Toploader

Fact Sheet

Musical genre:	Rock
City	Eastbourne, England, UK
Years active	1996-2002

Toploader were a British rock band from Eastbourne, formed in 1997. They are best known for their cover of King Harvest's song, "Dancing in the Moonlight", a remix of which (the "Radio Edit" remixed by StarGate) reached the Top Ten in the UK Singles Chart.

Toploader were a popular act in British music, but their popularity declined swiftly as bands such as Coldplay and Muse began to lead the changing 21st century music scene. The band split up in 2003, by which time they were very much out of the public eye.

The band had decent success with both albums hitting the Top 5 in the UK, but poor single sales, especially those from sophomore album Magic Hotel, led to the band being dropped by their record label.

The band's début album, Onka's Big Moka, produced the hits "Dancing in the Moonlight", "Achilles Heel", and "Just Hold On".

Joseph Washbourn recently wrote and performed the track "Goldrush" for the 2005 film, The Skeleton Key (Universal Pictures). He is now concentrating on a solo career with new and original material.

Lead guitarist Julian Deane has moved into artist management and currently looks after Paul Steel and The Xcerts.

Band Members

Joe Washbourne - vocalist, keyboardist - (born Joseph Washbourne, 24 December 1975, in Sidcup, Kent)
Dan Hipgrave - guitarist - (Daniel Hipgrave, 5 August 1975, in Brighton)
Julian Deane - guitarist - (31 March 1971, in Bristol)
Matt Knight - bassist - (Matthew Knight, 18 November 1972, in Portsmouth)
Rob Green - drummer - (24 October 1969, in London)

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