Nu Colours

Widely regarded as one of the UK’s premier R&B vocal groups, Nu Colours are led by Lawrence Johnson and were the first act signed to Polydor Records’ rap/soul division Wild Card. They made a minor impact in 1992 with two singles, ‘Tears’ and ‘Power’, both gaining positions in the lower regions of the UK’s Top 75. After a third single, ‘What In The World’, they gained their biggest success with a 1993 re-release of ‘Power’, which reached number 40. However, the attendant album was, by the group’s own admission, rather disjointed and unconvincing, although their appearance as backing singers on M People’s Elegant Slumming confirmed their technical abilities. Having failed to make the transition to chart status that Wild Card anticipated, the group spent much of 1994 and 1995 working with a variety of different producers and collaborators in order to mould their obvious talents into a more cohesive direction. Original member Priscilla Mae-Jones was reunited with the band too, in an effort to consolidate the vocal power of lead singer Fazay Simpson. Working with producers such as Simon Law, Ian Green, Joel Kipnes and Dinky Bingham, the resulting suite of songs became the basis for the group’s second album release in 1996.