1990-дардағы британдық поп-рок тобы «Ultra» туралы

British boy band

Ultra (also recording as Rider) was an English pop/rock band, which was most successful in the late 1990s. The original line up consisted of James Hearn (born 1976; vocals), Michael Harwood (born 1975; guitar and vocals), Jon O'Mahony (born 1973; drums and vocals) and Nick Keynes (born 1972; bass and vocals).

Although sometimes mistakenly described as a manufactured boy band, Ultra was originally formed by James Hearn, James Rose, Michael Harwood and Jon O'Mahony who were schoolfriends from Buckinghamshire in the mid 1990s. After they left school, they formed various bands, playing under names such as Stepping Stoned, Decade and Suburban Surfers. They eventually called themselves Ultra (named after the Depeche Mode album), and the following year Nick Keynes joined as bass player after being introduced by mutual friend Neil Cowley, who was the keyboard player for the Brand New Heavies.

Their demo tape eventually came to the attention of Ian Stanley (ex Tears for Fears) and they were signed to Warner's EastWest label. In 1998, they released their first single, "Say You Do", written by Hearn, which reached #11 in the UK.

In 2005, the four original members of the band reunited to write and record their second studio album, The Sun Shines Brighter, which also features songs written by former member Alistair Griffin (who provides guest vocals on one of the tracks). Producer credits on the album include Ian Stanley (who produced their first album), Claudio Guidetti (Laura Pausini, Eros Ramazzotti), and Ash Howes (Texas, Blue). This was released on 2 October 2006 on the Goldust label.

The other band members formed a new group with a number of different short term vocalists including Ryan Molloy. Singers Alistair Griffin and James Fox were both briefly members of the band at different times. In 2002, several members of Ultra wrote and recorded a song to celebrate the World Cup, called "England Crazy", which they recorded as a one off project as 'Rider' with Terry Venables. This project was re signed to their old record label East West, but only reached number 46 on the UK chart due to a lacklustre campaign from the label. The song has since been featured on a number of football themed compilation albums.

O'Mahony, Harwood and Keynes set up a music production company, Goldust, writing and producing for other artists such as Bryan Adams, Kylie Minogue, Natasha Bedingfield, Phixx and Liberty X. They have also written music for films, with title tracks on the Andy García film Modigliani, and The Magic Roundabout.

+ List of singles, with selected chart positions Title Year Peak chart positions Certification AlbumUKAUS"Say You Do"1998 11 58 18 Ultra"Say It Once" 16 4 8 ARIA: Gold"The Right Time" 28 — — "Rescue Me"1999 8 — — "Blind to the Groove" — — — "—" denotes the single failed to chart or was not released.