If you grew up listening to music in the 90s, there’s a good chance East 17 were part of your soundtrack. From House Of Love and It’s Alright to Deep and Stay Another Day, the group gave us some of the decade’s most memorable pop songs.
Now, as they approach their 35th anniversary, London Records is celebrating their music with a new Best Of album, arriving on 4 December, featuring their biggest hits fully remastered for the first time.
And for fans who still have their original CDs tucked away somewhere, there are a few special editions to look forward to.
East 17 formed in Walthamstow in 1991, when songwriter Tony Mortimer brought together Brian Harvey, Terry Coldwell and John Hendy.
At a time when boy bands were largely associated with coordinated outfits, carefully choreographed performances and romantic ballads, East 17 were doing things rather differently.
With their baggy clothes, shaved heads, tattoos and unmistakable East London attitude, they brought elements of hip-hop, R&B and dance music into the pop charts, creating a sound and image that stood apart from many of their contemporaries.
But while their appearance certainly attracted attention, it was the music that kept people listening.
Their breakthrough single House Of Love arrived in 1992, introducing the group with a track that sounded quite different from much of the pop music dominating the charts at the time.
Songs including It’s Alright and Steam followed, while Deep, Around The World and Thunder showed another side to their music.
And then, of course, there’s Stay Another Day.
Released in 1994, the song spent five weeks at number one in the UK and has become one of those Christmas classics that people return to year after year.
It’s quite something for a song that wasn’t originally written as a Christmas record, and nearly 32 years later, it’s still an essential part of the festive music season.
East 17’s success extended far beyond the UK too, with the group building a huge international following and achieving Platinum-selling releases across several countries.
Across their career, they scored eleven UK Top 10 singles, while Tony’s songwriting earned him an Ivor Novello Award.
The new Best Of brings those songs together in remastered form, with several different editions available.
Alongside the standard CD and an HMV-exclusive edition, the collection will be released on vinyl, marking the first time an East 17 Best Of has been available in that format.
There’s also an expanded 2CD/DVD edition, which includes ten remastered remixes and sixteen restored official music videos.
For anyone who remembers watching those videos on music television in the 90s, that’s a particularly nice addition.
The release also features previously unseen photographs taken by Lawrence Watson, whose work documenting New York’s hip-hop scene made him an interesting choice to photograph East 17 during their original success.
And to accompany the announcement, remix duo The Alias have created a new seven-minute Megamix, bringing together some of the group’s best-known songs alongside a few that fans might not have listened to for a while.
Among them is East 17’s version of the Pet Shop Boys’ West End Girls.
There’s a lot to revisit across East 17’s catalogue, particularly when you consider how many different musical styles they explored during their time together.
They were a boy band, certainly, but they also helped show that pop groups didn’t all have to follow the same formula.
And with their music continuing to find its way onto playlists, radio stations and Christmas charts, it’s lovely to see those recordings getting a new release.
East 17’s remastered Best Of album will be released on 4 December 2026, with CD, vinyl and expanded editions available.
All formats are now available pre-order HERE.
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