London Boys - Musical Career

Musical Career

Although they had lived near Hamburg, Germany, since 1981, the pair had actually met when they were at school in Greenwich, London, Ephraim having been born in London and Fuller in Jamaica. They were formed in 1986 as a vehicle for songwriter and record producer Ralf-René Maué. They signed with Teldec. Their musical style was a mix of soul and dance music or Eurobeat dance music. Spinning on their heads was combined with choreography acquired during their experience as Rollerblade dancers prior to forming the duo. (Dennis Fuller was a former member of the Roxy Rollers rollerskating disco act, which released a single called "I Need A Holiday" in May 1979.) Their early releases were marketed towards the Euro disco scene.

The duo's most notable songs were "London Nights" and "Requiem", which were initially released in 1988. The record "Requiem" eventually became their breakthrough single in April 1989, reaching No.4 on the UK Singles Chart. Subsequently, the re-released "London Nights" and the album The Twelve Commandments Of Dance, both peaked at No.2 in the UK singles and album charts, respectively. Another single, "Harlem Desire", reached No.17. A fourth single from the album, a remixed version of their 1987 release "My Love", also reached No. 46. After that their last two UK Singles Chart entries were with "Chapel of Love" (#75) in 1990 and "Freedom" (#54) in 1991. The music videos for their singles were largely based around dance sequences and relationship/love storylines.

After this, their later recordings had little commercial success, with no further UK chart entries. However, in total, the London Boys sold 4.5 million records worldwide.

After being dropped by their record label, the band effectively split up. In 1995, shortly before their deaths, a reformed version of the group, through Polydor, made a crossover album called Hallelujah Hits, which incorporated Eurodance arrangements into traditional religious compositions.