|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Stereo MC's (UK)
|
|
|
February 23, 21:00
Sixteen Tons 
Stereo MCs was started up by rapper Rob B and DJ/remixer The Head in 1985. The duo, along with friend John Baker, started up Gee Street, a label that was then picked up by Island. The first Stereo MCs' album "33-45-78" was released in 1987. The band then added drummer Owen If to the line-up and began working with vocalist Cath Coffy to create the breakthrough album "Supernatural". Rob cites such electro pioneers as Kraftwerk and Afrika Bambaataa and early rappers like Whodini and Schoolly D as major influences on the Stereo MCs' music. But despite their name, and their tendency to incorporate rap influences into the music, the Stereo MCs don't see themselves as a rap group. In launching their career in America, where it seems everything must fit into a musical category, the Stereo MCs are faced with an extra challenge.
The group's next album "Connected" marked a major change for the band in the way it was created. While "Supernatural" relied almost entirely on breaks, with only the occasional session player filling out the sound, "Connected" made more extensive use of live musicians.
"We started everything with breaks, but most of the tracks ended up losing most of the breaks," explains Rob. "We ended up taking the music several stages further than we had gone before and playing things ourselves on bass and keyboards and getting other people in to play things like the horns."
The change in the group's approach to creating their music was the result of a change in approach towards songwriting. The group found just using bits of other people's records to be to limiting. "It was just because we had a lot of melodic ideas that there's no way to find in a record collection," says Rob. "We were composing a lot of the music ourselves."
1992's breakthrough "Connected", a UK Albums Chart No.2, spawned the smashes "Connected", "Step It Up", "Creation" and "Ground Level", and won them Brit Awards for Best Group and Best Album. When Hallam and Birch set up music publisher Spirit Songs (which signed Finley Quaye), the Stereos confirmed their rock star status by taking an eternity to record Connected 's follow-up. A spokesperson told Q magazine in 1997, "They are very keen not to repeat themselves".
Remixes for Madonna ("Frozen"), and the Jungle Brothers ("Jungle Brother") in 1998, confirmed that the Stereos were at least still alive. In 2000, they released a DJ mix for Studio !K7's DJ-Kicks series and remixed another song for Madonna, ("Music"). 2001 saw the release of "Deep Down & Dirty", followed by a tour, including slots opening for the recently re-united Jane's Addiction. Their most recent album "Double Bubble" was released in July 2008.
More info
|
|
|
|
|
The virtual community for English speaking expats and Russians
