LOFT biography

It all started in Germany in 1993 by a phone call from Petra Davis, a dear friend of Courtney D and the then wife of John Davis who is one of the original voices of the mega-hit group Milli Vanilli from Germany. She asked him to go to a recording session for a song writer by the name of Nosie Katzman. At that time, Courtney D had a reggae band and was doing local gigs throughout Nurnberg and its surroundings promoting a single which was produced by him, titled "Sell Out". Being occupied with his band, he first refused the offer but was convinced by Petra to give it a try.

After he agreed, he contacted his brother, the late Richard Williams (R.I.P.) who was also a member of the reggae band Umascus and was also on the single "Sell Out" and told him about the invitation to visit DMP studio (Dance Music Production) for a recording session. They agreed, then set a date with Michael Eisler, the producer of DMP, and the rest was history. Petra had recorded a line-up of local groups performing at a benefit concert in a well-known-at-the-time disco/club The Resi, and after the performance of all the groups, Umascus was featured in the Nurnberg Zeitung (the local newspaper) getting props as the best act of the night, which was how Petra managed to have shown Nosie Katzman the different groups because she had filmed the performances of all the bands of the show. Fortunately, the Williams brothers were the chosen and lucky ones.

The band LOFT was then formed with Courtney and Richard Williams as the 2 original members. The name of the band L.O.F.T. stands for Live Our Fathers' Teachings, which means that we should not forget the teachings of our forefathers in this modern world of computer technology and rapid changes.

LOFT's first hit was "Summer Summer" in 1993, Courtney D wrote the verses and was the main male vocals with his brother Richard Williams aka Richy Ranking.

This first hit was followed by another hit "Hold On" in 1994, this time the main male vocals was done by Richy Ranking.

These 2 huge hits were followed by many more that you can find on the discography page. All of these songs went worldwide and became hits in many different countries of Europe as well as Mexico, South America, Canada, and many other countries. LOFT did many gigs in the 90s and is now ready with a new presentation to continue performing their songs in 2020.

Here is the biography of each artist.

- LOFT's artist -

Courtney Williams aka Courtney D

Courtney was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on November 16th 1960 but grew up in Kingston, capital of Jamaica. Music has always been part of his life, at the age of 6 years old, Courtney was placed in his grandfather's gospel band to sing, along with 2 other children. He later went to Prembroke Hall Primary School where he again was placed in the choir singing soprano and participated in an island-wide school singing competition (this competition still exists today in Jamaica). Later, Courtney went to the prestigious Kingston College where he lost interest into singing choir music and started singing songs that he liked.

Courtney and his 2 brothers then migrated to the United States of America to go and live with their mother in Brooklyn, New York. After arriving in Brooklyn, the environment was not welcoming to Courtney and that is when he decided to join the United States Army. On completion of his training, he attended the US Medical Academy in Houston (Texas) where he graduated as a Medical Specialist and was then sent to serve in Germany.

Courtney had always been into music, even when he was in the Military he was always singing and practicing his music on his spare time. While serving as a GI, he did his first professional gig as a solo artist in 1985 in Charly M, one of the top clubs in Nurnberg at that time. After getting out the Military, he started focusing on how he would approach the music industry, so he formed his own band. The 1st band didn't work out well because the guys only knew how to play rock music, so Courtney had to move on to find the right way to get his work presented. Then came the computer era and music programs, this was the solution that Courtney was looking for. He then purchased the equipment that was needed to build his first demo studio and started training himself on how to compose and arrange music. This was also the time when Courtney taught himself how to play the keyboard, because at that time it was the only means to create music with computers.

After a few years of training, Courtney was ready to take it to another level and he created a new band named Umascus, which was a multi-cultural band with Germans, an Ethiopian, Americans and Jamaicans. First, Courtney produced a maxi single titled "Sell Out" which was a reggae song with 4 different mixes and the band was now working and promoting this song as well as other songs written by Courtney along with a few cover versions. The reggae song was liked by the local public and the band was performing live in Nurnberg and surrounding areas. It was at that time that Petra Davis contacted Courtney and the history of LOFT began.

The 1st song "Summer Summer" was a mix of Reggae with Eurodance and they came up with the slogan "Roots, Rock, Reggae", which was the first song of its kind. After recording "Summer Summer", a law-suit came against Courtney D from the company that he had made "Sell Out" with, claiming that he had done "Summer Summer" with them before. They had first tried to sue the record company, then tried to sue the producer and then tried to sue Courtney who ended up having to go to Court in Nurnberg later on. At this time, it was decided that it was best for Courtney to stay off the productions until the law-suit was over, which Courtney agreed on knowing that these charges were a scam and as he was the leader of the group he thought it was also better to step back until the matter would be settled. That is why Courtney was not really featured on the 1st Album apart from "Summer Summer" given that they had just made their 1st hit and they didn't want to damage the project and their careers and they also had an album deal. Courtney finally ended up wining the case about 2 years later, then he would be featured again on the "Future World" album. After that, Courtney and his brother were back recording several singles, including their other hit "Mallorca" in 1996 and many more after, until 2005 when the 2 brothers decided to take a break from the music business to dedicate themselves to their families. Courtney was still producing and making demos for local aspiring artists, which he enjoys doing until he put the band LOFT back together on request of an artist/promoter from Lima, Peru, named Gonzalo Terry. This was the rebirth of LOFT.

Richard Williams aka Richy Ranking

Richard was born in Kingston, Jamaica on the 1st of October 1962. Like his brother, he had also joined the US Military. He left the United States, where he was a DJ and a rapper, to join his brother Courtney in Germany to record the song "Sell Out" and joined his band. He was featured in "Summer Summer" and did most of the male vocals on the "Wake The World" album. Courtney and Richard were recording together until 2005. Richard sadly suddenly passed away in 2014.

Female singers

The female singers that were featured in the LOFT project were:

Gina Mohammed
Kim Sanders
Lori Glori
Sandra Steinborn
Sue aka Suzie Electric

Richard Williams aka Au

My name is Richard Williams A.K.A Au son of the late great Loft Group Member Richard Williams. To keep it short, simple, sweet and interesting I grew up in Brooklyn NY, my dad was always working and I spent most of my time entertaining myself.

When he and I would hang out, it would be to follow him around on his jobs or to go to the horse track because my dad loved horses and horse racing. One thing I always remember is his back pack of cassette tapes that he always had with him. His love for music was obvious to me but at that point I couldn’t decipher him from a fan or a DJ but I never thought “Artist” because I had never seen that side of him. I just knew he loved to play the music on those tapes which were mostly reggae. One day he sent me a record of his that he and my uncle did called “Sell Out” and I used to listen to it all day. Really the first record I ever owned was that one and man oh man did I play it over and over again just to hear his voice.

After several years of growing up with my Dad, he had to leave me and go to back Germany to join his brothers who were in the US Forces at the time. I enjoyed our time so I was extremely miserable and rebellious because he was gone and the family I lived with just wasn’t him to say the least. After a couple years of living with my family in utmost misery because my Dad was not around, he popped up into my class and surprised me. He took me home from school that day. That alone was exciting enough to have a kid’s mind blown but more was in store for me.

We flew to Germany together the next day. Coming from Brooklyn as a kid needless to say just seeing Mercedes Benz taxis was a different sight for me. We hopped in one and heard some music playing on the radio in the car on the way to my pop's place. The driver said, “That’s your dad’s music playing". I remember not being too surprised because I had heard him rap on the song “Sell Out” with my Uncle Courtney which my dad had sent me before.

I remember watching TV either that day or a few days later and seeing the video "Summer Summer", it was pretty cool but it didn’t register as much to me because I didn’t understand the “greatness” of it, mostly because of how humble he and my Uncle Courtney were. I just saw my dad and my uncle.

The game changer was the first show I went to... the reaction from the crowd blew my mind to pieces.

I watched my dad make jewelry out of coconuts even amidst his stardom. We did a festival during which I stayed in the crowd and sold the jewelry while he was performing on stage. That was the beginning of a different mindset for me. At that very moment I believe I was shown the stardom should be used in unison with a hustler's mentality.

I left Germany to go to America in the middle of the hype because I had to go back to school, this was also a very important part of my life when I learned discipline. It was hard to stay away from all of that power... everywhere I went in Germany, I was “that kid” because of my dad's and my uncle's fame.

I didn’t tell my friends in America about my dad's international fame. I instead grew my own Network and tried my own thing with music. I won’t drop names but I will say that I was blessed to be around the people I was around and watch them succeed. I never looked at their success or my dad's success as my success... maybe that was wrong but I wanted “my success” a gift and a curse. Life could have probably been easier for me if I had not been so infatuated with having my own success. Life humbled me to knowing that no man is an Island but I am proud of myself for taking the harder route so I can experience and respect what my dad and my friends went through and go through it myself.

My dad passed away before I could surprise him like he surprised me... but my energy is not dead. I feel more energy now than ever. I will continue his Legacy through mine and hopefully do the same for my friends that showed me the same thing my dad showed me, “you can do it”.

Rosalina Biolan aka Rossalina

Rossalina was born on June 6th 1993 in Romania. She is a professional singer-songwriter, being well known for her ability to sing the high notes effortlessly, having the gift of a 4-octaves vocal range, vibrant stage presence and 15 years in the spotlight since childhood. In 2019, Rossalina was selected by Courtney D to become the new singer of his famous Eurodance band LOFT, which had huge hits in the 90’s such as "Summer Summer" which went in the top-10 German Charts and became the European summer hit of 1993, followed by other hits as "Hold on", “Love is magic”, "Wake The World", "Mallorca", and many more titles. Together with Courtney Williams and Richard Williams, the collaboration started in Mannheim, Germany, while being on stage in front of 12.000 people as her debut performance with LOFT. 

Career:

2005-2010: Rossalina performed at festivals and competitions, earning awards such as: "Best interpretation", "Award of originality" and "Voice of her generation".

2010-2013: Rossalina was a member of the "Vlasceanca" high school choir. She studied music and art, taking voice lessons in a private school as well as making recordings and being part of a local entertainment group in Romania.

2013-2017: Singing with live acts such as: Rossalina & Band, The Barry White Experience orchestra, Big Party Orchestra, Soul Litos, Surprise the party band, Jam with us the Band, Dennis Kobylinski, Tony Davis, Mike D, Lily Adams, Flight Unlimited and "The Alpin Bavarian band" (with whom she toured China multiple times, as well as Germany, still being an active member).

2013 - PRESENT:
Rossalina performed with many famous acts such as:
- Eric Conley and "The Barry White Experience" orchestra in the great "Tempodrom" (Berlin) and all over Europe.
- Penny Ford from the Eurodance band "Snap!".
- Multi-million record seller singer Karl Keaton.
- David Haynes, the Grammy-Nominee drummer of Prince, Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan.
- Sir. Waldo Weathers (the saxophonist of James Brown for 15 years) as well as Mary J. Blige's guitarist - Ray Mahumane.
- The famous Eurodance band "LOFT" as the new female singer and member of the group since 2019.

The core producer team from the comeback year 2021 consists of Frank Winkelmann & Gregor Schydlo from well known 90s music legacy project „Experience Of Music“ (Greg & Angleman), their network partner Bernd Müller alias Bmonde and some remixers.

Experience Of Music have a long music history beginning in the mid 90s. They established their own act in the niche of Eurodance and collaborated successfully with many famous 90s acts like The Outhere Brothers, 20 Fingers, Activate and and and…

Also Bmonde who collaborates with Frank & Gregor since 2010 has reached a full bunch of productions and remixes that impacted several charts and were taken on loads of big compilations.

LOFT producers 2021

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