Eruption were a British

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

, R&B and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

recording act in the 1970s and 1980s. They are best known for their covers of

Ann Peebles Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband ...

's " I Can't Stand the Rain" and

Neil Sedaka Neil Sedaka (; born March 13, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist. Since his music career began in 1957, he has sold millions of records worldwide and has written or co-written over 500 songs for himself and other artists, collabo ...

's " One Way Ticket", which were big disco hits in 1978 and 1979.

History

The band was formed in 1969 as a school band in the United Kingdom as Silent Eruption, and consisted of musicians of Caribbean origins. The group changed the name to Eruption in 1974.

Precious Wilson Precious Wilson (born in Spanish Town, Jamaica) is a Jamaican soul singer. Background Precious Wilson started out as a backing singer for the all-male group Eruption. The group enjoyed their first minor success when they won a talent competit ...

joined the band in 1974 as a backing singer and a year later in 1975, they won the

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Soul Search contest and their first single "Let Me Take You Back in Time" was released. The group didn't find a singer who could replace Lindel Leslie so backing singer

became the lead singer. Their manager signed a contract for several concerts in Germany. In 1977 they went on the road in Germany where they were discovered by Hans-Jörg Mayer who worked as a talent scout for

Frank Farian Frank Farian (born Franz Reuther; 18 July 1941) is a German record producer, musician, singer and songwriter, who founded the 1970s disco-pop group Boney M., the Latin pop band No Mercy and the pop band Milli Vanilli. He frequently created vo ...

(the producer of

Boney M. Boney M. was a German-Caribbean vocal group that specialized in disco and funk created by German record producer Frank Farian, who was the group's primary songwriter. Originally based in West Germany, the four original members of the group's o ...

) Farian signed the group with the Germany-based

Hansa Records Hansa Records (also known as Hansa, Hansa Musik Produktion or Hansa International) was a record label founded in the 1960s based in Berlin, Germany. Profile The label's most successful act commercially was the German-based band Boney M. with mil ...

and the band was the backing band and the support act for Boney M's first European tour. Their 'comeback' single "Party, Party" did well in 1977, but their

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of " I Can't Stand the Rain" released in December 1977 was an international

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

, reaching No. 1 in Belgium and Australia, No. 5 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and No. 18 in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Afterwards, in the spring of 1978, "Party, party" was re-released and became a hit in the Benelux countries. Both songs were included in their first album, released in December 1977. It was followed by their second album titled ''Leave a Light'', launched towards the end of 1978. The first single off the album, "Leave a Light", went largely unnoticed, but the second single, " One Way Ticket" (a cover of

's song written by Jack Keller and Hank Hunter), catapulted them to the top of the charts (a UK No. 9 hit). In 1979, Eruption and Boney M. were both featured in the 1979 German film ''Disco Fever''. Precious Wilson left the group in the same year to pursue a solo career and was replaced by singer Kim Davis. The group enjoyed their third German top 10 hit with "Go Johnnie Go" from the third album ''Fight Fight Fight''. Shortly after, a tragedy hit when Davis succumbed to a

brain haemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as cerebral bleed, intraparenchymal bleed, and hemorrhagic stroke, or haemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain, into its ventricles, or into both. It is one kind of bleed ...

, although some sources claim she died in a car accident. The band decided to continue and singer Jane Jochen stepped in. A new recording, a cover of

Del Shannon Charles Weedon Westover (December 30, 1934 – February 8, 1990), better known by his stage name Del Shannon, was an American musician, singer and songwriter, best known for his 1961 number-one '' Billboard'' hit " Runaway". In 1999, he was ind ...

's " Runaway" was released in December 1980, and peaked at No. 21 in the German charts. After a compilation album in the spring of 1981 and the single release of "You (You Are My Soul)" from ''Fight Fight Fight'', the band signed to

Ralph Siegel Ralph Siegel (born 30 September 1945) is a German record producer and songwriter. Siegel is one of the most notable figures at the Eurovision Song Contest, in which he has participated with 24 songs so far, among them the 1982 winner song Ein bi ...

's Jupiter Records. By now, without the lead vocals of Precious Wilson, success was drastically diminishing, and the singles from their fourth album ''Our Way'' received little notice. In 1983, the drummer Eric Kingsley left Eruption, and Andi Weekes Barbados joined the group to play drums during last two years of the band's activity. In 1985, Eruption disbanded. In 1988, a new version of "I Can't Stand the Rain" was released. In 1994, Farian released the CD ''Gold – 20 Super Hits'' which featured five remixed and two original Eruption titles and 13 tracks from Precious Wilson's solo album. The new version of "One Way Ticket" was released as a single in the same year to promote the compilation. In 1997, Wilson became the legal owner of the trademark Eruption. She continues to tour promoting her solo projects, and also as Eruption with her new group, but none of the band's original members perform in the latest line-ups.

Band members

* Greg Perrineau (guitar) * Morgan Perrineau (bass) * Gerry Williams (keyboards) (1975–1985) (died 14 May 2020) * Eric Kingsley (drums) * Lindel Leslie (Leslie Johnson) (lead singer 1975–1976) (died in August 2015) *

(lead singer 1974–1979) * Kim Davis (lead singer 1980) (died in 1980) * Jane Jochen (lead singer 1980–1985) * Andi Weekes Barbados (drums 1983–1985)

Discography

Studio albums

Compilations

Hansa * 1981: ''The Best of Eruption'' BMG (This includes tracks from Precious Wilson's solo albums + Eruption) * 1994: ''Gold – 20 Super Hits'' (This includes tracks from Precious Wilson's solo albums + Eruption) * 1995: ''I Can't Stand the Rain'' Sony Music * 2006: ''Best of the Best'' (previous released as ''Gold''. This includes tracks from Precious Wilson's solo albums + Eruption) * 2007: ''Greatest Hits'' (previous released as ''Gold'') Big Break Records * 2017: ''The Best of Eruption'' (1981 album + 5 bonus tracks, CD, CDBBRX0365)

Singles

References

External links

Eruption
at

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 ...

Eruption
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

Eruption
at

Rate Your Music Rate Your Music (often abbreviated to RYM) is an online collaborative database of music releases and films. Users can catalog items from their personal collection, review them, and assign ratings in a five-star rating system. The site also fea ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eruption English pop music groups British disco groups British rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups disestablished in 1985 Hansa Records artists RCA Records artists