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WHY I LEFT INNER
CIRCLE
By Calton
Coffie
I was on tour with the group Inner Circle for
about two months in the first quarter of 1995. We had a break
in the month of March; during which time I became suddenly ill at
the end of the month and was hospitalized. We were
scheduled for a tour for the Mid and Far East locations; including
India, Saudi Arabia, Australia and New Zealand. This tour was
to start around mid April. Being their front man, (Lead
Singer) I thought they would postpone the tour and reschedule after
I came out of the hospital but they choose not to. Instead
they took someone else with them and also recorded a song with that
same person. No one from the “Circle family” contacted me
during my illness about the tour or the song, so I felt that it was
time for me to move on; after almost 10 years of being their lead
singer. This was not an easy decision for me; looking back I
probably would not have made that choice if they had not chosen to
go on tour and record without my prior knowledge.
It has been well recorded on how Inner Circle and Calton
Coffie came together but when I left after such successful hits as
“Bad Boys” and “Sweat, A, La, La, Long” no one ever heard my side of
the story; this was something that was a very emotional and painful
event for me. It also caused me to look for a solo career
which took me in the direction of Gator Records. I released an album
with them in 1998 called “Scandal”; unfortunately the record company
did very little promotion and the album did not do as well as
expected.
After seven years I have moved on in my musical life and wish
nothing but the best for my former band members. What we
achieved together was great things which include new levels of
international success in the 1990s. The title track of the album
“Bad Boys” became a Number One hit in almost every European
territory and sold approximately seven million copies worldwide; and
"Sweat (A La La La La Long)" exploded across the world,
simultaneously topping the charts in several countries in Asia,
South America, Australia and New Zealand, as well as the European
continent-where it became the most-played record ever in Germany and
remained at #1 for a full three months. A Grammy Award for
“Bad Boys” and a follow-up nomination for “Reggae Dancer” which I
co-wrote are part of our joined success. Beyond that the
version of “Bad Boys” with my voice is still being played daily on
the TV show “COPS”. This song has been played in many movies most
recently (2002) “Minority Report” starring Tom Cruise. The
song is currently also being played in other countries right
now. Whenever Inner Circle has live performances the radio
station uses “Bad Boys” and “Sweat” to advertise the Band concerts
with their fans; the voice that they use for these promotions is
also mine. You can even go to their current website (Inner
Circle) and immediately hear my voice as soon as you log on; as a
matter of fact most of the songs on the site contain my voice as
their promo advertisement. I recorded “Bad Boys” on the “One Way”
album in 1987 and “Sweat” in the year 1992 and since I have left
they have recorded and released more than 3 albums but yet they
still used my voice to advertise for their concerts and
website.
After some years of serious illness which cause my solo
career to be put on hold I am now healthy and ready to take my place
in the reggae music world with my new CD called “Hot Cup
of Calton Coffie”.
CALTON
COFFIE | 
