This Is... 1997



‘Spike’ Dawbarn & Jimmy Constable first met each other whilst working as dancers on cult TV show ‘The Hitman and Her’ in the early 90’s. In 1995 Spike & Jimmy who by then had already built up a strong teen following of their own decided to form a boy band and recruited third member Lee Brennan after he was recommended to them by their Scottish manager Steve Gilmour - 911 was born! The lads based themselves in Glasgow and it was there that their journey to the top of charts would begin! They embarked on a massive tour of Schools & under 18 clubs in Scotland and the rest of the UK to build up their growing army of teenage followers and were fast becoming crowd favourites on road shows during the Summer of 1995. In April 1996 after being unable to secure a major record deal Lee, Spike & Jimmy along with their management team ‘Backlash’ decided to form their own record label called ‘Ginga Records’. ‘Night To Remember’ became the bands first independent single release and debuted at Number 38 in the UK charts. Their second single ‘Love Sensation’ which was on the sound track to Casper the movie followed in July ‘96’ and did even better entering at Number 21 and also became the bands only US hit record. The success of 911’s two independent single releases created such a buzz in the UK pop industry that on 27th September 1996 music giants Virgin Records signed Lee, Spike & Jimmy on a four album deal! 911’s first release under Virgin brought them their first Top Ten Hit with the brilliant ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’ which smashed into the charts at Number 10! 911’s first album ‘The Journey’ was a huge success in the UK, Europe & Asia in 1996 and released six singles from the record. The lads sold out 35 theatre dates in a staggering 30 minutes for their first headline tour and had finally made their mark in the world of pop! The next two albums ‘Movin On’ & ‘There It Is’ followed in quick succession giving the lads more Top 5 hits including ‘More Than A Woman’, ‘All I Want Is You’ & ‘Private Number’. 911 headlined their first arena tour and also the legendary Smash Hits Tour at the end of 1998 which would also see them go through a change of management team. In January 1999 Lee, Spike & Jimmy had one of their biggest selling hits and celebrated their first UK Number One! September 1999 would see 911 release their 13th and final single ‘Wonderland’ along with their Greatest Hits & ‘A Little Bit More’ album. They also completed their sell out arena tour in October of that year. In January 2000 the lads toured Asia to sell out audiences and became one of the first Western pop acts to perform sell out shows in China since Wham back in the 80’s. In February 2000 Lee, Spike & Jimmy decided to go their separate ways and announced their split live on the Chris Moyles Show on Radio One. 2013 saw Lee, Jimmy & Spike reunite to appear on ITV2's The Big Reunion. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.