Racey
Biography
Racey was a British pop and rock group that formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare. Created by musicians Phil Fursdon and Clive Wilson, the group is best known for their 1979 album Smash and Grab, giving them a burst of popularity as a slick, sunny pop artist akin to contemporaries such as Showaddywaddy and The Rubettes. The band was also formerly known as "Alive n Rockin".
Racey scored a series of hit singles in the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand. These include "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Some Girls". Their aforementioned Smash and Grab album sold about 500,000 copies worldwide. The bands best songs were written and produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, the same famous partnership behind other great artists such as rock legends Sweet.
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A Chinn-Chapman song for Racey, "Kitty", was notably reworked and released by Toni Basil as "Mickey" in 1981; it reached Number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart in early 1982.
Raceys first single, "Baby Its You", was penned by Smokie members Chris Norman and Pete Spencer. Their second single, "Lay Your Love on Me", was the groups first hit single, peaking at No.3 in late 1978/early 1979. The third single, "Some Girls", was written for Blondie, for whom Mike Chapman also produced, but was instead given to Racey as a follow-up to "Lay Your Love on Me".
Racey parted company with Chinn and Chapman after Smash And Grab, and the band split in 1985. Since then two separate groups named Racey exist, one featuring Richard Gower, and the other originally featuring Clive Wilson, Phil Fursdon and Pete Miller, the original bass player of Racey. Miller died of cancer on 6 May 2003.
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Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.
