Big Fun was a British boy band which was active between 1988 and 1994. The band consisted of Phil Creswick, Mark Gillespie and Jason John (a.k.a. Jason Herbert). They were produced by Stock Aitken Waterman.
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Big Fun | |
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Origin | London, England |
Genres | Pop |
Years active | 1988–1994 |
Labels | Jive |
Past members | Mark Gillespie Phil Creswick Jason John |
Before they were Big Fun, Creswick and John were in another regroup of Ian Levine's boy band Seventh Avenue with Mark Long.[citation needed] 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.[citation needed] Other original Big Fun members included Keith Davies from Stretford in Manchester,[citation needed] 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". Their final single "Stomp!" was issued 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.[2]
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.[3] After disbanding, Creswick became a painter and decorator, Phil was convicted of drug supply and possession[4] John returned to being a model booker and music manager. John died in Brazil in 2019.
Personnel
Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||
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UK [5] |
AUS [6] |
BEL (Fla) [7] |
FRA [8] |
GER [9] |
IRE [10] |
NED [11] |
NZ [12] |
SPN | US Dance [2] | |||
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. |
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Studio albums | |
Singles | |
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General | |
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