Soul II Soul

Soul II Soul is a British group who are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and U.S. Top 5 hit, "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)".

The group initially attracted attention as a sound system, playing records at house and street parties. Founded by Jazzie B and featuring a changing roster of other musicians, Soul II Soul's experiments in music-making of their own resulted in the dub plate "Fairplay," which secured them a recording contract with Virgin Records.

Their first singles in 1988 failed to make the UK Top 40, but the group went on to commercial success in 1989 with the singles "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)", which topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks, and was the fifth best-selling single in the UK that year. Both tracks were taken from their debut album Club Classics Vol. One which reached number 1 in the UK Albums Chart and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry.

The group also had some success in the United States, where "Back To Life" reached the Top 10 and was certified platinum, and the album reached the Top 20 and sold over two million copies. The group also won two Grammy Awards; Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals for "Back To Life", and Best R&B Instrumental for "African Dance".

Their follow-up album, Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade, yielded two Top 10 hits, "Get A Life" and "A Dream's A Dream", the latter featuring vocals by Victoria Wilson James. This album also reached number 1, and was certified platinum by the BPI, and reached the Top 30 in the US where it was certified gold. In April 1990, Soul II Soul got three US Soul Train awards. The band had one more Top 10 in 1992 with "Joy", taken from their third album Vol. III: Just Right, which itself peaked at number 3 and was certified gold by the BPI.

Their greatest hits compilation album, Volume IV: The Singles 88-93, was released in late 1993 and peaked at number 10. Soul II Soul reached Volume V of their series of albums for Virgin in 1995, which peaked at number 13. They then moved to Island Records and released two more albums in 1997, Volume VI Time for Change and the remix album @REMIX.or.jp, but these failed to chart. The group then virtually disbanded for some years, but reformed for various live dates in the 2000s.

Music Videos

 * A Dream's a Dream
 * Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)
 * Kiss the Girl
 * Love Enuff
 * Move Me No Mountain
 * Pleasure Dome
 * Represent