Loading details…
Artist
Olympic Runners
12+ albums
funksoulbritishDiscodrjazzmrfunkmusic
about
The Olympic Runners were a 1970s British funk band, led by singer George Chandler, and record producer Mike Vernon. Vernon also played percussion for the group. They are best remembered for their four UK hit singles, including the Top 40 successes, "Get It While You Can" (1978) and "Sir Dancealot" (1979). Vernon had been behind the creation of the British Blue Horizon record label, and the Olympic Runners comprised session musicians who were booked into the Olympic Studios in London to play on an album by blues singer Jimmy Dawkins. When his plane was delayed, the musicians recorded a funk track, "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is", which Vernon then sold to London Records. As band members, Vernon and Chandler were joined by the ex-Arrival drummer Glen LeFleur and guitarist Joe Jammer, who played with Caesar and Chili Charles, amongst others. Added to the line-up were bassist DeLisle Harper, who had backed Rebop Kwaku Baah, plus vocalist and keyboard player Pete Wingfield, who himself had worked with Vernon as a member of early 1970s blues band, Jellybread. Wingfield was also having a parallel solo career at Island Records, while Chandler, LeFleur and Harper were simultaneously members of jazz-funk band Gonzalez. The Olympic Runners' debut album, Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is, was released in 1974. Well received on both American and British dancefloors, it was nevertheless overshadowed by Wingfield's solo single, "Eighteen With a Bullet", which became a worldwide hit, r
