Big Fun (band)

Big Fun
Origin London, England
Genres Pop
Years active 1988–1994
Labels Jive
Associated acts Sonia
Past members Mark Gillespie
Phil Creswick
Jason John

Big Fun were an English boy band who were 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.

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". 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 are gay, but were told by Pete Waterman they could not come out as it would ruin their career.[3] After disbanding, Creswick became a painter and decorator, and John returned to being a model booker and music manager.

Members

Personnel

  • Phil Creswick (born 12 October 1965) backing vocals
  • Mark Gillespie (born 14 December 1966) lead vocalist
  • Jason John (born 18 March 1967) backing vocals
  • Keith Davies (born 30 July 1969)

Discography

Singles

Year Single Peak positions Album
UK
[4]		 AUS
[5]		 BEL
(Fla)
[6]		 FRA
[7]		 GER
[8]		 IRE
[9]		 NED
[10]		 NZ
[11]		 SPN US
Dance
[2]
1989 "Living for Your Love" –––––––––— single only
"I Feel the Earth Move" (withdrawn) –––––––––— A Pocketful of Dreams
"Blame It on the Boogie" 437141715731325—
"Can't Shake the Feeling" 8973847417––6—
1990 "Handful of Promises" 2111042––6––9—
"You've Got a Friend" (with Sonia) 14157–––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

Video

  • 1990 – "A Pocketful of Dreams – The Video Hits"

References

  1. ↑ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 57. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. 1 2 "Billboard > Artists / Big Fun > Chart History > Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
  3. ↑ "Stock Aitken Waterman & PWL | The Hit Factory Forum v 2.5 – Phil Creswick (Big Fun) interview". Hitfactoryforum.com. Retrieved 3 May 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Official Charts > Big Fun". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Australian (ARIA) chart peaks:
    • Top 50 peaks: "australian-charts.com > Big Fun in Australian Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
    • Top 100 peaks: Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing.
    • "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.
  6. ↑ "Ultratop Vlaanderen > Big Fun in Ultratop Vlaanderen" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "lescharts.com > Big Fun dans les Charts Français" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  8. 1 2 German chart peaks:
    • "Blame It on the Boogie": "Big Fun – Blame It on the Boogie (single)" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
    • "Cant 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.
  9. ↑ "The Irish Charts – All there is to know > Search results for Big Fun (from irishcharts.ie)". Imgur.com (original source published by Fireball Media). Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  10. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl > Big Fun in Dutch Charts" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  11. ↑ "charts.org.nz > Big Fun in New Zealand Charts". Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
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