two tracks for '' Bardot'' (2000) the debut album by winner of reality TV contest ''

Popstars ''Popstars'' is an international reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Realit ...

'', the pop group Bardot. They performed a dance role for

Baz Luhrmann Mark Anthony Luhrmann (born 17 September 1962), known professionally as Baz Luhrmann, is an Australian film director, producer, writer and actor. With projects spanning film, television, opera, theatre, music and recording industries, he is re ...

's film ''

Moulin Rouge! ''Moulin Rouge!'' (, ) is a 2001 jukebox musical romantic drama film directed, co-produced, and co-written by Baz Luhrmann. It follows a young English poet, Christian, who falls in love with the star of the Moulin Rouge, cabaret actress and cour ...

'' (2001). Kaylan toured nationally in support of

Vengaboys Vengaboys () are a Dutch Eurodance music group based in Rotterdam. The group was the creation of Dutch producers Wessel van Diepen and Dennis van den Driesschen (known as Danski and Delmundo). It consists of lead vocalist Kim Sasabone, female v ...

, then

Destiny's Child Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...

and followed with a tour supporting Bardot. A bonus disc of five tracks remixed by Studio 347 (Darren Dowlut, Dennis Dowlut and Tony Vass) was released with ''No Commandments'' in Australia. Studio 347 remixed tracks, "

These Days These Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''These Days'' (Bon Jovi album), and the title song (see below) ** These Days Tour, a 1995–1996 tour by Bon Jovi in support of the above album * ''These Days'' (Crystal Gayle album), 1980 * ''These ...

" and " ASAP" for Bardot and " When We Were Young" for pop vocal group

Human Nature Human nature is a concept that denotes the fundamental dispositions and characteristics—including ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—that humans are said to have naturally. The term is often used to denote the essence of humankind, or ...

. By May 2001, Kaylan was renamed as Disco Montego, a dance music group, and released " We Got Love" in mid-year, well ahead of their album ''Disco Montego'' which appeared on WEA in September 2002. Kaylan's song "Because of You" was re-recorded and remixed by Disco Montego, Studio 347 programmed and remixed tracks. Two songs feature

Katie Underwood Katie Underwood (born 23 December 1975) is an Australian singer-songwriter and meditation teacher. She is best known for being a member of Bardot, winners of the first Australian series of ''Popstars'' in 2000. Since departing the group in ...

(ex-Bardot) on vocals, including the single "Beautiful" released in May. It reached No. 9 and was certified as gold by ARIA. The track reached No. 10 on the ARIA Dance Singles Chart for 2002. The duo joined with Underwood to perform on the Rumba festival which toured Australia and New Zealand in September, headlined by

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald (American musician), Hugh McD ...

.Australian Associated Press (AAP) report on Rumba festival 9 September 2002 "

Magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

", the next single, also featured Underwood, reached No. 22. The final single "

U Talkin' to Me "U Talkin' to Me" is a song by Australian dance music duo Disco Montego. It was released on 2 December 2002 as the fourth and final single from their second studio album, ''Disco Montego'' (2002). "U Talkin' to Me" peaked at number 17 on the Aus ...

" peaked at No. 17. "Beautiful" was nominated as 'Best Pop Release' and 'Best Video' at the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

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" won an

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...

(APRA) Award for 'Most Performed Dance Work' during 2003 at

APRA Awards of 2004 The Australasian Performing Right Association Awards of 2004 (generally known as APRA Awards) are a series of awards which include the APRA Music Awards, Classical Music Awards, and Screen Music Awards. The APRA Music Awards ceremony occurred o ...

.AAP Report "Winners of 2004 APRA Awards" 24 May 2004 The track "Autumn Breeze", written by the Dowluts, was recorded by German pop group

No Angels No Angels are an all-female pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originated on the debut season o ...

for their second album '' Now... Us!'' (2002), which achieved popularity in Europe. The Dowlut brothers ran Bomb Music with partner George Said and were developing the career of Jeremy Gregory (ex-Rockmelons) who signed to Warner Music in the US.Undercover.com.au ''Disco Montego's Darren Dowlut dies of cancer'' 8 August 2005 The group remixed a

track "

" from her 2002 album ''

Charmbracelet ''Charmbracelet'' is the ninth studio album by American singer Mariah Carey, released on December 3, 2002, through MonarC Entertainment and Island Records. The album was Carey's first release since her breakdown following the release of her fi ...

'' after Carey was aware of their Australian success. They performed a remix of "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the '' Blue Moves'' album. It was John's sec ...

" by

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and

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in 2003.Undercover.com.au "Disco Montego remix Mariah Carey" 14 March 2003
They wrote "What Will They Say" for

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

' album '' Double Happiness'' (2005) (a duet with his brother

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) and also produced the track. Disco Montego were planning to relocate in 2005 to Los Angeles to take advantage of their higher profile. However, Darren Dowlut was diagnosed with a chest tumour and died six weeks later on 5 August of the cancer, aged 27. Carey was among performers who sent condolences. In 2009, Dennis Dowlut, Jason Heerah and Aaron Mendoza created a funk, R&B and jazz fusion band, Electric Empire, which released their debut album, ''Electric Empire'' in September 2010. In June, Dowlut revived the Disco Montego name with the help of friend and fellow music producer Michael Abdul. They released "Hearts on Fire", a celebration of the

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in association with

Nando's Nando's (; ) is a South African multinational fast casual chain that specialises in flame-grilled peri-peri style chicken. Founded in Johannesburg in 1987, Nando's operates over 1,200 outlets in 30 countries. Their logo (also seen as a sort of ...

to raise awareness for the 'United Against Malaria' campaign, which was distributed through Varrasso PR.

Members

Kaylan (–2001), Studio 347 (–2002), Disco Montego (–2005, 2010) * Darren Dowlut – vocals, song writing, programming, mixing, producing, guitar (–2005) ( d 5 August 2005) * Dennis Dowlut – vocals, song writing, programming, mixing, producing (–2005, 2010) * Tony Vass – production (–2002) as member of Studio 347

Discography

Albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the

(APRA). , - ,

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, , "Beautiful" – Disco Montego featuring

– Katie Underwood, Darren Dowlut, Dennis Dowlut , , Most Performed Dance Work , , , - ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, , "

" – Disco Montego – Darren Dowlut, Dennis Dowlut, Robert Woolf , , Most Performed Dance Work , ,

ARIA Awards

The annual

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

are presented by the

since 1987. Disco Montego has received three nominations. , - , rowspan="2",

, , rowspan="2", "Beautiful" , ,

ARIA Award for Best Pop Release The ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Music Award for Best Pop Release, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Australians, Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by ...

, , , - ,

ARIA Award for Best Video The ARIA Award for Best Video, is presented at the annual ARIA Awards, which recognise "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), an o ...

, , , - ,

, , ''Disco Montego'' , , Best Dance Release , ,

References

External links

* Kaylan

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

{{Authority control APRA Award winners Australian musical trios Australian electronic dance music groups Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Musical groups established in 1995 Victoria (Australia) musical groups