Imagination
Background information
Origin	London, England, UK
Genre(s)	funk, soul, disco, electro
Members
Leee John Ashley Ingram Errol Kennedy

Imagination were a 3 piece soul and dance band from the United Kingdom, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in twenty eight countries, earning 4 platinum discs, nine gold discs and over a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983.

Band Members

• Leee John was born John Lesley McGregor in Hackney, London, on 23 June 1957, of St Lucian descent. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School. He was working as a backing singer for The Delfonics, Chairmen of the Board, The Velvelettes and The Elgins when he met ...
• Ashley Ingram, a guitarist/bassist born on 27 November 1960, in Northampton. John and Ingram formed a songwriting partnership, resolving to start their own 'slinky, sexy and erotic' group, working in a short-lived band called Fizzz. Whilst auditioning for another short-lived band, Midnight Express, they met ...
• Errol Kennedy, born on 9 June 1953, a drummer who was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and learned to drum in the Boys' Brigade and Air Training Corps.

Career

The trio took a demo tape of a track called "Body Talk" to producers Jolley & Swain. It was released as a single in April 1981 under the group name Imagination, a name that the group chose as a tribute to John Lennon. The track reached number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1981, selling 250,000 copies in the UK and spending eighteen weeks in the Top 50. They had two more hit singles that year, "In and Out of Love" (September) and "Flashback" (November), both of which peaked at number 16, all from their debut album, also called Body Talk.

Their biggest hit, "Just an Illusion", peaked at number two in March 1982, followed by "Music and Lights" (number 5 in June), "In the Heat of the Night" (number 22 in September, also the name of their second album) and "Changes" (number 31 in December). This was accompanied by a sell-out tour of Europe, with twenty two dates in the UK. The trio frequently appeared on Top of the Pops, and other pop music TV programmes, with a distinctive exotic style, reminiscent of Roman senators, harem orderlies and slaves. John made a guest appearance on Doctor Who in 1983. They were also known for their esoteric album sleeve notes.

Following this the success of the group in the UK waned, but they continued to perform, tour and record until the early 1990s. John went back to acting and recently re-surfaced in the reality TV show Reborn in the USA. Ingram also enjoyed success as a songwriter for Des'ree.

Discography

Albums

• Body Talk (1981) UK #20
• In The Heat Of The Night (1982) UK #7
• Night Dubbing (1983) UK #9
• Scandalous (1983) (re-titled New Dimension for the U.S. market) UK #25
• Trilogy (1986)
• Closer (1987)
• Imagination - All The Hits (1989) UK #4
• Fascination Of The Physical (1992)

Singles

Reference

1. External links
   • Discography from Leee John's personal website
   • Biography from unofficial website
   • Biography at AMG website
   • Imagination Original Picture Sleeeve Discography at Quasimodobell

   See also

   • List of number-one dance hits (United States)
   • List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart