Trevor Taylor | |
|---|---|
Historical photo of Trevor Taylor | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Supa T |
| Born | Trevor Oliver Taylor 11 January 1958 Montego Bay, Jamaica |
| Died | 19 January 2008 (aged 50) Cologne, Germany |
| Genres | Euro disco, reggae, Eurodance |
| Occupations | Musician, singer, songwriter, composer |
| Instruments | Vocal, bass guitar |
| Years active | 1984—2008 |
| Labels | Coconut Records, Mercury Records, Simple Things Records |
Trevor Oliver Taylor (11 January 1958 – 19 January 2008) was a Jamaican-German singer, musician, music producer, and songwriter. He was best known as the original lead singer of the German band Bad Boys Blue. In later years, he adopted the stage name Supa T.
Trevor Taylor was born in 1958 in Montego Bay, Jamaica. At the age of 14, Taylor visited England for the first time. Besides music, young Taylor was interested in cooking, power lifting, and football. Taylor was a true rastaman, and his idol was Bob Marley. At the beginning of his career, Taylor played bass guitar in the British reggae band UB40 and also was a singer in little-known groups in Seychelles. In 1978, Taylor worked as a chef in a restaurant "Holiday Inn" in Birmingham, and then in Cologne restaurant "Stummel".
In 1984, Trevor Taylor joined the new group Bad Boys Blue, where he was selected as the lead vocalist. He sang the leads on the 1985 hit song "You're a Woman". It was a real success for the band and it instantly reached Top 10 in many European music charts. In Germany, the single peaked at No. 8 and it did not leave the German Top 20 for four months. The same year, Bad Boys Blue released their first studio album, Hot Girls, Bad Boys, on which Trevor Taylor sang on all songs (except "L.O.V.E. in My Car"), just as he did on the band's second album, Heartbeat, which was released in 1986.
In 1987, while recording the single "Come Back And Stay", producers Tony Hendrik and Karin van Haaren decided to change the lead singer, and John McInerney became the permanent front person. These changes led to tensions within the group, so Taylor gradually phased out his presence and in 1989 left the team for good to pursue a solo career.
After leaving the group, Taylor tried to act in films and participated in various musical projects, from trance to reggae. In 1990, the reggae project Street Noise released the single "Our Problem", where Trevor Taylor was the leading vocalist. In 1991, Taylor was a member of the band Temper Temper as a guitarist. For several years Taylor was a producer and vocalist in the German reggae band Umoya, which released three albums and six singles.
Since 1995, under the pseudonym Supa T, Taylor began recording with the band The Party Animals, releasing singles "My Dog", "Gotta Jump", "Be True", and "Love and Respect". The latter was the hit of the year in Spain and held top positions in the Spanish charts for a long time. All these compositions subsequently were featured in his first solo album, Reggae in the Pop House & Soul, released in 1998 by Vale Music. That same year, Taylor participated in the recording of the single "Harddrummer" by Chocolate Milk.
He later recorded singles for Mondo Club: a cover version of "Don't Worry, Be Happy", and "Sex Up My Life", which became the soundtrack for the television series "Heiße Tage – Wilde Nächte". In his later years, Taylor performed a lot with reggae groups Umoya and The Reggae Cracks. He also planned to release his second solo album, Second Life.
Trevor Taylor, aged 50, died of a heart attack at a hospital in Cologne. His second solo album is still officially unreleased.
| Year | Name | Performer/Group |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | You're a Woman | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1985 | Pretty Young Girl | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1986 | Kisses and Tears (My One and Only) | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1986 | Love Really Hurts Without You | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1986 | I Wanna Hear Your Heartbeat (Sunday Girl) | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1987 | Gimme Gimme Your Lovin' (Little Lady) | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1990 | Our Problem | Street Noise (feat. Trevor Taylor) |
| 1992 | Hey You | Umoya |
| 1993 | Hey You (Club Remixes) | Umoya |
| 1993 | The Children | Umoya |
| 1994 | Hey See De Rastaman | Umoya |
| 1994 | Hey See De Rastaman (Dance Remixes) | Umoya |
| 1994 | Song For Ruanda | Cologne Ruanda Project |
| 1995 | My Dog (Is Better Than Your Dog) | Supa T and the Party Animals |
| 1996 | Love and Respect | Supa T and the Party Animals |
| 1997 | Gotta Jump | Supa T and the Party Animals |
| 1998 | Be True | Supa T and the Party Animals |
| 1998 | Harddrummer (Drivin' Me Crazy) | Chocolate Milk |
| 2001 | Ha Deng /Tribal Nation | Avancada |
| 2001 | I Like to Move It | Bang Gang |
| 2001 | Sex Up My Life (The Pussy Song) | Mondo Club |
| 2001 | Don't Worry, Be Happy | Mondo Club |
| 2010 | Ragga Ragga (digital release) | Blunt Factory (feat. Trevor Taylor) |
| Year | Name | Performer/Group |
|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Hot Girls, Bad Boys | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1986 | Heart Beat | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1987 | Love Is No Crime | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1988 | My Blue World | Bad Boys Blue |
| 1993 | Overdue | Umoya |
| 1998 | Reggae in the Pop House & Soul | Supa T and the Party Animals |
| 1999 | Mixed Mode (promo) | Umoya |
| 2004 | Two Decades | Umoya |
| 2006 | Many Ways | Kuebert |
| 2007 | Second Life (unreleased) | Supa T and the Reggae Cracks |