Livin' Joy

Livin' Joy was an Italian Eurodance group who released two successful hits during the mid-1990s, "Dreamer" and "Don't Stop Movin'". The group consisted of Italian brothers Paolo and Gianni Visnadi (also members of Alex Party) and singers Tameka Starr and Janice Robinson.

Livin' Joy
OriginItaly
Genres
Years active1994–1999
LabelsMCA Records
Associated actsAlex Party
Past membersPaolo Visnadi
Gianni Visnadi
Tameka Starr (1996–1999)
Janice Robinson (1994–1996)

History

"Dreamer"
Main article: Dreamer (Livin' Joy song)

Originally released by Undiscovered Recordings in 1994, Livin' Joy were fronted by American lead singer Janice Robinson and reached number one on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart with "Dreamer". The song turned out to be a mild sleeper hit on pop radio, finally entering the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1995. It peaked at number 72 and spent seventeen weeks on the chart. The song had a more successful run in the United Kingdom, hitting the number one spot after being re-issued. In its original run in late 1994, "Dreamer" peaked at No. 18, spending 6 straight weeks in the UK top 100. It did re-enter the lower ends of the top 100 two more times that year bringing its total to 12 weeks inside the top 100.[1]

By the end of 1995, the re-issue of "Dreamer" ranked as the UK's 40th best selling single of the year logging a total of 21 weeks in the top 100.

In mid-1996, "Dreamer" re-entered the U.S. Hot 100 chart, this time peaking at number 95.

"Don't Stop Movin'"

By 1996, Robinson had left - thus marking a new era for the group. She was replaced by American vocalist Tameka Starr, who was also the songwriter and choreographer. Starr's lyrics encapsulated a more 'uplifting' and 'motivational' approach to the content of the songs during this era of Livin' Joy. With Starr on lead vocals, the follow-up single "Don't Stop Movin'" peaked at number five in the UK and went on to become a big summer hit. It spent 14 consecutive weeks in the top 100, with 7 of those in the top 10.

"Don't Stop Movin'" topped the Italian charts in 1996 and also peaked at number three on the U.S. dance chart in early 1997 and became another modest, although long-lived, hit in the mainstream - climbing to number 67 on the Hot 100, spending twenty weeks on the chart. In Australia, "Don't Stop Movin'" peaked at number 6 on the national ARIA singles chart.

Album and other singles

"Don't Stop Movin'" was followed by another Top 10 hit single in the UK, "Follow the Rules" which peaked at No. 9 on 2 November 1996, scoring Livin' Joy a hat-trick of top 10s at this point.

"Follow the Rules" was based around the subject of following your dreams and making them come true. The song wasn't as successful as its two predecessors; although peaking at No. 9 in the UK, it spent only a week in the top 10 before descending out of the top 100 after a total of 7 weeks on the chart.

"Where Can I Find Love" managed only 4 weeks in the UK top 100 chart.

Livin' Joy's fourth charting release in the UK was "Deep in You". The track took on a completely different sound which had a more R&B feel. Although moderately successful, peaking at No. 17 in the UK, it slowly descended out of the top 100 just 4 weeks after its release.

"Where Can I Find Love" was Livin' Joy's fifth and final single. Released on 4 May 1998 in the United Kingdom, it peaked at No. 12 on the UK charts. Lyrically, the track focusses on the struggles to find true love. This was further fleshed out with the accompanying music video featuring Tameka walking around a nightclub, bumping into various men who catch her attention. Each man is then shown to have an 'issue' which leaves Tameka disappointed.

Don't Stop Movin', was the parent album and grouped together the hits, including "Dreamer" with new vocals by Starr (although the original version with Robinson was a hidden bonus track). The album was released in the UK on 16 November 1996 (a week after the release of their third single "Follow the Rules"). The album peaked at No. 41 on the UK Albums Chart, and remained on the chart for only two weeks.

Plans for a widespread commercial release of a single entitled "Just for the Sex of It" in 1999 were scrapped, due to a label merger between MCA and Polygram who became Universal. With an entire new staff, there was a lack of interest in the 2nd album. It only received a limited club run, but was released as a single in Australia and the UK, and proved popular in the clubs. In 2008, tracks from the eventually-cancelled follow-up album, Just for the Sex of It, were leaked online and they included: "Love Yourself", "Lookin' Fine", "I Only Wanna Dance", "U R My Livin' Joy", "You Don't Love Me", and "Bump This".

Janice Robinson subsequently re-released 2005 remixes of "Dreamer", credited as a solo release, which charted at No. 5 on the U.S. dance chart.

Discography

Studio albums
Title Album details Peak chart positions
UK
[2]
Don't Stop Movin'
  • Released: November 1996
  • Label: Undiscovered Records
 41
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Singles
Year Title Peak chart positions Certifications Album
ITA
[3]		 AUS
[4]		 BEL
[5]		 FIN
[6]		 GER
[7]		 IRE
[8]		 NED
[9]		 SWE
[10]		 UK
[2]		 US
[11]
1994 "Dreamer" — — — — — — 23 — 18 — Don't Stop Movin'
1995 "Dreamer" (re-issue) — 90 — 10 87 7 36 — 1 72
1996 "Don't Stop Movin'" 1 6 36 7 — 14 19 8 5 67
"Follow the Rules" 2 73 — 12 — 28 — 29 9 —
1997 "Where Can I Find Love" 22 142 — — — — — — 12 —
"Deep in You" — — — — — — — — 17 —
1999 "Just for the Sex of It" — 76 — — — — — — — — Non-album single
"—" denotes items that did not chart or were not released in that territory.
gollark: JS/TS, Lua, occasionally Rust, sort of thing.
gollark: Well, I program things a lot.
gollark: I'm just ignoring all Discord updates on my phone. They tend to make it worse.
gollark: What of it?
gollark: And/or not speaking English well for some reason, possibly.

See also

References
  1. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 325. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  2. "Official Charts > Livin' Joy". The Official UK Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
  3. "Italian Singles". hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  4. Australian (ARIA) peaks:
  5. "Belgian (Flanders) Singles". ultratop.be. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  6. "Sisältää hitin: Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1961" (in Finnish). Sisältää Hitin - Suomen listalevyt (Timo Pennanen). Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  7. German Singles:
  8. "Irish Singles". irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  9. "Netherlands Singles". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  10. "Swedish Albums". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  11. "US Singles". allmusic.com. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  12. "BRIT Certified - bpi". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  13. "The ARIA Australian Top 100 Singles 1996". Imgur.com (original document published by ARIA). Archived from the original on 2 November 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.