Afrodiziak was a British singing group composed of

Caron Wheeler Caron Melina Wheeler (born 19 January 1963) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and musician. Born and raised in London, she performed in various singing competitions as a teenager and began her recording career as one of the found ...

Claudia Fontaine Claudia Fontaine (26 August 1960 – 13 March 2018) was an backing vocalist from Peckham, London. Career During the 1980s, Fontaine and fellow backing vocalist Caron Wheeler (and later, third member Naomi Thompson) were known as Afrodiziak. S ...

, and later

Naomi Thompson Naomi Thompson is a British singer. In the early-to-late 1980s, she worked with Caron Wheeler and Claudia Fontaine under the name Afrodiziak, which recorded for Haysi Fantayzee on their track "The Sabres of Paradise", and sang backup vocals on ...

, that was active in the 1980s. As a duo, Wheeler and Fontaine were best known for performing

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

's final single "

Beat Surrender "Beat Surrender" was The Jam's final single, and was released on 22 November 1982. It became the band's fourth and last No. 1 hit in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in December 1982. Title The song's title was a play on words combining the ti ...

" in 1982 (on whose final tour they performed) and

Elvis Costello Declan Patrick MacManus Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter and record producer. He has won multiple awards in his career, including a Grammy Award in ...

's 1983 album ''

Punch the Clock ''Punch the Clock'' is the eighth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, and his seventh with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas (no relation). It was released on 5 A ...

'', especially its lead single, the international hit "

Everyday I Write the Book "Everyday I Write the Book" is a song written by Elvis Costello, from ''Punch the Clock'', an album released in 1983 by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It peaked at 28 on the UK Singles Chart and was their first top 40 hit single in the US, p ...

". After the addition of Naomi Thompson as a third member, Afrodiziak performed backing vocals on the hit single "

Free Nelson Mandela "Nelson Mandela" (known in some versions as "Free Nelson Mandela") is a song written by British musician Jerry Dammers, and performed by band The Special A.K.A. – with lead vocal by Stan Campbell – released on the single "Nelson Mandela"/"B ...

", including the

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

intro, staging it on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

's music show '' The Tube'' in March 1984.

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), an ...

's 1984 album ''

How Men Are ''How Men Are'' is the third studio album by English synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 24 September 1984 by Virgin Records. The album peaked at No. 12 in the UK and was certified Silver (60,000 copies sold) by the BPI in October 1984. Three ...

'' featured them prominently, especially on the singles "Sunset Now" and "And That's No Lie". Afrodiziak performed on

Madness Madness or The Madness may refer to: Emotion and mental health * Anger, an intense emotional response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat * Insanity, a spectrum of behaviors characterized by certain abnormal mental or behavioral patterns * ...

's albums '' Keep Moving'' and ''

Mad Not Mad ''Mad Not Mad'' is the sixth studio album by English ska and pop band Madness. It was released on 30 September 1985, their first release on their own label Zarjazz, a sub-label of Virgin Records. The album was recorded over a period of two m ...

'' in 1984 and 1985, appearing in the music video for that group's single "

Sweetest Girl Sweetness is a basic taste most commonly perceived when eating foods rich in sugars. Sweet tastes are generally regarded as pleasurable. In addition to sugars like sucrose, many other chemical compounds are sweet, including aldehydes, keto ...

". Also in 1985 they performed backing vocals on the first two songs on Howard Jones' second album, ''

Dream into Action ''Dream into Action'' is the second studio album by British pop musician Howard Jones. It was released in March 1985 and reached No. 2 in the UK Album Charts. The album also reached the top ten in the U.S. The album achieved a gold certification ...

'', both of which (" Things Can Only Get Better" and "

Life in One Day "Life in One Day" is the third single from Howard Jones' 1985 album '' Dream Into Action''. It is an uptempo number, which lyrically warns against wishing one's life away. It reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart, and number 19 on the United ...

") became worldwide hit singles; later that year, they went on tour as part of Jones's band. Other acts the group sang backup for include

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is a British singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

Aztec Camera Aztec Camera were a Scottish pop/ new wave band founded by Roddy Frame, the group's singer, songwriter, and only consistent member. Formed in 1980, Aztec Camera released a total of six studio albums: ''High Land, Hard Rain'' (1983), ''Knife'' ...

Maxi Priest Max Alfred "Maxi" Elliott (born 10 June 1961), known by his stage name Maxi Priest, is a British reggae vocalist of Jamaican descent. He is best known for singing reggae music with an R&B influence, otherwise known as reggae fusion. He was one ...

Aswad Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Tur ...

, Sam Brown, and

Julia Fordham Julia Fordham (born 10 August 1962) is a British singer-songwriter. Her professional career started in the early 1980s, under the name "Jules Fordham", as a backing singer for Mari Wilson and Kim Wilde, before signing a recording contract of h ...

. Besides ''The Tube'', Afrodiziak also appeared on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'', ''

The Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

'', '' Solid Gold'', and ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

''. They performed live at the

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annual ...

, Live Aid Japan, Red Nose Day of Charity, and the first Free Nelson Mandela Concert. Wheeler went on to fame as a featured vocalist in the

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

- R&B collective

Soul II Soul Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988. They are best known for their two major hits; 1989's UK number five and US number eleven " Keep On Movin'", and its follow-up, the UK number one and US number four " Back to ...

(she was the lead vocalist on the group's two biggest hits, " Keep on Movin'" and " Back to Life", the video for the latter track also featuring Fontaine as a backing vocalist) and had a brief career as a solo artist. Fontaine continued working as a backing vocalist on albums by EMF,

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

and

Hothouse Flowers Hothouse Flowers are an Irish rock band that combine traditional Irish music with influences from soul, gospel, and rock. Formed in 1985 in Dublin, they started as street performers. Their first album, ''People'' (1988), was the most successf ...

, among others. She also appeared as a main vocalist with the British house music group

the Beatmasters The Beatmasters are an English electronic music group who gained success in the UK in the late 1980s with four top 20 hit singles. They then went on to produce and remix records for many other artists. The group's string of chart hit singles ...

. Fontaine was featured among the Beatmasters' high-profile, often-changing vocalists, in particular on the 1989–90 dance club and pop chart success "Warm Love" (from the album ''

Anywayawanna ''Anywayawanna'' is the debut studio album by English dance and electronic music group The Beatmasters, released in 1989 on the Rhythm King record label. It should not be confused with their 2004 compilation album, ''Anywayawanna – The Best o ...

''), and on "Deeper into Harmony" (from the 1991 album ''Life and Soul''). Claudia Fontaine died on 13 March 2018.

References

English pop music groups Black British musical groups British musical trios Musical backing groups Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 1982 establishments in England 1988 disestablishments in England {{UK-band-stub