RAW STYLUS - BRIGHT LIGHTS, BIG CITY

Raw Stylus was originally a duo, Ron Aslan and Jules Brookes. Ron, a sound engineer, was heavily influenced by Rare Groove and Soul II Soul and Jules brought soulful songwriting to the mix. They released two white labels into the London scene in the early 90's: Bright Lights, Big Cities and Pushing Against The Flow. The latter made a big noise and was an undergound hit (10,000 copies sold). Then followed Many Ways on Mo' Wax and Use Me (with Jules on vocals) on Acid Jazz. The sound was described as 'Class-A Sound System Soul'. The group became progressively live as it expanded into a 9 piece touring act and was signed by Geffen after Donna Gardier joined in '93. This led to the recording of an album in New York, produced by Gary Katz with a dazzling array of session musicians. The result was a sophisticated blend of uplifting jazz, soul and funk and stands the test of time as a classic 90's album. They scored a No.1 Billboard Dance hit with 'Believe In Me'. Many interesting remixes were made as well by producers such as Joey Negro, Roger Sanchez, Eric Kupper to E-Smoove, Gangstarr, Arrested Development and Antonio Fargasm. No second album was ever released. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.