| Nick Straker Band | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | London, England |
| Genre: | Post-disco, new wave, synthpop, jazz-funk fusion[1] |
| Years Active: | 1979–1987 |
| Label: | Prelude Records (US) Pinnacle Records (UK) Decca Records (Germany) |
| Associated Acts: | New Musik |
| Past Members: | Nick Straker Tony Mansfield David McShera Pete Hammond Phil Towner Tony Hibbert[2] |
The Nick Straker Band were an English pop music group from London, England, led by musician and vocalist Nick Straker, who had earlier gained experience by playing in Dennis Bovell's Matumbi, a dub and roots reggae band. Several members of the band were also in New Musik, and the band's line-up consisted of Straker along with Tony Mansfield, Tony Hibbert, David McShera, Pete Hammond and Phil Towner.[2] Their song "A Walk in the Park" (released June 1979 Pinnacle label) peaked at No. 20 on the UK Singles Chart in 1980,[3] having previously been a substantial hit in Continental Europe in 1979. Their most successful song in the US was "A Little Bit of Jazz", which spent one week at No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play Chart in 1981.
| Title[4] | Year | Information |
|---|---|---|
| Future's Above My Head (Germany only) | 1979 |
|
| A Walk in the Park (UK only) | 1980 |
|
| The Nick Straker Band (U.S. only) | 1981 |
|
| Nick Straker | 1983 |
|
| The Best of Nick Straker: A Walk in the Park | 1993 |
|
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUT [5] | CHE [6] | GER [7] | UK [8] | US Dance [9] [10] | US R&B [11] | |||
| 1979 | "A Walk in the Park" | 7 | 5 | 3 | 20 | — | — | |
| 1980 | "Don't Come Back" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Leaving on the Midnight Train" | — | — | — | 61 | — | — | ||
| "A Little Bit of Jazz" / "The Last Goodbye" | — | — | — | — | 1 | 35 | ||
| 1981 | "Like Dust" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1982 | "Way of Life" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Straight Ahead" | — | — | — | — | 12 | — | ||
| 1983 | "You Know I Like It" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Against the Wall" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1984 | "Turn Me Down" | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "Must You Dance" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| "It Only Takes a Minute" | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1987 | "A Walk in the Park '87 (PWL Mix)" | — | — | — | 82 | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | ||||||||