Mo’ Wax — Where Are They Now: Repercussions (1992)
Mo’ Wax was a record label started by James Lavelle in 1992, which closed about ten years later. Initially they released 12" singles and licensed a compilation from Japan of Japanese Hip Hop, until 1994 when they began releasing albums of their artists original work. While some of these artists such as DJ Shadow, DJ Krush, and Money Mark continued releasing music after Mo’ Wax closed, others have seemingly disappeared from the music scene. In this series I will look at each artist on Mo’ Wax and try to find out where are they now…
Repercussions — Promise (MW 001)
The first Mo’ Wax 12" (though there were some others previously teased which remain unreleased) Promise was released after Mo’Wax founder James Lavelle met with the Repercussions and made a deal where he flew to New York in 1992, gave them £1,000 in cash, and released their debut 12" Promise soon after.
Repercussions had been formed in 1990, by members of the group Groove Collective (which was also formed in 1990), with Repercussions also featuring singer Nicole Willis. Both groups would appear at The Groove Academy, a series of concerts run from 1990–1996, which were intended “to give an opportunity for the masters of funk and groove to perform their craft in front of a young audience and new generation of fans as most only knew these artists from samples used in hip-hop and rap.” The first Groove Academy show featured James Brown’s band The JB’s, and future shows included Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, and Gil Scott Heron.
In June 1992 Repercussions played at the Groove Academy’s New Music Seminar, and Giant Step President/CEO Maurice Bernstein later recalled that film director Spike Lee was so taken by the Repercussions’ set that he tried to sign the group to his record label — Forty Acres & A Mule — right there and then.
This didn’t happen, but James Lavelle released their 12" Promise in the second half of 1992, and he made sure to hype the release in his Straight No Chaser column for their Summer issue. The 12" was recorded in New York at Pyramid Sound Recording Studios, and mixed by Rod Hui at Greene St. Recording in New York, before being released by Mo’ Wax in England with a sleeve designed by Ian Swift.
Promise was written by bassist Jonathan Maron and singer Nicole Willis, and produced by Genji Siraisi, with the B-side, Field Trippin’ written by Richard Worth, the flutist from Groove Collective, and someone credited solely as T. Harris, but who otherwise doesn’t share credits with the group.
Promise was their sole release on Mo’ Wax and the group later signed to Warner Brothers in 1993 with the intention of releasing an album in March 1994. By April 1994 the band were still busy recording, and their debut album, titled Earth and Heaven, was eventually released on February 28 1995.
Prior to the album’s release the group recorded theme music for the Yo! MTV Raps TV series, and backed Curtis Mayfield on a new recording of his song Let’s Do It Again for a Curtis Mayfield tribute album released on Warner Brothers. The Mayfield collaboration was released as a single in 1994 and Billboard described it as:
slick and soul-filled in its production, this slow number coasts along in comfortable territory, fueled by saluting horns, an accompanying organ, and a smooth groove to boot, leaving a lasting impression.
In January 1995 the band released Promise Me Nothing as a lead single for their album, with Billboard listing it in their New & Noteworthy section, explaining that they felt lead singer Nicole Willis was a standout, calling her a “future diva of epic proportions.”
The bands album, Earth and Heaven, was well received by the press, with the Toledo Blade commenting, “The New York-based group picks up where bands like Soul II Soul and Miami Sound Machine left off, bringing noncommercial tunes to the ears of eager listeners.”
While Billboard called the album a “sterling collection that is true to its roots while also mining more radio-smart, urban/funk ground,” and they continued to praise the track Promise Me Nothing, which they noted was already being embraced by club DJs. Promise Me Nothing would peak at #6 in the Billboard Hot Dance Music - Club Play chart, where it spent ten weeks, and it also reached #3 in the Pioneer Tokio Hot 100 in Japan, with the bands It’s A New Day and Let’s Do It Again also later appearing in the same chart.
But Jazz Times noted in 1997 that the Repercussions album “got lost in marketing black holes and internal politics [at Warner Brothers].” The bands official Facebook biography notes, “At the exiting of CEO Lenny Waronker from the label [Warner Brothers], Repercussions were dropped, and they discontinued promotion of the album Earth & Heaven.”
Prior to the albums launch the record label had began a shake up when the CEO Mo Ostin stepped down in 1994 and Lenny Waronker declined taking over the position. In April 1995 it was announced that Warner Brothers wanted to end Waronker’s contract, which they did by May of that year. Without a label the Repercussions continued on with side projects for the next several years.
According to the Earth and Heaven press release from March 1995, the members on the album included:
Nicole Willis, lead and background vocals; Gordon Clay, percussion, vocals; Andy Faranda, guitars; Jonathan Marton, bass, keyboards; Genji Siraisi, drums; Daniel Wyatt, congas, vocals
Producers: Gary Katz, Genji Siraisi, Daniel Wyatt, Repercussions
Guest: Joe Sample, Fender Rhodes, piano
Several members of the band contributed to Raw Stylus’ Pushing Against The Flow album released in November 1995. The album was produced by Gary Katz who also produced the Repercussions debut, and featured Jonathan Marton on bass across the album, as well as drums from Genji Siraisi on Ridequake, and backing vocals from Nicole Willis on Hungry People. Of interest is that Raw Stylus released an early 12" of their own on Mo’ Wax in 1992 following the Repercussions debut.
Meanwhile, Gordon Clay, Jonathan Maron and Genji Siraisi continued contributing to their other band Groove Collective, with their second album We The People releasing in 1996 on Giant Step, a label founded by the founders of the Groove Academy.
In December 1997 Repercussions returned with an album titled Charmed Life. While it was recorded in New York, the album was only released in Japan so reviews are scarce, with the only one I was able to find being a blog who posted about it in 2015 and described it as “A weak follow up to 1995’s Earth and Heaven…but it’s still got a few tracks of funky, danceable acid jazz and nu soul.” The review also notes the second half of the album has a drum & bass sound, which the author didn’t enjoy.
Following Charmed Life the Repercussions broke up, but they mostly stayed active within the music scene, with only Andy Faranda not appearing to have worked much outside of Repercussions, going by his Discogs and All Music credits. Daniel Wyatt, aka Chief Abbot D, who produced the first Repercussions 12" on Mo’ Wax, has continued working in the studio, contributing to releases by Mos Def, Killah Priest, and and Our Theory. While Genji Siraisi released several solo albums, as well as working on films and commercials. Gordon Clay, aka Nappy G, continued working with Groove Collective alongside Genji Siraisi and Jonathan Maron, with their most recent album released in 2005. Clay has also contributed to various albums by bands such as Dengue Fever, and Secret Circuit.
While several of the Repercussions members moved back to their work with Groove Collective after Charmed Life, they also continued to work with one another on seperate projects.
Nicole Willis & Daniel Wyatt joined Charles Stella in Crown Of Brahma and recorded songs for an album which would have followed the Repercussions’ Charmed Life. The album was never released, but two songs were later remastered in 2017 and released in 2018. Leftfield heard the Crown of Brahma songs featuring Nicole Willis and asked her to contribute to their next album, Rhythm And Stealth, with Willis appearing on the song Swords. The album was released in September 1999.
In 1999 Willis married the Finnish musician Jimi Tenor, and contributed to his abum Out of Nowhere, released by Warp Records in July 2000. Tenor and Willis would also collaborate on Willis’ debut album Soul Makeover, released in Finland in 2000. Willis has continued to release music, most recently in 2019 when Nicole Willis & Banda Palomita released My Soul Sensation, which also featured Gordon Clay. Outside of singing Nicole Willis has also exhibited paintings, directed music videos, and runs a record label, Herakles Records.
Jonathan Maron also worked with Nicole Willis again after the Repercussions demise. In 2017 Willis and Jimi Tenor joined Maron on a single, Big Fantasy, which was released on Willis’ Herakles Records in Finland, with the single reuniting Willis and Tenor who had divorced in 2016. Maron also contributed to albums by previous Repercussions and Groove Collective bandmates Genji Siraisi, and Richard Worth, as well as various releases on the Giant Step label. He has continued playing bass and has performance credits on over one hundred releases from 1992–2020.
While the Repercussions are no more, and haven’t been active since 1997, the groups members have stayed relatively active within the music scene, with many continuing to work together 30 years since the Repercussions first formed.
