Olympic Runners
| Company type | Music group |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1973 |
| Founder | Mike Vernon |
| Defunct | 1979 |
| Headquarters | London , United Kingdom |
Key people | Mike Vernon, George Chandler, Pete Wingfield, Joe Jammer, DeLisle Harper, Glen LeFleur |
| Products | Funk music, albums, singles |
The Olympic Runners were a British funk ensemble from the 1970s, formed by record producer Mike Vernon, who also contributed percussion, with vocalist George Chandler as the lead singer. The band featured versatile musician Pete Wingfield and scored multiple hit singles across both the UK and US charts.
History
In 1973, Mike Vernon, the founder of Blue Horizon, brought together a group of session players to collaborate with blues artist Jimmy Dawkins at London's Olympic Studios. This lineup included keyboardist and singer Pete Wingfield, frontman George Chandler, guitarist Joe Jammer, bassist DeLisle Harper, and drummer Glen LeFleur. Notably, Chandler, Harper, and LeFleur were also part of the jazz-funk group Gonzalez. When Dawkins was delayed in arriving, the musicians utilized the studio downtime to lay down a funk track. Vernon then marketed "Put The Music Where Your Mouth Is," credited to Olympic Runners, through London Records in New York; it climbed to number 72 on the US R&B Chart in 1974.
Building on this momentum, the band released an album featuring their charting single "Grab It." This was followed by the 1975 album Out in Front, released shortly before Wingfield achieved solo success with "Eighteen with a Bullet." Later albums included Don't Let Up and the well-received 1976 release Hot to Trot. Wingfield explained their streamlined recording approach:
"Our engineer Barry Hammond always kept a 2-track quarter-inch tape running to capture spontaneous jams between takes – these often became foundations for new songs. We recorded albums swiftly and sold records! Initially, we remained anonymous; many listeners thought we were an American group..."
Although their commercial presence in the US diminished over time, Olympic Runners gained popularity in the UK with tracks such as "Get It While You Can" and "Sir Dancealot" during 1978–79. In 1979, they performed the theme for the film The Bitch, featuring Joan Collins, which secured them another UK top 40 hit.
The group dissolved in 1979. Afterwards, Vernon and Wingfield joined Rocky Sharpe and the Replays, while other members continued working as session musicians. Several compositions by Olympic Runners have been sampled by artists including Everlast.
Albums
| Year | Album | Label | US R&B |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is | London | — |
| 1975 | Out in Front | 49 | |
| 1976 | Don't Let Up | — | |
| 1977 | Hot to Trot | Chipping Norton | — |
| 1978 | Keeping It Up | RCA | — |
| Puttin' It on Ya | Polydor | — | |
| 1979 | It's a Bitch | — | |
| "—" indicates releases that did not chart. | |||
Singles
| Year | Title | Highest chart rankings | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US R&B | US Dance | UK | |||
| 1974 | "Sproutin' Out" | ― | ― | ― | |
| "Grab It" | 73 | ― | ― | ||
| "Put the Music Where Your Mouth Is" / "Do It Over" | 72 | ― | ― | ||
| 1975 | "Party Time Is Here to Stay" | 97 | ― | ― | |
| "Drag It Over Here" | 92 | ― | ― | ||
| "Dump the Bump" | ― | ― | ― | ||
| 1976 | "Keep It Up" | ― | 27 | ― | |
| "Personal Thang" | ― | ― | ― | ||
| 1977 | "Say What You Wanna But It Sure Is Funky" | ― | ― | ― | |
| "Love on My Mind" | "―" | "―" | "―" | ||
| "God Bless You" | "―" | "―" | "―" | ||
| "Whatever It Takes" | "―" | "―" | "61" | ||
| "Get It While You Can" | "―" | "―" | "35" | ||
| "Sir Dancealot" | "―" | "―" | "35" | ||
| "The Bitch" | "―" | "85" | "37" | ||