Lighthouse Family | |
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Origin | Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom |
Genres | Pop, R&B, soul, lounge |
Years active | 1993–2003 2010–present |
Labels | MCA Music, Inc., Wildcard, Polydor |
Members |
Tunde Baiyewu Paul Tucker |
Lighthouse Family are a British musical duo that rose to prominence in the mid-1990s and remained active until the early 2000s. Vocalist Tunde Baiyewu and keyboardist Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK after meeting while studying at university and both working at the same bar. Their 1995 debut album Ocean Drive sold more than 1.8 million copies in the UK alone and established them as a popular easy listening duo throughout Europe.
They are well known for their songs "Lifted", "Lost In Space", "Ocean Drive", "Raincloud" and "High", which also reached number one on the Australian Singles Chart.
Both Baiyewu and Tucker were working in bars when they first met; together, they recorded demos of a number of songs Tucker had written during the late 1980s. Among these, a demo of "Ocean Drive" attracted the attention of Polydor Records A&R director Colin Barlow, who, in 1993, signed the band to a six-month development deal.
In the wake of an economic recession in the UK, British record labels were, at the time, primarily signing artists with the goal of short-term profit. In contrast, Barlow, in The Times, expected that the band could last for "ten years or more". At the time of the launch of the first album, Polydor's investments in the band totaled ₤250,000. Peden's hiring was described as a "big spend", and music videos were filmed overseas in Los Angeles and Las Vegas.