Stereo MC's

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Biography

Stereo MCs are an England|English electronic dance musical ensemble|group , which formed in Clapham , London in 1985. They are best known worldwide for their 1992 wikt:transatlantic|transatlantic Top 40|Top 20 hit single , " Connected (Stereo MCs song)|Connected ". The book Guinness Rockopedia described them as "the big boys of British rap".

Career

Vocalist Rob Birch, and Disc jockey|DJ / record producer|producer Nick Hallam, founded their Gee Street Records|Gee Street recording studio and record label , with money they were given to leave their London flat and dispensing with using a backing band, travelled to early gigs on public transport.

When Gee Street attracted the attention of 4th & B'way Records|4th & Broadway , they recorded the debut Stereo MCs' album 33-45-78 (1989) on a shoestring budget with DJ Cesare, drummer Owen If and backing vocalist and Cath Coffey . In 1990, "Elevate My Mind" by the Stereos was the first British hip hop single (music)|single to reach the United States|US Hot R& B/Hip-Hop Songs|R& B record chart|chart . Having supported the Happy Mondays on a US tour, in the emerging UK indie dance scene, it took an alliance with the Jungle Brothers , to ensure chart success for Supernatural (Stereo MCs album)|Supernatural (1990). Remix work for U2 , PM Dawn , Queen Latifah , Disposable Heroes of Hiphoprisy , Monie Love and Electronic (band)|Electronic all followed.

They are still sought after producers, with most of their remixes being done under the name Ultimatum.

Their live band included singer s Andrea Bedassie and Verona Davis, and they were one of the few hip hop outfits to play rock and roll|rock music festival s at the time. 1992's mainstream breakthrough '' Connected (Stereo MC's album)|Connected , a UK Albums Chart # 2, contained the hit singles " Connected (Stereo MCs song)|Connected ", " Step It Up (song)|Step It Up ", "Creation", and "Ground Level" and won them BRIT Awards for Best Group and Best Album. Hallam and Birch then created the music publishing firm, Spirit Songs, which signed Finley Quaye .

However the follow-up to Connected did not appear for almost a decade. Further remix duties for Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna (" Frozen (Madonna song)|Frozen "), and the Jungle Brothers ("Jungle Brother") in 1998, kept the Stereo MCs name in the limelight.

In 2000, they released a Disc Jockey|DJ mix for Studio !K7 's DJ-Kicks series and remixed another song for Madonna, (" Music (Madonna song)|Music "). The following year saw the release of Deep Down & Dirty , followed by a tour, including slots opening for the recently re-united Jane's Addiction .

Their sixth studio album, Double Bubble , was released in July 2008, followed by their seventh, ''Emperor's Nightingale in August 2011. In December 2008, they supported Madness (band)|Madness at the The O2 Arena (London)|O2 Arena in London.

Members

'The Head' - born Nick Hallam , 11 June 1960, Nottingham , England .

'Rob B' - born Robert Charles Birch , 11 June 1961, Ruddington , Nottinghamshire , England.

'Owen If' - born Ian Frederick Rossiter , 20 March 1959, Newport , Monmouthshire (historic)|Monmouthshire , Wales.

Discography

Albums

The Stereo MCs (1989) †

33-45-78 (July 1989)

Supernatural (Stereo MCs album)|Supernatural (September 1990)

'' Connected (Stereo MC's album)|Connected (October 1992) #2 UK Albums Chart|UK

DJ-Kicks: Stereo MCs (mixed by the Stereo MCs) (2000)

Deep Down And Dirty (2001) #17 UK

Retroactive (2002) ( best of compilation album )

Paradise (2005)

Live at the BBC (2008)

Double Bubble (2008)

Emperor´s Nightingale (August, 26th, 2011)

† This Extended play|EP was written, produced and composed by the Stereo MCs and released on Island Records . The songs would later appear on their first album. The tracklisting is as follows:

# "What Is Soul? " ( sampling (music)|sampled Ben E. King 's "What Is Soul? ", David Byrne (musician)|David Byrne and Brian Eno 's "Regiment" and Talking Heads ' "Once In A Lifetime")
# "On 33" (sampled George Clinton (funk musician)|George Clinton 's "Atomic Dog" and Deep Purple 's "And The Address")
# "Bring It On"
# "Neighbourhood"
# "Gee Street" (sampled Rose Royce 's "6 O'Clock DJ")

Singles

"Move It" (March 1988) & ndash; Stereo MCs and DJ Cesare

"What is Soul? " (October 1988)

"On 33" (June 1989)

"Lyrical Machine" (August 1989)

"Elevate My Mind" (September 1990) #74 UK Singles Chart|UK #39 Billboard Hot 100|US

"Lost in Music" (March 1991) #46 UK

" Connected (Stereo MCs song)|Connected " (September 1992) #18 UK, #20 US, #5 Modern Rock Tracks|US Modern Rock

" Step It Up (song)|Step It Up " (November 1992) #12 UK, #58 US, #16 US Modern Rock

"Ground Level" (February 1993) #19 UK

"Creation" (May 1993) #19 UK

"Deep Down and Dirty" (2001) #17 UK

"We Belong in This World Together" (2001) #59 UK

"Warhead" (2005)

"Paradise" (2005)

"Black Gold" (2008)

"Boy" (feat. Jamie Cullum ) (2011)

Song appearances in other media

"Elevate My Mind" was used on the soundtrack of Bad Company (film)|Bad Company (1995) starring Laurence Fishburne, Ellen Barkin, and Frank Langella.

The song "Sofisticated," from Deep Down & Dirty , has been used in a series of commercials for Pizza Hut . In some commercials, the original keyboard piano theme is kept, though the other instrumentation is different, presumably newly written by other musicians for the advertisements.

"Connected" was used on the soundtrack for the United States|American film , Hackers (film)|Hackers . It was also used on the Carphone Warehouse adverts in the 1990s. In addition, "Connected" was used as the trailer theme for the film Blow (film)|Blow . It was also featured on the TV series Bones (TV series)|Bones in the 2011 episode "The Finder."

The song "Step It Up" was used in the comedy films '' Wayne's World 2 , Alien Autopsy (film)|Alien Autopsy and on the Halifax (United Kingdom bank)|Halifax adverts in 2010.

"We Belong In This World Together" was used in a Target Corporation|Target television advertisement in 2008.

The song "Wake Up" Appeared in the Shopping (film)|Shopping soundtrack and on the compilation album of film soundtrack songs, Trackspotting .

"We Belong In This World Together" was used in a Telus television advertisement in 2009, and in a television advertisement for the NBC show Heroes (TV series)|Heroes in 2009.

The song Deep Down And Dirty was used in the 2001 Xbox game Project Gotham Racing.

Deep, Down and Dirty was featured on the first season of HBO's Six Feet Under and can be found on the show's first soundrack release of 2002.

Copyright Citations

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