Drizabone - Conspiracy (1994)

Club trio from the USA (named after an item of riding clothing) who made a big splash in 1991 with the ‘Real Love’ recording. In its aftermath many record companies sought to wave chequebooks at the group - ‘Real Love’ having first emerged on a white label 12-inch - but they held out until they received an album offer from Island Records. The success of ‘Real Love’ had taken Drizabone too by surprise, and it would not be until 1994 that their debut album arrived. At the time of the single Drizabone were mainstays Vincent Garcia and Billy April plus vocalist Sophie Jones. She had performed the original demo versions of the song but was not really interested in a musical career. Dee Heron (b. Jamaica, West Indies) gave up her secretary’s job to take over her role. However, she became the group’s second casualty after a follow-up single, ‘Catch The Fire’. Having decided that the latter’s vocal range was too limited, the backroom duo spent several months auditioning for more suitable replacements, also filling their time by performing remix duties for Linda Layton (‘Without You (One On One))’, Alison Limerick, Lisa Stansfield (‘Change’) and Shanice. They eventually met Atlanta, Georgia-based singer Kymberley Peer (b. Detroit, Michigan, USA), who had formerly worked with Howard Hewitt, Freddie Jackson and other soul artists. She was also a partly-established actress, having appeared alongside Marvin Winans and Vanessa Bell Armstrong in the musical Don’t Get Got Started. She was on hand to record Drizabone’s first single in three years, ‘Pressure’, which prefaced their long-awaited debut album. Driza Bone is an international dance music / remixing musical ensemble, led by the record producers / musicians, Billy April and Vincent Garcia. They used various female vocalists to provide the vocal element to their output. Driza Bone (sometimes billed as Drizabone) were primarily popular in the early 1990s. They were named after the Driza-Bone brand of waterproof riding coats.The most successful remix single was of the American R&B singer Shanice's 1991 single, "I Love Your Smile". It surpassed the success of the original track, reaching No. 2 on both the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.
Driza Bone's most popular track, as an artist, was the song "Real Love", which reached No. 16 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1991. When this record came out, Drizabone included April, Garcia, and singer Sophie Jones. Jones was soon replaced by Dee Heron, who appeared on the single "Catch the Fire" (UK #54).
Heron was replaced by Kymberley Peer for "Pressure" (UK #33), "Brightest Star" (UK #45), and a re-release of "Real Love" in 1995 (UK No. 24, their biggest hit since the original version of the track). Driza Bone also had a charting album in 1994, titled Conspiracy, which debuted and peaked at No. 72 on the UK Albums Chart in November of that year.All of their chart successes were released on the Fourth & Broadway record label.
In 2010, Billy April, now credited under his real name Billy Freeman, revived the project under the name The Drizabone Soul Family, releasing an album titled All the Way with a new line-up of vocalists. The band's latest album, The Recipe of Life, was released in 2012.