Big Fun (group)
Big Fun were a British boy band that was active between 1988 and 1994. The band consisted of Phil Creswick, Mark Gillespie and Jason John (a.k.a. Jason Herbert). Their album was produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, though many tracks on the album were produced by other PWL members.
Big Fun | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Years active | 1988–1994 |
| Labels | Jive |
| Past members | Mark Gillespie Phil Creswick Jason John |
Career
Before they were Big Fun, Creswick and John were in another regroup of Ian Levine's boy band Seventh Avenue with Mark Long. The other member of the group at that time was Steve Crawley who provided lead vocals for the group, and sang live at nightclub appearances across the UK. Other original Big Fun members included Keith Davies from Stretford in Manchester, who went on to star in Coronation Street.
Their only album, A Pocketful of Dreams was released in 1990, and reached the top 10 in the UK Albums Chart.[1] Singles released from the album included "Blame It on the Boogie", a cover version of The Jacksons' 1978 hit, "Can't Shake the Feeling", and "Handful of Promises". "I Feel the Earth Move" was intended to be their first single (and promo copies were circulated), but its release was cancelled in favour of "Blame It on the Boogie".
The band were dumped by Jive Records in 1990, despite achieving a top 10 album and two top 10 singles over the prior 12 months.[2] Creswick said the band never made any significant money from their hit records; claiming the band were "screwed" by the music industry, with only their record label and producers benefiting financially from their success.[2]
Their final single "Stomp!" was issued on a small label in 1994, under the name 'Big Fun II' as Jason John had left the band. Although this failed to obtain the commercial success of their earlier work, it reached the dance chart in the United States.[3]
All three members of the band were gay and had been advised by Pete Waterman to keep their sexuality quiet, as he believed it would ruin their career.[4] After disbanding, Creswick became a painter and decorator, Phil was convicted of drug supply and possession[5] John returned to being a model booker and music manager. John died in Brazil in 2019.
Members
Personnel
- Phil Creswick - backing vocals
- Mark Gillespie (born 16 November 1966) - lead vocalist
- Jason John - backing vocals
- Keith Davies
Discography
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [6] |
AUS [7] |
BEL (Fla) [8] |
FRA [9] |
GER [10] |
IRE [11] |
NED [12] |
NZ [13] |
SPN | US Dance [3] | |||
| 1989 | "Living for Your Love" | – | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | single only |
| "Blame It on the Boogie" | 4 | 37 | 14 | 17 | 15 | 7 | 31 | 32 | 5 | — | A Pocketful of Dreams | |
| "Can't Shake the Feeling" | 8 | 97 | 38 | 47 | 41 | 7 | – | – | 6 | — | ||
| 1990 | "Handful of Promises" | 21 | 110 | 42 | – | – | 6 | – | – | 9 | — | |
| "You've Got a Friend" (with Sonia) | 14 | 157 | – | – | – | 12 | — | — | — | — | single only | |
| "Hey There Lonely Girl" | 62 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | A Pocketful of Dreams | |
| 1994 | "Stomp!" (as 'Big Fun II') | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 12 | single only |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||
Albums
- 1990 – A Pocketful of Dreams – UK No. 7,[6] GER No. 39[10]
Video
- 1990 – "A Pocketful of Dreams – The Video Hits"
References
- Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 57. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- "A Journey Through Stock Aitken Waterman: Ep 61: Hey There Lonely Girl to Rhythm Of The Rain on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
- "Billboard > Artists / Big Fun > Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- "Stock Aitken Waterman & PWL | The Hit Factory Forum v 2.5 – Phil Creswick (Big Fun) interview". Hitfactoryforum.com. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
- Saunders, Emmeline (6 September 2018). "Big Fun singer Phil Creswick avoids jail for selling chemsex drugs". mirror. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
- "Official Charts > Big Fun". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
- Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Big Fun in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 30.
- "Handful of Promises": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 5 June 2015". Imgur.com. Archived from the original on 5 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- "You've Got a Friend": "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 17 June 2014". Imgur.com. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
- A Pocketful of Dreams: "Response from ARIA re: chart inquiry, received 9 November 2015". Imgur.com. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- "Ultratop Vlaanderen > Big Fun in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- "lescharts.com > Big Fun dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- German chart peaks:
- "Blame It on the Boogie": "Big Fun – Blame It on the Boogie (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- "Can't Shake the Feeling": "Big Fun – Can't Shake the Feeling (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- A Pocketful of Dreams: "Big Fun – A Pocketful of Dreams (album)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
- "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Big Fun (from irishcharts.ie)". Fireball Media. Retrieved 6 June 2017 – via Imgur.com.
- "dutchcharts.nl > Big Fun in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
- "charts.nz > Big Fun in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
