Brother Beyond

Brother Beyond were a British boy band/pop group who had mainstream success in the late 1980s.

Biography

The group's first four singles, "I Should Have Lied", "How Many Times", "Chain-Gang Smile" (produced by Don Was from Was Not Was), and an early version of "Can You Keep a Secret?" (which was later remixed and hit the charts), were all written by band members Eg White (then substituted by live session drummer Steve Alexander), or David Ben White in collaboration with Carl Fysh, and performed together by the band, ideally led by vocalist Nathan Moore (though he never took part in the composition process on any of the songs, nor played any of the instruments). None of these early singles, released between 1986 and 1988, ever troubled the UK Top 50, but they were instead minor chart entries, in the UK Top 75 Singles Chart.

When the songwriters and producers Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman, known as Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW), auctioned off their services to charity, Brother Beyond and label EMI won the auction. The first song to be released from this session was "The Harder I Try", a number 2 hit, that was only kept off the top by the million-seller "A Groovy Kind of Love" by Phil Collins in July 1988. "The Harder I Try" samples the drum intro of The Isley Brothers' "This Old Heart of Mine", and indeed the song as a whole has a distinct Motown feel, as does its successor "He Ain't No Competition", getting to number 6. The 12" version of the latter topped the Hi-NRG charts in October 1988, where it stayed until it was knocked off by the Samantha Fox cover of "I Only Wanna Be with You", again produced by SAW. The following releases from the Get Even album failed to make the UK Top Ten: "Be My Twin", which got to number 14, and "Can You Keep a Secret?", hitting number 22. All these singles were taken from the two different editions of their first album Get Even.

After a brief hiatus, they returned with a brand new single, "Drive On", however this failed all expectations and peaked at #39 which hampered the chart position of its parent album, Trust. They then released a cover of the ballad by The Three Degrees, called "When Will I See You Again?", however this missed the UK Top 40 altogether and peaked at #43. The final release from their 2nd album was the title track "Trust", completely self-written, but bombed completely, peaking at #53.

After a year-long break, the band enjoyed some more success in the U.S. with their next chart single, "The Girl I Used to Know", followed by a final UK chart-entry at number 48. The follow up single was "Just A Heartbeat Away", but failed to chart. No third follow-up album ever came out after this one single.

They released in fact only two albums, Get Even in 1988, and Trust in 1989, before disbanding in 1991. In 2005, a compilation was released, The Very Best of Brother Beyond, collecting all of the band's greatest hits, including the 1991 single "The Girl I Used to Know", which was not previously available on any album.

In January 2011, an expanded edition of Get Even was released, featuring the original line up of the album, along with four bonus tracks. The bonus tracks are extended versions or remixes of "I Should Have Lied", "The Harder I Try", "He Ain't No Competition" and "Be My Twin".^[2]

Band members

• Nathan Moore - born Nathan Marcellus Moore, 10 January 1965, in Stamford Hill, London - vocalist
• David Ben White - born 6 June 1965, in Highbury, North London - guitarist/vocalist
• Carl Fysh - born 25 January 1961 - keyboardist
• Steve Alexander - born 20 November 1962, in Ystradgynlais, Powys, Mid Wales - drummer

Former members

• Eg White - born Francis Anthony White 22 November 1966 - bassist

Brother Beyond discography

Singles

Albums

• Get Even (1988) (UK Album Chart #9)
• Trust (1989) (UK Album Chart #60)
• The Very Best of Brother Beyond (compilation, 2005)

After the split

Lead singer Nathan Moore went on to sing with another boy band, called Worlds Apart, successful in France in the mid-90s, and worked as a manager to such acts as Jessica Garlick. He was also a contestant on ITV's Hit Me Baby One More Time, and part of Lisa Scott-Lee's Totally Scott-Lee programme set up on MTV.

Drummer Steve Alexander toured with Duran Duran for six years, before going solo. He has since worked with Jeff Beck and formed a musical collaboration called Flashman with vocalist Renn. His new project is a collaboration with bassist Simon Little called Little Alex.^[9]

Carl Fysh now works for Purple PR, a public relations agency in London. He became manager to male duo Fierce Girl, as well as working with acts such as Goldfrapp, Coldplay and Adele.

David White obtained a BA degree in Fine Arts at Central St. Martin's College in London and is currently studying for his Master of Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design. He has shown his paintings all around England and Israel.

Eg and Alice

After leaving Brother Beyond, Eg White formed the duo Eg and Alice with artist Alice Temple. Their production was critically acclaimed but a commercial failure, and none of their singles ever entered the UK Top 75. They released one album (which also didn't chart) for WEA in 1991, before Eg decided to go solo, covering the Jellyfish hit "Stay Home". Eg White won an Ivor Novello award for writing Will Young's "Leave Right Now", and has written songs for a variety of artists including Natalie Imbruglia, Joss Stone and Adele.

Eg and Alice discography

Singles

• "Indian" (1991)
• "Doesn't Mean that Much to Me" (1991)

Album

• 24 Years of Hunger (1991)

References

External links

• Paul Gambaccini, Tim Rice, Jonathan Rice (1993), British Hit Singles, Guinness Publishing
• EveryHit.com: UK Top 40 Database
• Nathan Moore Official: includes a detailed history and discography of Brother Beyond.
• MySpaceTV: short clip of Brother Beyond being interviewed in 1988.
• Brother Beyond discography at Discogs