Toto Coelo (renamed Total Coelo in the US) was a 1980s British new wave group, founded by producer

Barry Blue Barry Blue (born Barry Ian Green, 4 December 1950) is an English singer, producer, and songwriter. As an artist, he is best known for his hit songs "Dancin' (on a Saturday Night)" and "Do You Wanna Dance" (both 1973). Blue has also been a pro ...

. The original members were singers Anita Mahadevan, Lacey Bond, Lindsey Danvers, Ros Holness (daughter of television presenter

Bob Holness Robert Wentworth John Holness (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012) was a British-South African radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of '' Blockbusters''. Early life Holness was born in Vryheid, ...

) and Sheen Doran.

Career

Originally formed in 1981, one of the groups’ first recordings was "Videotheque", a Buggles number written and produced by Trevor Horn. The track became a hit for

Dollar Dollar is the name of more than 20 currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore dollar, U ...

in 1982, while the Toto Coelo version remains unreleased. Another early track, "World of Automation", is also unreleased. The group is most known for the 1982

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

, "I Eat Cannibals", which reached No. 8 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 was a top 5 hit in Australia, South Africa, and Sweden. "I Eat Cannibals" also charted in the US, where it peaked at No. 66 in April 1983. The follow-up single, "Dracula's Tango (Sucker For Your Love)", reached the top 20 in Australia and top 10 in Sweden. The group's only studio album, 1983's ''Man o' War'', was not a commercial success, charting highest in Sweden at No. 46. A third single, "Milk from the Coconut", was released from the album and peaked at No. 4 in South Africa. Following the album, Anita Mahadevan and Sheen Doran left the group. The band was briefly featured in the unreleased horror film '' Grizzly II: The Predator'', performing "Milk from the Coconut" in a few scenes of the rock concert. In 2020, the film was completed and released under the title ''Grizzly II: Revenge'', with scenes featuring the band performing "Milk from the Coconut," "Man of War," "Automation" and "Calories." In 1985, the remaining three members released two further singles, "Girls Night Out" and "

Gimme Some Lovin' "Gimme Some Lovin" is a song first recorded by the Spencer Davis Group. Released as a single in 1966, it reached the Top 10 of the record charts in several countries. Later, ''Rolling Stone'' included the song on its list of the 500 Greatest Son ...

", neither of which charted. Lacey, Lindsey and Ros performed as the backing singers for the

Bruce Foxton Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...

Band in 1985. They feature prominently on the 'Live in London' performance filmed at the

Camden Palace Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Places Australia * Camden, New South Wales * Camden, Rosehill, a heritage resi ...

, which has been released on video (Dubious, 1986) and DVD (SFM, 2012). The group's name is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and means "by the whole extent of the heavens" or "heaven-wide", but is commonly translated as "completely", "entirely" or "utterly". Of the name, Sheen Doran said, "It has a number of meanings, such as 'heart and soul', 'root and branch' and 'totally different'. It seemed to describe what we were. Plus, it's strange-sounding and hard to pronounce, so it sticks in your mind." The group was renamed Total Coelo in the United States to avoid confusion with the American rock group Toto. Mahadevan later changed her name to Anita Chellamah, and formed Cherry Bombz with several former members of

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks was a Finnish rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. The band broke up in June 1985 after drummer Nicholas "Razzle" Dingley died in a drunk driving acciden ...

, including

Andy McCoy Antti Hulkko (born 11 October 1962), better known as Andy McCoy, is a Finnish musician. He is best known for his role as the lead guitarist and main songwriter of the rock band Hanoi Rocks, but has also played with Iggy Pop and a variety of oth ...

. She is now known as Anita Chellamah-Nurse and works as a television actress and presenter. She appeared as Tania in the 1995 episode of ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...

'' entitled "The Exterminating Angel".

Discography

Studio albums

* ''Man o' War'' (1983) – AUS No. 82, SWE No. 46

Compilation albums

* ''I Eat Cannibals & Other Tasty Trax'' (1996) (issued on CD in the US on the Razor & Tie record label, containing all of the ''Man o' War'' tracks, plus the bonus track "Weird", and 12" vinyl versions of "I Eat Cannibals" and "Milk from the Coconut")

Singles

References

* ''I Eat Cannibals & Other Tasty Trax'' liner notes – 1996

External links

Anita Chellamah-Nurse CV (2008)
* {{Authority control English dance music groups English pop girl groups English girl groups British new wave girl groups English new wave musical groups Chrysalis Records artists Virgin Records artists