ILOSM fam,’ remember when the group, Loose Ends, had us vibin’ to 80s hits, like “You Can’t Stop The Rain” and “Hanging By A String?” That was a CLASSIC time in R&B, no doubt! Then all of a sudden, the British group’s light faded into an oblivion, never to be re-ignited again. When Loose Ends fell apart in the early 90’s, it was like my favorite pet fish had died. You know what I’m trying to say, right? It wasn’t necessarily like my dog died, but it was still disappointing nonetheless. That was probably because by then, we had a similar group in the market — Soul II Soul — to fill that void, but I digress…
Anywho, in an interview with Red Bull Music Academy, one of the group’s members/music producer and songwriter, Carl McIntosh, broke down exactly happened to destroy their once rock solid group, which also included lead singer, Jane Eugene and Steve Nichol.
Things Got Volatile:
Carl McIntosh: “Steve and Jane, they were losing focus and eventually they were blaming each other and having fights in the studio. I remember one time Jane actually punched Steve, punched him in the face in the studio. They had a big argument. She just stormed in and just went pop, you know, and after that, Steve was a little bit sour and he didn’t really want to work with her again after that, but he kind of kept his cool.”
Excess Money Clouded Their Drive
Carl I.: “You know, things like that happened to the group in a kind of a way and a time where it was coming to a point where people had money in their pockets, we were driving Mercedes and we had houses and everyone, their chest was high. And their way forward was unknown still. I could see something was coming.”
More Tension Followed & Divisiveness:
Carl: “So what happened after the argument now, they grew further and further apart until Steve one day- now I must say that Steve Nichol is the leader of the unit that I came from- but something happened to Steve, you know, in there. Just the focus, he lost it a little bit, and still thought that he had control over the group. So he went into the record company and he said to the record company that he didn’t want to work with Jane no more, and then he said that he didn’t want to work with me no more. […] So they was like, ‘OK, let’s see what Jane has to say.’ So they called Jane into the record company and she said she didn’t want to work with him no more. They were gunning for her to be the first option soloist out of the group.”
No Shows & Member Replacements
Carl explained that his then-publishing company invested into his new studio and he was excited about creating a new album there, but he says it was like pulling teeth to get Jane or Steve to show:
Carl: “I asked Jane to come over and do some songs. She would always say ‘Yeah, I’m coming over at 7.’ 8 o’clock would come and no Jane. 10 o’clock, no Jane. I’d call her again maybe at the end of the week. In the meantime, I’ve got songs coming out my ears. No Jane. I’d call Steve, same thing. Steve was busy doing something else, flying to France, or doing something in his world. It was disheartening, but at the same time”…
Carl then substituted Jane and Steve for a local taxi driver and mail courier, who both side-hustled in musicianship and songwriting. The label loved their new album, which included Don’t Be A Fool – a song Carl wrote as a ‘message’ to his two former group members. He went on to work with other artists for the then-new and final Loose Ends album, which was released in 1990.
Where Are They Now?
The brighter side of things is that some of the members still continue to perform to this day. Both Jane and Carl are still doing their thing. No word on what Steve’s up to these days, so if anyone in our ILOSM fam’ knows, feel free to share. In the meantime, we’ll be over here at the ILOSM headquarters, vibin’ to some throwback Loose Ends joints.
