The Foundations

The Foundations were a multiracial British band that gave UK audiences a homegrown taste of Motown-inspired soul. Their 1968 hit “Build Me Up Buttercup” still brings a smile after 50 years. • The group formed in the Bayswater section of London in early 1967. They evolved out of an earlier band called The Ramong Sound, which played American soul and Jamaican ska. • Lead singer Clem Curtis was a Trinidadian boxer who moved to England at age 15. • The Foundations opened for Otis Redding and other acts on the final UK stop of the 1967 Stax/Volt Records tour. • They broke through with BBC Radio 1 favorite “Baby, Now That I’ve Found You.” It reached #1 on the UK charts and became the nation’s first chart-topping single by a multiracial band. The song also broke through in America, reaching No. 11. • In 1968, Clem Curtis and saxophonist Mike Young exited the band. Barbados native Colin Young assumed lead vocals for1968’s “Build Me Up Buttercup,” which became the group’s second and final Top 10 UK hit, reaching No. 2. The single peaked at No. 3 in America. • Amid personnel shifts, The Foundations ceased recording in 1971. Later, Curtis and Young simultaneously fronted competing lineups. • “Build Me Up Buttercup” enjoyed a massive resurgence in popularity thanks to the 1998 comedy film There’s Something About Mary, which features the song in its end credits.