Uniting Nations
| Uniting Nations | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Liverpool, United Kingdom |
| Genres | Funky house, nu-disco |
| Years active | 2004–2008 |
| Labels | Gut Records |
| Members | Paul Keenan (2004-2008) Daz Sampson (2004-2008) Craig Powell (2004-2006) Jinian Wilde (vocals) (2004-2008) |
Uniting Nations were a British dance act formed in Liverpool in 2004. It achieved chart success across Europe. The British dance act was originally made up of Paul Keenan and Daz Sampson as band members, songwriters and producers. After the hit "Out of Touch", which was the debut and most successful single of the band, Craig Powell joined in as frontman of the band singing at the Uniting Nations live performances. However most of the studio recordings on the Uniting Nations debut and only album One World released in 2005 on Gut Records were done by vocalist and session artist Jinian Wilde including for the band's two initial UK hits "Out of Touch" and "You and Me", whereas the The band's third hit, "Ai No Corrida", a remake of the 1980 Chaz Jankel song (that was covered by Quincy Jones in 1981 on The Dude) featured the vocals of Laura More. Craig Powell left in March 2006, after the release of the One World album with the band releasing various recordings until 2008.
Contents
Career
The biggest hit for Uniting Nations was their debut hit "Out of Touch", a cover of Hall & Oates. The video for the song featured the actor Paul Spicer. The single stayed in the UK Singles Chart charts for 21 weeks, peaking at #7.[1] It also peaked at #5 in Ireland, #8 in Norway, #9 in Finland and the Netherlands. It also charted in Australia, Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.
Uniting Nation's follow-up single was "You and Me". The song was written by the band members. The video for the song featured frontman Craig Powell. Powell also performed the songs live in Uniting Nations performances including on Top of the Pops. The single peaked at #15 in the UK charts.[1] It also reached #3 in Finland, #16 in Denmark, also charting in Ireland and Sweden.[citation needed]
Their third single from the album was "Ai No Corrida", which featured the vocals of Laura More and backing vocals of Steve M. Smith and Yolanda Quartey. The single had its UK release on 7 November 2005 which was made to coincide with the band's release of the album. The cover reached the UK Top 20, peaking at #18.[1]
Following the success of the singles on the British charts, the album One World was released on 14 November 2005, and included twelve tracks. The album track "She's Special" carried the vocals of Donovan Blackwood. The album also included an additional extended version of "Out of Touch" titled "Out of Touch (I Love You So Much)", five a cappellas of the album songs and two short samples. Uniting Nations also released various a cappellas as DJ tools and samples for use by remixers. Smash Hits readers and T4 viewers voted Uniting Nations as "Best Dance Act" at their last ever Pollwinners Party in 2005.
Craig Powell left the band in March 2006 for a solo career. The band then releases that included "Music in Me" and the promotional "High Energy" in 2006 and a fourth and final official single called "Do It Yourself" in 2007.
Discography
Albums
- 2005 One World
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [2] |
AUS | AUT | BEL | DEN | FIN | GER | IRE [3] |
NED | NOR | SWE | SWI | |||
| "Out of Touch" | 2004 | 7 | 41 | 68 | 23 | — | 9 | 27 | 5 | 32 | 8 | 26 | 74 | One World |
| "You and Me" | 2005 | 15 | — | — | — | — | 14 | — | 26 | 62 | — | — | — | |
| "Ai No Corrida" (featuring Laura More) |
18 | — | — | — | 16 | 3 | — | 37 | — | — | 43 | — | ||
| "Music in Me" | 2006 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "High Energy" (promo) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Non-album singles | |
| "Do It Yourself (Go Out and Get It)" |
2007 | 64 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Pressure Us" (featuring Lucia Horn) |
2008 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
In popular culture
Danny Choo used Uniting Nation's Ai no Corrida in his Tokyo Dance Trooper video shot in Shibuya, Tokyo
