Group of British youngsters loosely defined as musicians. Their genre is best described as 'urban pop' or 'baby garage'.
The Group
Blazin' Squad has ten members; 9 MCs and 1 DJ. The DJ of the group is Tommy B (real name: Tommy Beasley). The rest are: Flava (James Murray); Freek (Ollie Georgiou); Kenzie (James MacKenzie); Krazy (Lee Bailey); Melo-D (Chris McKeckney); Platinum B, formally Rocky B (Marcel Somerville); Reepa (Stuart Baker); Spike-E (Sam Foulkes); Strider (Mus Omer).
The whole group is roughly the same age. The oldest are Melo-D, Spike-E and Strider who were born in the later half of 1985.
Biography
The Blazin' Squad story began when the boys were 15 and in the same year at Highams Park School in North East London. Back then there were two groups of MCs; Blazin' Squad and the Incredible Crew who joined in 2000 to form the Blazin' Squad we know today.
Blazin' Squad got their break when one of their freinds who was doing work experience at a local studio got them an audition with the two producers; Tapps and Terry. Tapps and Terry helped Blazin' Squad to record and release the demo 'Standard Flow' on Blazin' Squad's own label, Weighty Plates. The track was well recieved on the underground garage scene and was soon getting spun by major artists like Dreem Team and EZ. Eventually the track made its way to EastWest Records and Blazin' Squad were offered a recording deal.
The summer of 2002 was when Blazin' Squad hit the big time. August 19th was the release date of their debut single 'Crossroads'; a cover of the Bone Thugs 'N' Harmony tune formally dedicated to Easy E. The boys took the classic rap track and turned it into a pop ballard, complete with choreographed dance routines. The song reached number 1 and established Blazin' Squad as the hottest new British boy band.
love writes hits, the mics they
get used when people write
lyrics for opinions of the critics
That same summer the boys recieved their GCSE results achieving 66 GCSEs between them. Tommy B did particularly well with 4 A grades and 4 Bs.
After touring with Gareth Gates and the Sugababes in September and October the boys released their second single 'Love On The Line'. The new single was a track about phone sex and failed to make an impression in the charts, probably because all the teenage girls were out buying Christina Aguilera's 'Dirrty' that week.
'In The Beginning'; Blazin' Squad's first album was released on November 25th. It didn't do well in the run up to Christmas and only reached 33rd in the UK album charts.
Their next release was the double A-side: 'Reminisce / Where The Story Ends' in February 2003. This release made it to number 8.
made love i never done any
thing of the sort,
it's just such a
shame how we can't we're
underage,
that woz then now
i made it to 16 wid my nine
best friends
Spring 2003 saw Blazin' Squad kicking off their first UK arena tour and launching their official fan club. Later in December the fan club had to be closed amid scandalous accusations that the club exploited young fans, promising signed material for prices upwards of £30 and then failing to deliver.
In July 2003 Blazin' Squad released the first track from their second album; 'We Just Be Dreamin'' hit the charts at number 3 and hung around up there for 6 weeks.
EastWest then decided the second album needed to be completed before the run up to Christmas; this led to the cancellation of the boys' second arena tour scheduled for November 2003. A new single, 'Flip Reverse', was released to accompany their new album, 'Now or Never' (featuring a cover of T-Rex's 'Revolution'), that hit the shops 17th November. The single reached 2nd place in the charts but the album failed to reach the top 20.
'Here 4 One' was released 2nd February 2004 and charted at number 6.
not arranged not voted for on stage my age got me caged but I broke the chains and broke free
Blazin' Squad may not be a manufactured band but they are almost completely controlled by their record label. The record company has developed a formula for making the most money year after year, and for Blazin' Squad this means arena tours every spring and a new album every November. Although Blazin' Squad do write some of their own lyrics, only four tracks from their first album were actually written by the Squad. The rest, including Blazin' Squad's synchronised dance routine, is handled by experts.
Discography
Singles
Crossroads CD1
Release Date: 19/08/02
Position: #1
Track Listing:
1. Crossroads (Radio edit)
2. Uproar
3. Crossroads (Video)
Crossroads CD2
Release Date: 19/08/02
Position: #1
Track Listing:
1. Crossroads (Full version)
2. Offering
3. Crossroads (TNT Remix)
Love On The Line CD1
Release Date: 11/11/02
Position: #6
Track Listing:
1. Love On The Line
2. Bounce
3. Love On The Line (Video)
Love On The Line CD2
Release Date: 11/11/02
Position: #6
Track Listing:
1. Love On The Line
2. Price To Pay
3. In Your Eyes
Love On The Line Cassette
Release Date: 11/11/02
Position: #6
Track Listing:
1. Love On The Line
2. Price To Pay
Reminisce/Where The Story Ends CD1
Release Date: 02/10/03
Position: #8
Track Listing:
1. Reminisce - Radio Edit
2. Where The Story Ends - Album Version
3. How Blazin' Rolls
4. Reminsice - Video
Reminisce/Where The Story Ends CD2
Release Date: 02/10/03
Position: #8
Track Listing:
1. Reminisce - TNT Xplosive Platinum Mix
2. Reminisce - Album Version
3. Where The Story Ends - Video
4. Where The Story Ends - Video Interview
We Just Be Dreamin' CD1
Release Date: 23/06/03
Position: #3
Track Listing:
1. We Just Be Dreamin' (Rap Version)
2. Made For Me
3. Easy Come Easy Go
4. We Just Be Dreamin' (Video)
We Just Be Dreamin' CD2
Release Date: 23/06/03
Position: #3
Track Listing:
1. We Just Be Dreamin' (Vocal Version)
2. Anything
3. Behind The Scenes Tour Rehearsal Footage
Flip Reverse CD1
Release Date: 03/11/03
Position: #2
Track Listing:
1. Flip Reverse (Original Edit)
2. Nothing Like This
3. Who's It Gonna Be
4. Flip Reverse (Video)
5. Flip Reverse (Making Of The Video)
Flip Reverse CD2
Release Date: 03/11/03
Position: #2
Track Listing:
1. Flip Reverse (Radio Edit)
2. U Know What
3. Crossroads Live (Video)
4. Interactive Interview (4 Clips)
Here 4 One
Release Date: 02/02/04
Position: #6
Track Listing:
1. Here 4 One (Radio Edit)
2. Here 4 One (Jaimeson Remix)
3. Mic Check
4. Twisted Up
Extra: Here 4 One - Video, Here 4 One - Making of the Video
Albums
In The Beginning
Release Date: 25/11/02
Position: #33
Track Listing:
1. I Understand
2. Love On The Line
3. Crossroads
4. All About The Music
5. The Love Song
6. I Belong To You
7. Standard Flow
7. Reminisce
9. Supastar
10. Riders
11. Where The Story Ends
Now or Never
Release Date: 17/11/03
Position: --
Track Listing:
1. Here 4 One
2. Biggest Fan
3. Flip Reverse
4. Ride
5. Still Thinking About You
6. No Angels
7. Stop
8. Shorty
9. Revolution
10. Girls
11. Baby It's The Weekend
12. All We Wanna Do Is Rap
13. We Just Be Dreamin'
14. Keep On
15. Life's A Struggle
Bibliography
http://www.blazinsquad.org
http://www.blazinsquad.com
http://www.dablazerz.net
http://www.street-team.co.uk/blazinsquad
http://cgi.tripod.com/anti-blazinsquad/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl
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