How crazy were you for these three when you were “Seventeen”? And isn’t it time to Let Loose once again…?(!)
Twenty five years ago, Richie Wermerling (born 1968), Rob Jeffrey (born 1967) and Lee Murray (born 1970) finally reached the dizzy heights of the singles charts around the world with “Crazy For You” (not the Madonna song!) having tried on several occasions the previous twelve months to ‘get noticed’. It lead to a string of hit singles over the next year, but then, nothing. So what happened and where are they now?
Let Loose got together in the Spring of 1993 and released their debut single “Crazy For You” amid much press in the teenage magazines and on TV. But sadly the song stalled at No.44 on the UK singles chart. They followed this with “The Way I Wanna Be” but this fared even worse, and failed to even make the top 75. Early 1994 wasn’t much better with the non-appearing single “Face To Face” and a fourth attempt at chart action with “Seventeen” which at least matched “Crazy For You”‘s high of No.44 in the UK!
With one last ditched attempt and a big push by them and their record company, the boys re-released “Crazy For You” in June 1994 and this time it happened. The song entered the UK singles chart at No.24 and after nine weeks, yes 9 weeks progress, finally slotted itself beneath Wet Wet Wet’s titanic “Love Is All Around” for two weeks during August. After accumulating sixteen weeks in total on the top 40, “Crazy For You” would end the year as the eighth biggest seller, shifting more copies than D:Ream’s “Things Can Only Get Better” which had spent four weeks at the top in January! “Crazy For You” was also a hit in parts of Europe but only reached No.67 in Australia.
Not resting on their laurels, Let Loose quickly followed this with another re-release, this time “Seventeen” in October and second time around, the song made it to No.11. The trio released their self-titled debut album that November which would eventually sell over 100,000 copies on home territory. Two further hits would be lifted from the album in early 1995, with “One Night Stand” making No.12 in January and “Best In Me” giving them a second top ten hit in April when it peaked at No.8.
After touring the UK for most of 1995, Let Loose returned to the studio and in 1996 released a brand new track “Everybody Say, Everybody Do” but this failed to capitalise on previous wins when it stalled at No.29. Far more successful was their cover of pop/rock group Bread’s 1970 chart topper “Make It With You”, which let Loose took to No.7 in the UK. This would be the last time, to date, the trio would make an appearance in the UK top ten.
Prior to the release of their second album “Rollercoaster”, a third single “Take It Easy” was released, but this missed target and peaked at No.25, nevertheless giving them their seventh UK top 40 hit by doing so. “Rollercoaster” was similarly less well received when it missed the top 40 on the album chart selling just under 30,000 copies. A fourth single and a second cover version “Darling Be Home Soon” would miss the chart completely.
Following the release of a “Best Of” album in 1998, the group disbanded. Wermerling embarked on a solo career releasing the album “Lost” to an unappreciative audience. In 2008 both he and Murray regrouped, this time as a duo using the Let Loose name and playing live events. They also recorded new material for an eventual album “Paint It In Gold”, released independently in 2009. Four years later, Rob Jeffrey came back for a complete reunion and a new greatest hits album. The following year the band were due to play as part of a 90’s artists reunion tour, but just weeks after tickets went on sale, the tour was cancelled. Since then, nothing has been heard of the group or if they are still together…unless you know different?!
Stay in touch and remember Let Loose at their official WEBSITE
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