Worth Another Listen - Breathe

Five lads who went to school together in Hampshire, England, started playing together in 1984, putting out some demos with the hopes of being heard. Their sound was lush pop, with a hint of soul and smooth jazz to make it interesting. Indeed they, singer David Glasper, guitarist Marcus Lillington, drummer Ian "Spike" Spice, and bassist Michael "Mick" Delahunty, were, and by 1988 had one of the biggest hits on radio. In 1987, they recorded the album All That Jazz, and in 1988 released the single Hands To Heaven. If you didn't hear it, you weren't alive.


Watch Breathe - Hands to Heaven in Music | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

They seemed primed for world domination, only it wasn't to be. Just before breaking big, bassist Delahunty left the band, and four became three. They toured and promoted the album as a trio, with much success, although never recapturing the lightning in a bottle that was Hands To Heaven. They did have success iwth the single Don't Tell Me Lies, an uptempo tune.



There was also a degree of hope with How Can I Fall, another soaring ballad made for the slow dance at high schools and weddings across the world.



They released Peace of Mind in 1990, their sophomore effort to little success. They couldn't get the airplay needed to help sales, and soon the band broke up. The have never gotten back together, nor were any of the members really heard from again. It is thought drummer Spice passed away in 2000, and there was talk of singer Glasper coming out with new music, but that has yet to happen. There is no offiical online presence, but an unofficial fansite can be found by clicking here.

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New Music - Billy Dortch

So I was watching LOGO's NewNextNow PopLab, and in between lame videos for Mariah Carey and Michelle Williams, I saw one I needed to check out. It was Billy Dortch and the song was Breathe. Now, I had never heard of Billy Dortch before, and had to look around the internet for information. Sadly, I found damn little about him. I would like to know more, but I am funny that way.





First, let me point out the obvious, he is devishly goodlooking. One site I found was his modeling webpage, which makes sense. Boy's gotta pay the rent 'til the music thing takes off. And there is a MySpace page, which offers some lovely photos [see above] and the video. Not too much information otherwise. I also found a couple of articles, and they were helpful for my anal-retentive issues. Billy is 25, and a native of Sacramento, California, and moved to Los Angeles in 2006. And yes, he is an out gay man. It was in LA he really found his voice as a singer/songwriter, and made his first demo last year. He has two singles on iTunes [I bought them both], Breathe and Goodbye, Goodbye.



I am liking what I hear, and think there is some growing that will be happening over the next few years - his phrasing can get a little lazy and stilted - but he has a nice emotional grip on the material. Breathe is the better of the two singles, but I like them both. This is where I usually give the links so you can learn more, and so I will, even though the pages don't have a tremendous amount of info on them. So, you can find the MySpace page by clicking here, and his Model Mayhem page here.

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