Billy Ocean
Born January 21 1950, in Trinidad, West Indies.
Billy Ocean was born Leslie Charles. He moved to England with his parents when he was eight and began pursuing music in the London club scene while in his teens. He released his first single under the name ‘Scorched Earth’ in 1974 and soon began moonlighting at Ford Motors while writing and recording songs during the day. He was able to quit his night job when he scored a worldwide hit with a Motown-styled pop-soul song called “Love Really Hurts Without You.” This Four Tops-like song hit #2 in the U.K. and went to #22 in the U.S.
Throughout the 70’s, Billy Ocean kept scoring hits in Europe with retro-soul tunes like “L.O.D. (Love On Delivery)” and also began writing songs for artists like LaToya Jackson. However, his big success began in 1982 when he scored a hit on the U.S. r&b charts with “Nights (Feel Like Getting Down).” This danceable groove was also used on Jane Fonda’s best-selling Workout Album. Two years later, Ocean became a crossover sensation when “Caribbean Queen” went to #1 on the pop and r&b charts, blending a cosmopolitan-yet-funky sound with Ocean’s soulful vocal style to become a worldwide hit.
However, “Caribbean Queen” wasn’t the only version of this hit. It was also released around the world as both “African Queen” and “European Queen” with specially-rewritten lyrics for each of these markets, both just as successful as “Caribbean Queen.” Meanwhile, Billy Ocean continued to score big hits in 1985 with the danceable electro-funk of “Loverboy” and the tender ballad “Suddenly.” All three of these hits were featured on the Suddenly album, which became a Top-10 hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1986, Billy Ocean recorded “When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going” for the soundtrack of The Jewel Of The Nile, the hit sequel to the 1984 adventure movie Romancing The Stone. It became a #2 hit and also boasted a popular video that featured Ocean performing the song along with the film’s stars—Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito—while dressed in white tuxedoes. That year, Ocean also released the Top-10 album Love Zone and scored his second #1 hit with the melancholy “There’ll Be Sad Songs (To Make You Cry).” “Love Is Forever” was another Top-20 hit.
Billy Ocean scored a third #1 hit in 1988 with “Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car,” an effortless fusion of dance grooves and rock attitude that was prominently featured on the soundtrack of the hit film License To Drive. It was followed by (and included on) Tear Down These Walls, a Top-20 album that included the hit single “The Colour Of Love.” The next year, Ocean released a Greatest Hits collection. In 1990, he collaborated with the Fresh Prince on the single “I Sleep Much Better (In Someone Else’s Bed).”
Today, Billy Ocean continues to be a force on the European music scene and continues to record albums like Time To Move On and L.I.F.E.
Albums
Billy Ocean (1975)
City Limit (1980)
Nights [Feel Like Getting Down] (1981)
Inner Feelings (1982)
Suddenly (1984)
Love Zone (1986)
Tear Down These Walls (1988)
Greatest Hits (1989)
Time to Move On (1993)
L.I.F.E. (1997)
Tracks currently playing/played on the station
Nights [Feel Like Getting Down] (Album: Nights [Feel Like Getting Down])
Stay the night (Album: Nights [Feel Like Getting Down])
Carribean queen [no more love on the run] (Album: Suddenly)
Love zone (Album: Love Zone)
Mystery lady (Album: Love Zone)
There'll be sad songs (Album: Love Zone)
The colour of love (Album: Tear Down These Walls)
Tear down these walls (Album: Tear Down These Walls)
Calypso crazy (Album: Tear Down These Walls)
soul2soul favourites/recommended
Nights [Feel Like Getting Down] (Album: Nights [Feel Like Getting Down])
Stay the night (Album: Nights [Feel Like Getting Down])
Love zone (Album: Love Zone)
Mystery lady (Album: Love Zone)
It's Never Too Late to Try Again (Album: Love Zone)
Tear down these walls (Album: Tear Down These Walls)
Because of you (Album: Tear Down These Walls)
Billy Ocean Album info
More info on Billy Ocean