Inner City (band)

Inner City is an American electronic music group that formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1987. The group was originally composed of the record producer and composer Kevin Saunderson (born September 5, 1964) and the Chicago, Illinois, vocalist Paris Grey (born November 5, 1965). Saunderson is renowned as one of the Belleville Three—along with Juan Atkins and Derrick May—high school friends who later originated the Detroit techno sound. In February 2018, Billboard magazine ranked them as the 69th most successful dance artists of all-time.^[1]

Inner City
Origin	Detroit, Michigan, United States
Genres	House electronic Detroit techno
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Virgin/Atlantic Virgin/EMI Columbia/SME Ten KMS
Members	Kevin Saunderson Ann Saunderson Dantiez Saunderson Steffanie Christi'an
Past members	Paris Grey

Musical career

Inner City topped the US Billboard dance chart five times,^[2] and had nine top 40 hits on the UK Singles Chart. The group is best known for its early dancefloor-pop music crossover tracks "Big Fun" (UK #8, US Dance #1^[2]) and "Good Life" (UK #4, US Dance #1^[2]). Other hits include "Do You Love What You Feel" (UK #16, US Dance #1^[2]) and "Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'" (UK #12, US Dance #8^[2]). The music videos to these songs received significant airplay throughout the world. Later work introduced a hybrid of techno, jazz and swing beats with a more soulful sound in the vein of downtempo British groups such as Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. The group recorded three albums for Virgin/EMI Records and two singles for Columbia/SME Records.

In the early nineties, Tommy Onyx was brought on to be the band leader for Inner City live shows.^[3] Onyx co wrote the hits “Hallelujah”, “Fire” & “Bad Girl” and produced the Spanish language version of Good Life, “Buena Vida”.

In 2017, a new incarnation of the group was formed with Kevin Saunderson's youngest son Dantiez joining as a permanent fixture.^[4] Dantiez and Kevin’s first single as Inner City, “Good Luck”, was released April 14, 2017 on KMS.^[5] “Good Luck” features vocals from LaRae Starr and includes remixes from DEAS, Sure Is Pure and Chuck Daniels. In 2018, Steffanie Christi’an was added as vocalist.

In 2020, the Saundersons (Kevin and his son Dantiez) released a new Inner City album with Christi'an as the main vocalist. Called We All Move Together, the title track which featured a spoken word performance from actor Idris Elba. Elba also featured on the single "No More Looking Back", which was the first Inner City project to be released by Defected Records, a British independent record label specialising in house music.^[6]

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions								Certifications (sales thresholds)
		UK [7]	US [8]	AUS [9]	GER [10]	NED [11]	NZ [12]	SUI [13]	CAD [14]
1989	Paradise / Big Fun [A]	3	162	38	21	74	29	18	55	UK: Platinum[15]
1990	Paradise Remixed	17	—	119	—	—	—	—	—
1990	Fire	—	—	166	—	—	—	—	—
1992	Praise	52	—	135	—	—	—	—	—
1993	Testament ’93	33	—	166	—	—	—	—	—
2003	Good Life—the Best of Inner City	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2020	We All Move Together	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart.

• ^A Album was released as Big Fun in North America.

Singles

Year	Single	Peak chart positions										Certifications (sales thresholds)	Album
		UK [7]	US [16]	US Dance [2]	AUS [9]	AUT [17]	GER [10]	IRE [18]	NED [11]	NZ [12]	SUI [13]
1988	"Big Fun"	8	—	1	57	15	5	5	3	—	4		Paradise
	"Good Life"	4	73	1	52	12	2	6	6	8	5	UK: Silver[15]
1989	"Ain't Nobody Better"	10	—	1	67	—	21	24	26	40	9
	"Do You Love What You Feel"	16	—	1	76	—	—	22	—	—	—
	"Whatcha Gonna Do with My Lovin'"	12	76	8	86	—	—	24	12	—	—		Big Fun
1990	"That Man (He's All Mine)"	42	—	15	143	—	—	—	—	—	—		Fire
1991	"Till We Meet Again"	47	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Let It Reign"	51	—	—	—	—	—	—	40	—	—		Praise
1992	"Hallelujah '92"	22	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Pennies from Heaven"	24	—	1	122	—	—	—	51	—	—
	"Praise"	59	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Follow Your Heart"	—	—	2	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1993	"Till We Meet Again" (remix)	55	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Non-album singles
	"Back Together Again"	49	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1994	"Do Ya"	44	—	5	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Share My Life"	62	—	24	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1995	"Ahnonghay"	97	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1996	"Your Love"	28	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Do Me Right"	47	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
1999	"Good Life (Buena Vida)" (PIAS re-recording)	10	—	—	—	—	—	—	73	48	—
2001	"Good Love"	81	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
	"Pump It Up Dub" (with E-Dancer)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2003	"Big Fun" (remix)	86	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2004	"Say Something"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2011	"Future" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2014	"Bad Girl" (as Kevin Saunderson featuring Inner City)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2017	"Good Luck"	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2019	"It Could Be" (with Armin van Buuren)	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		Balance
"—" denotes releases that were not released in that country or did not chart.

Articles, Interviews & Reviews

• "Inner City — We All Move Together", Ben Cardew, Medium, Sep 9, 2020
• "Kevin Saunderson: “Black people don’t even know that techno came from Black artists”Jaguar talks to Kevin Saunderson and Idris Elba about their Inner City collaboration, the roots of techno and the future of dance music" jaguea, Mixmag, 22 October 2020
• "How we made Good Life: Paris Grey and Kevin Saunderson on Inner City's house classic" interview by Interviews by Dave Simpson, The Guardian, Tue 6 Aug 2019

See also

• List of number-one dance hits (United States)
• List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart