Could Captain Hollywood stand it anymore or did he just want “More And More”?
Captain Hollywood Project is the creation of German dancer and producer Tony Dawson-Harrison. Tony started his career as a dancer and then a choreographer in the late 1980’s, working with notable artists like Paula Abdul, LaToya Jackson and Milli Vanilli. In 1985, he was cast and also provided dance lessons for the cast of the film ‘Beat Street’ and turned up in ‘Macho Man’ the following year. Between 1985 and 1987, he released three singles and his debut album, “Do That Thang”, although they made no impact whatsoever. Tony switched his hands to producing and artistry soon after and in 1989, brought together Dutch singer Nancy Coolen and backing singers and dancers Giovanni Falco and Wolfgang Reis to form the group Twenty4Seven.
Their debut single, “I Can’t Stand It”, was initially a top ten hit across mainland Europe, but underwent ‘cosmetic surgery’ the following year to become a top ten hit in the UK and on the US dance chart. Although their debut album “Street Moves” was something of a flop, the follow up single “Are You Dreaming?” followed “I Can’t Stand It” into the top ten. Now that Harrison had established Twenty4Seven and his own name, he left then group to work on his own material. His ‘debut’ single, “More And More”, was released in the Summer of 1992 and went top ten in more than a dozen countries across mainland Europe, making the UK top thirty the following year and No.17 on the US dance chart. His debut album, “Love Is Not Sex”, was a top ten hit in his native Germany and featured the top ten hit “Only With You” as well as two further hits, “All I Want” and “Impossible”.
His next album, “Animals Or Human”, came in the Spring of 1995 and featured the singles “Flying High”, “Find Another Way” and “The Way Love Is”, although these had considerably less appeal than his first effort. Following his third album, “The Afterparty”, in 1996, and the singles “Over And Over” and “Love And Pain”, ‘Captain Hollywood’ retreated and went back to what he knows best, producing. In 2000, he relocated to America when he became co-producer of the reality TV series Making The band. Tony went on to mentor the boy band, O-Town and would eventually write and produce their first songs, although these were not overly successful! By 2008, he was working with former Backstreet Boy Nick Carter on his solo material, which was much better received as was his collaborations with Haddaway and Wu-Tang Clan.
Harrison reappeared as ‘Captain Hollywood’ in 2003 for a new version of Harold Faltermeyer’s 80’s classic “Axel F”, which made No.18 in Germany, although this was perhaps misconceived as two years later the Crazy Frog would take his version to the top of the charts around the world. He re-issued “Flying High” later that same year, this time reaching No.44 on the German singles chart, some way off the No.18 position it had previously attained. ‘Hollywood’ was back five years later with new versions of “More And More” (this time with the added title ‘Recall’) and “It Hurts With You”. He toured the ‘project’ in 2014, his first live performances for more than fifteen years, taking in Germany, Switzerland, Austria and The Netherlands. More recently, he has written material for DJ Bobo and continues to play live as far afield as Australia, the US and, of course, his homeland.
Stay in touch with ‘Captain Hollywood’ through his WEBSITE and his FACEBOOK page
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