Charlie

The London-based outfit Charlie blended jazz elements into a sound defined equally by the alluring women gracing its album artwork and by its tight vocal blends alongside polished, radio-friendly tracks such as "Turning" and "Watching TV." At the center stood vocalist/guitarist Terry Thomas, previously aligned with Simon Kirke of Free and Bad Company, bassist/vocalist John Anderson, an alum of Axe, and drummer Steve Gadd, augmented by a rotating cast that included keyboardist Julian Colbeck, guitarist Martin Smith, auxiliary drummer Shep Lonsdale, and ex-Argent musicians Bob Henrit and John Verity. The ensemble introduced its accessible approach on the 1976 release Fantasy Girls and sustained a run of modest FM successes on both sides of the Atlantic, among them 1978's "Killer Cut" and "She Loves to Be in Love." Peak visibility arrived via the 1983 single "It's Inevitable," which earned heavy MTV rotation and appeared on the band's seventh, self-titled album. Even with heightened exposure from that track and shared bills alongside the Doobie Brothers, Styx, BTO, and the Kinks, Charlie stayed a niche favorite across its roughly ten-year span. The final statement arrived with In Pursuit of Romance, by then featuring Thomas as its sole remaining founding member.