Song:Caribbean Queen
Album:Greatest Hits
Caribbean Queen was the breakthrough hit for Trinidadian singer songwriter Billy Ocean in 1984. He had three number one hits. He was born Leslie Charles Jan. 21, 1950 in Fyzabad, Trinidad and moved to London, England with his family at age 8. Influenced by his musician father, he sang in London clubs while working during the day. He released his first single in 1972 as Les Charles. The name Billy Ocean came from where he was living at the time. He signed with GTO Records and released his debut album Billy Ocean in 1976. Love Really Hurts Without You reached #2 on the British charts and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. Follow up albums didn't do as well and Ocean didn't do any better when he signed with Epic in 1981. The turning point for Ocean came when he signed with Jive Records in 1984. At the time Jive was a new label and they would become much bigger in the 90s. They paired Ocean with producer Keith Diamond and most of Ocean's hits were co-written with Diamond. Caribbean Queen topped the Billboard Hot 100 and the album Suddenly reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 200 and was certified 2XPlatuinum. The sax solo in Caribbean Queen is by Jeff Smith. Diamond went on to a significant production career until his 1997 death. So Caribbean Queen was not only a breakthrough for Billy Ocean but also for Keith Diamond and Jive Records. Ocean also had number one hits with There'll Be Sad Songs in 1986 and Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into My Car in 1988. Ocean faded in the late 80s and left Jive in 1993. You can get all his hits on this 1989 budget comp. Billy Ocean recorded a CD in 2009 and still tours Europe occasionally. He was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by The MOBO Awards in 2010. Here's the video for Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean. Surprisingly, this video is not on Youtube.
Billy Ocean - Caribbean Queen by erwan951
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