Brilliant British R+B singer

Born in Trinidad as Leslie Charles, he was raised in Britain from an early age, eventually coming to public attention as Billy Ocean via two UK number two hits and two other UK top twenty hits in the seventies.



Billy's first UK hit, Love really hurts without you, was a catchy, up-tempo soul song that made number two in the UK. The follow-up, LOD Love on delivery, just made the top twenty. Next came Stop me if you've heard it all before, which just missed the top ten but isn't included here. After that came his second number two hit, Red light spells danger.



Billy's career seemed to be blossoming but it was at this point that things went wrong. His record label, GTO, was taken over by a major and although he remained for a few years, he only had two minor UK hits (not included here) to show for his efforts. He eventually signed with another label, Jive, a move that revived his recording career.



On his new label, Billy had three American number one hits (Caribbean queen, There'll be sad songs to make you cry, Get outta my dreams), all of which did well in Britain (two made the top ten and another just missed), a British number one hit (When the going gets tough the tough get going) and another British top ten hit, Suddenly, together with a few minor hits.



I generally like his seventies music best (and there is another compilation focusing exclusively on that period) but most people remember him for his eighties music, which I also enjoy. This compilation includes three of Billy's seventies hits together with all his big hits of the eighties. As such, it comes very close to justifying its title Ultimate collection and that will do for most people.