by Joey Guerra
Daily Cougar StaffPerhaps now more than ever, dance music is big business. While club-ready tracks have always been around in some shape or form, the current climate on the airwaves is an ever-growing acceptance of music once relegated to neon dance floors topping today's charts.
Take the groups La Bouche and Planet Soul, both of whom are reaching the upper echelons of Billboard's pop charts with their singles, "Be My Lover" and "Set U Free," respectively.
One of the biggest successes has to be Mariah Carey, whose single, "Fantasy" stayed at No. 1 on the charts for eight weeks and sold more than 2 million copies, thanks largely in part to an array of remixes featuring rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard bustin' his groove right alongside the pop princess.
U.K.-based group NJOI is attempting to ride the wave of success from the dance floor as well. With an extensive promotional tour for its current single, "The New Anthem," landing it at Houston's Roxy recently, the group fits in nicely in the crowded dance group market.
"Our music is a blend of house, techno, uplifting, cool sounds," said Nigel Champion, one of NJOI's frontmen, from outside the Roxy before a late-night show. He sums up the music with one word: "tech-funk."
Along with Mark Franklin and Alex, their immediately likable female vocalist, NJOI has gone through many changes. After finding success between 1987 and 1990 as remixers (including a new spin on Annie Lennox's single, "Little Bird"), Champion and Franklin regrouped, retooled and released "The New Anthem."
What's interesting about the single (besides the fact that Alex is not the female voice heard on it) is that it was initially released in 1991 to moderate success. With the new '96 version, NJOI has found more success than ever.
"There was enough demand for it," says Champion, who admits the new interest in "Anthem" (as the song was originally known) was a surprise. "We believed in our stuff."
As for the group's name, Franklin says the look and sound of it went well with the group, besides the fact that it was simply a name on which everyone agreed. With new blood and a great start, NJOI is poised to reclaim its crown atop the dance scene.
"Our music is good music, whatever it is," says Champion, referring to the "classic" (as he calls it) sound of "The New Anthem" and the eclectic tastes of each band member. Alex, who hails from Denmark, admits to having tremendous respect for R&B mogul Babyface, along with Spanish heartthrob Enrique Iglesias, son of Julio Iglesias.
"One of the keys is accessing the general public with one track," Champion says, adding that people will then buy the entire album and maybe discover some of the more underground material.
NJOI, who will release a full-length album in June, has seemingly had no trouble accessing that oh-so-finicky general public. "The New Anthem" was released in January and has been No. 1 on Billboard's Club Play chart for four consecutive weeks. If the group's show at the Roxy is any indication, audiences are ready to NJOI many more of its fierce club beats.