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 keyboard player Paul Tucker formed the act in 1993 in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK after meeting while studying at university. 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", "Ocean Drive", "Raincloud" and "High", which also reached number one on the Australian Singles Chart.
History
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.
The lead single, "Lifted", received airplay on BBC Radio One as well as a number of BBC Local Radio stations, and The Chart Show aired its music video. Still, this did not translate to considerable single or album sales within 1995; it wasn't until "Lifted" was re-released in 1996 that it reached the top five on the UK Singles Chart, and Ocean Drive, which had been deleted, rebounded and was certified six-times platinum by the end of 1997, spending 154 weeks on the UK Album Chart in the process. Its follow-up Postcards from Heaven achieved similar sales status in 1998.
Lighthouse Family scaled down their appearances in early 2003 because of what they called a "heavy promotional schedule" following the release of Whatever Gets You Through the Day in 2001. This led to both men pursuing individual projects. Baiyewu became a solo artist, while Tucker joined a rock band, The Orange Lights.
In November 2010, the duo announced they were reforming the Lighthouse Family and will do a full UK & Ireland tour in February and March 2011. It will be the first performance of Lighthouse Family for 8 years. During an interview on breakfast TV show BBC Breakfast on 17 January 2011, Lighthouse Family revealed they had still been talking to each other during their time away, and that there was no current defined timescale for the release of a new album. However, Tucker mentioned during the interview that the duo had "pockets... full of songs".
Discography
Albums
- Ocean Drive (1996)
- Postcards from Heaven (1997)
- Whatever Gets You Through the Day (2001)
- Greatest Hits (2002)
- The Very Best of Lighthouse Family (2003)
- Relaxed & Remixed (2004)
UK Singles
- ” Lifted ” (#61 1995)
- ” Ocean Drive ” (#34 1995)
- “Lifted” [Re-Release] (#4 1996)
- “Ocean Drive” [Re-Release] (#11 1996)
- ” Goodbye Heartbreak ” (#14 1996)
- ” Loving Every Minute ” (#20 1996)
- ” Raincloud ” (#6 1997)
- ” High ” (#4 1997)
- ” Lost in Space ” (#6 1998)
- ” Question of Faith ” (#21 1998)
- ” Postcard from Heaven ” (#24 1999)
- ” (I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel To Be) Free / One ” (#6 2001)
- ” Run ” (#30 2002)
- ” Happy ” (#51 2002)
- ” I Could Have Loved You ” (2003) – didn’t reach the UK Top 75