The Giant Return Of The Puzzler

Well, well. Here we are again. I'm back! Make the most of it, I don't know how long it'll last.

Last time on The Puzzler (if you can remember back that far...) I asked this tricky question... What famous breakbeat was lifted from the grooves of an LP by Larry Graham's band Graham Central Station?

The answer is this one, known as the Jam break, which came from Graham Central Station's 1975 LP Ain't No Bout-A-Doubt It. It comes, unsurprisingly, from the track entitled The Jam. Here's the full track (sample starts at 5:09)...





and here's the sampled section in isolation.





The beat is probably familiar to you, and you'll probably know that it was used in Soul II Soul's classics Back To Life and Keep On Movin'. What you may not be aware of is the fact that it's also been sampled in 129 other songs (source: whosampled.com) from artists such as Dr. Dre, Beastie Boys, Prince, Rick Astley, PM Dawn, DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince, TLC and Usher, to name but a handful.

As for Graham Central Station, an American funk outfit founded by ex-Sly and The Family Stone bassist Larry Graham, you can read all about them on Larry's website here.

Now, the next Puzzler  question...

Soul II Soul's debut album Club Classics Vol. One (aka Keep On Movin' in the USA) was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 900,000 copies and Back To Life was one of the biggest tracks of 1989/1990. Which ex-actor's album was the biggest seller in the UK for 1990? (Bonus point: which other ex-actor's album was 1989's biggest seller?)