Ultra Nate

Ultra Nate has amassed five #1 hits, including "Free", on the Billboard club charts, between 1994 and 2001. In 2003, the band cautiously reformed in order to work on a new record, and a single called "All I Want" was released in October 2004. The song peaked at #75 on the Hot 100. Pellow succeeded in kicking his habit and returned to the public eye in 2001 with a solo album. The song enjoyed heavy airplay throughout the rest of the millennium, not only in clubs, but on rhythmic and mainstream radio stations across the country. Pellow quit the band and went into rehab to battle a debilitating heroin addiction, while Cunningham resigned acrimoniously. It here that "Free", her biggest mainstream hit in America, was released in 1997. During the rest of the 1990s the band maintained a strong Uk following although success in the singles charts became more sporadic.

However, when Warner Brothers tried to push her in a more R&B, less house, direction, Ultra Nate left the major label and fled to the independent dance label, Strictly Rhythm. In the official UK best-selling singles list issued in 2002, it was placed 11th. She found some American club success and European success there with a string of singles. The song was from the soundtrack to the film Four Weddings and a Funeral. She began her recording career on a major label, Warner Brothers. Only Pellow's insistence on deletion (he was bored of its chart domination and overheard people complaining about it) prevented the song from equalling and then breaking the record for the longest-standing Number 1 single, held by Bryan Adams. Ultra Nate is noted for taking the opposite path than what most musicians take. In 1994 Wet Wet Wet had their biggest hit with a cover version of the Troggs single "Love is All Around" which was a huge international success and spent 15 weeks at Number 1 in the British charts.

Though she has had club success in America, she has found the majority of her singles and, especially, album sales success in Europe. In total, five singles were released from it. She is also remembered in America for her team-up with Amber and Jocelyn Enriquez on a 1999 cover of "If You Could Read My Mind", which was also a mainstream American hit. The single proved something of a saviour, as they previous two releases from the album had failed in the singles charts, although the album sold well. Ultra Nate (originally from Baltimore) is a popular American house musician who is best known in her home country for her monsterous 1990s dance crossover smash, "Free", which features the memorable chorus "'cause you're free/ to do what you want to do/ you've got to live your life/ and do what you want to do". In 1992 the band released a third album called High On The Happy Side which produced the Number 1 hit single "Goodnight Girl" - the only self-penned Number 1 single they would have. At the end of 1989, Pellow appeared on the Band Aid II charity single.

The album was well-received, relying more on strings and other classical arrangements, while Pellow's vocals were always regarded as one of the best of the era. The following year the band released their second album Holding Back The River, which was also a success and produced the hit single "Sweet Surrender". In the same year, an album was released of their spell in the USA prior to hitting the big time, callled The Memphis Sessions. Another Beatles song, "She's Leaving Home", was equally-billed on the flip side, performed by Billy Bragg.

In 1988 Wet Wet Wet scored their first Number 1 hit with a cover version of the Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends" recorded for the charity Childline, run by Esther Rantzen. They also supported Lionel Richie on his UK tour. That year the band released their first album Popped In Souled Out which also became a hit and produced three more hit singles including, "Sweet Little Mystery", "Temptation", and "Angel Eyes". The band scored their first hit in 1987 with their first single "Wishing I was Lucky" which reached number six in the UK charts.

The band members were:. Wet Wet Wet were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1986. Wet Wet Wet were a successful Scottish pop band of the 1980s and 1990s and scored a number of hits in the British charts, and around the world. Graeme Duffin - guitar (not an official member, but always given prominent billing by the rest of the band).

Neil Mitchell - keyboards. Graeme Clark - bass. Tommy Cunningham - drums. Marti Pellow (real name Mark McLaughlin) - vocals.