Craig David
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Image:Craid david-slicker.jpg Craig Ashley David (born 5 May, 1981) is a British R&B singer.
Contents |
Biography and music career
David was born in Holyrood, Southampton, Hampshire to an Afro-Grenadian father and an English mother of half Jewish descent.[1][2] His father played bass guitar for a reggae band; the young Craig began his musical education by watching his father rehearse.
David rose to fame as the singer on the Artful Dodger's "Rewind" which reached number two in the United Kingdom in late 1999. David sent in a self written song called "I'm Ready" for a competition Damage was running, which was then used as a b-side on their top three hit "Wonderful Tonight".
In 2000 he had a number one hit with "Fill Me In", which went on to become the 10th biggest selling single of the year 2000 in the UK. He then got another top 10 hit, being featured on another Artful Dodger song, also featuring Robbie Craig, called "Woman Trouble" (reaching #6). Then another solo number one hit came, named "7 Days". At the end of that year he was named best UK newcomer and best R&B act at the MOBO Awards. His album Born To Do It was released in 2000, and 2 more top 10 hits from it came ("Walking Away" reaching #3, and "Rendezvous" reaching #8). The album and its singles also met with some success overseas, in countries like Australia, Canada and the United States.
Slicker Than Your Average was the follow-up album and was released in 2002, and 6 singles were released from it. These were: "What's Your Flava?" (#8 in 2002), "Hidden Agenda" (#10 in 2003), "Rise & Fall" (featuring Sting, #2 in 2003), "Spanish" ,(#8 in 2003), "World Filled With Love" (#15 in 2003), and "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til The Well Runs Dry)" (#43 in 2004).
David's label, Telstar Records, ultimately went bankrupt; the blame was placed on them concentrating too much on marketing Victoria Beckham's musical output, which failed to achieve the success they had expected. He later signed on with Warner Music.
In the meantime, he also had several #1 singles in Israel, and was seen at the Dan Tel-Aviv Hotel in Israel.
In 2005 he made his comeback with the single "All The Way" which hit the top 10. His third album The Story Goes... was released on 22 August, 2005. The album's second single "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)" became his longest running single in the charts since his debut appearance on The Artful Dodger's "Rewind", spending 15 weeks inside the UK top 75. The album's third single, "Unbelievable", disappointingly charted at #18 on 6th March 2006. The fourth single to be lifted from The Story Goes... will be "Hypnotic", and will feature a remix by the legendary producer DJ Premier.
Discography
Albums
- 2000 Born To Do It #1 UK, #11 US (2001 release)[U.S. Platinum], #2 AUS, 7 million worldwide
- 2002 Slicker Than Your Average #4 UK, #32 US [U.S. Gold ], #5 AUS, 3 million worldwide
- 2005 The Story Goes... #5 UK ,#9 AUS, 2 million worldwide
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Singles | US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | AUS Singles | |||
| 1999 | "Re-Rewind The Crowd Say Bo Selecta" (with Artful Dodger) | 2 | - | - | - | Born To Do It It's All About The Stragglers |
| 2000 | "Woman Trouble" (with Artful Dodger & Robbie Craig) | 6 | - | - | - | It's All About The Stragglers |
| 2000 | "Fill Me In (with your pork sword)" | 1 | 15 | 19 | 6 | Born To Do It |
| 2000 | "7 Days" | 1 | 10 | 52 | 4 | Born To Do It |
| 2001 | "Walking Away" | 3 | 44 | - | 5 | Born To Do It |
| 2001 | "Rendezvous" | 8 | - | - | 28 | Born To Do It |
| 2002 | "What's Your Flava" | 8 | - | - | 10 | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2003 | "Hidden Agenda" | 10 | - | - | 24 | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2003 | "Rise And Fall" (featuring Sting) | 2 | - | - | 6 | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2003 | "Spanish" | 8 | - | - | - | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2003 | "World Filled With Love" | 15 | - | - | 32 | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2004 | "You Don't Miss Your Water ('Til The Well Runs Dry)" | 43 | - | - | - | Slicker Than Your Average |
| 2005 | "All The Way" | 3 | - | - | 31 | The Story Goes... |
| 2005 | "Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry)" | 4 | - | - | - | The Story Goes... |
| 2006 | "Unbelievable" | 18 | - | - | - | The Story Goes... |
| 2006 | "Hypnotic" | - | - | - | - | The Story Goes... |
Trivia
- The music video for "What's Your Flava?" is a parody of the children's movie classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, where Craig sponsors a "lottery" to find a female, four females discover "golden CD's" (similar to the "Golden Tickets" in the movie), during the tour, three of the four females misbehave and disappear from the tour (similar to the children, other than Charlie Bucket, in the movie), and Craig and the winner end the video in a glass elevator.
- In Avid Merrion's Channel 4 Series Bo' Selecta, Craig was parodied as having a Leeds accent and a pet peregrine falcon (both reminiscent of the character of Billy Casper from the novel Kes), and frequently using the catchphrase "Proper Bo'!"
Though this has since gone on to haunt Craig so much so that he even blamed the show for his lack of recent success.
- Famous singer/songwriter Elton John once said "If there is a better singer in England than Craig David, then I am Margaret Thatcher."