Benz (group)

Did You Know?

• Benz drew influence from the Beatles, Public Enemy, Hackney, and Ofoedu's Christian beliefs.
• The B.I.G. in B.I.G. Ben stood for 'Believe in God'.

Career

The group Benz started when Benedict Spencer Ofoedu, known as B.I.G. Ben, saw Benjamin Balogun, who performed as Tim Shade, doing a show under the name Overlord X. Impressed, Ofoedu asked Balogun to produce a track for him. Balogun later got tired of his Overlord X persona, so the two formed a duo called Benz, a name chosen because both shared the given name Ben. Anthony Benedict Thompson, or Darkboy, an old friend of Balogun’s, joined after Balogun spotted him walking down the street.

Their early rehearsals were held at the Wally Foster Community Centre in Hackney. In July 1993, they signed with manager Paul Hendricks of Hendricks Records, and by December 1993, they had also signed with RCA Records after walking into the office with a demo tape. Hendricks tried to trademark the phrase “Benz Boom Rock Soul” in November 1995. The following September, Daimler-Benz and Mercedes-Benz, then separate companies, sued the band for copyright infringement but lost; in August 2000, the carmakers were ordered to pay the group £935.

Their single “Boom Rock Soul” reached No. 62 on the UK Singles Chart in December 1995, and “Urban City Girl” hit No. 31 in March 1996. On May 13, 1996, they released “Miss Parker,” which charted at No. 35, and launched their own radio station, Hacktown FM, the same day. Billboard’s June 22, 1996 issue noted the station played R&B, rap, hip-hop, swing, and pop, predicting a similar mix on their debut album 3 Men Called Ben, due later that year. In 1997, on Hendricks Records, they had two more chart entries: “If I Remember” at No. 59 and “On a Sun-Day” at No. 73.