Candy Flip

Last updated

Candy Flip
Origin Stoke-on-Trent, England
Genres Electronic, dance, Madchester
Years active1989–1992
LabelsDebut, Atlantic
Past membersDanny Spencer
Ric Peet

Candy Flip were an English electronic music duo from Stoke-on-Trent, who were associated with the indie dance music scene in the early 1990s (a scene more commonly known as Madchester or baggy). [1] [2] [3] They are best remembered for their cover version of the Beatles song "Strawberry Fields Forever", which was a No. 3 hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1990. [4]

Contents

Origins of name and formation

Candy Flip were named after "candyflipping", the slang term for the practice of taking ecstasy and LSD at the same time. The band was formed in 1990 by Danny Spencer (vocals, keyboards) and Ric Peet (keyboards), [5] and was originally called Yin Yang. [6]

"Strawberry Fields Forever" and chart success

The duo had a top 10 UK hit single with an electronic cover of the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" in 1990. [3] The track sampled the drum beat from James Brown's "Funky Drummer", [7] overdubbing a hi hat and heavy reverb. Candy Flip's track was initially a club hit on the rave scene before crossing over into the pop chart. [3] The track is now considered a "rave classic",[ by whom? ] and was reissued on vinyl in 2005 on S12 Records. The UK DJ remix service Disco Mix Club remixed the Candy Flip version, removing the beat and adding an interpolation of "Hey Jude" to the outro.

The B-side of the first 12" single contained another electronic track entitled "Can You Feel the Love". [3] A second 12" single release featured the 'Raspberry Ripple Remix' of the lead track backed by "Rhythim of Love" ( sic ).

In 1991, Candy Flip released their first album, Madstock... , [3] which combined rave beats with synthpop, strongly influenced by bands such as the Pet Shop Boys, New Order and the Beloved.[ citation needed ] A further two singles were released, the first being "Space" which made UK No. 98 and "This Can Be Real", which fared slightly better, reaching UK No. 60. [4] Candy Flip split up in 1992. [3]

Recent activity

Peet became a record producer and engineer, working with bands such as the Charlatans and Six by Seven. [3]

In the early 1990s, Spencer, together with his brother Kelvin Andrews, became the remix duo Sure Is Pure who provided remixes for other artists such as UK band Space and Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. [8] The duo's remixes of the Sister Sledge back catalogue, scored the 1970s disco group a couple of UK top 20 chart hits in 1993, including a number 5 position for an updated version of "We Are Family". [9] [10] [11] Sure Is Pure also had a label called Pharm, which scored a UK number 8 hit in 1997 with Blue Boy's "Remember Me" after it was licensed to Jive Records. [12] [13]

In the late 1990s, Spencer and Andrews went on to form Sound 5, releasing the album No Illicit Dancing in 2000 on Gut Records, before the duo became Soul Mekanik. In 2006, the duo (as Soul Mekanik) produced four songs on the Robbie Williams album Rudebox and, under the name Central Midfield, co-wrote ten of the tracks on Williams' 2009 album Reality Killed the Video Star .

By 2021, Andrews was presenting a radio show Down to the Sea & Back on Brighton and Hove-based community radio station 1 BTN 101.4FM (1 Brighton FM). [14]

Discography

Albums

Singles

YearTitleChart PositionAlbum
UK IRE BEL
(FLA)
AUS [15] NZ US Modern Rock
1989"Love Is Life" Madstock...
1990"Strawberry Fields Forever"3747292011
"This Can Be Real"6018
"Space"98
1991"Redhills Road"8619

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coldcut</span> English electronic music duo

Coldcut are an English electronic music duo composed of Matt Black and Jonathan More. Credited as pioneers for pop sampling in the 1980s, Coldcut are also considered the first stars of UK electronic dance music due to their innovative style, which featured cut-up samples of hip-hop, soul, funk, spoken word and various other types of music, as well as video and multimedia. According to Spin, "in '87 Coldcut pioneered the British fad for 'DJ records'".

Sister Sledge is an American musical vocal group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Formed in 1971, the group consisted of sisters Debbie, Joni, Kim, and Kathy Sledge. The siblings achieved international success at the height of the disco era. In 1979, they released their breakthrough album We Are Family, which peaked at number three on the Billboard 200 and included the 1979 US top-10 singles "He's the Greatest Dancer" and "We Are Family". "We Are Family" earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurythmics</span> British music duo

Eurythmics were a British pop duo formed in 1980, consisting of Scottish vocalist Annie Lennox and English musician and producer Dave Stewart. They were both previously in the Tourists, a band that broke up in 1980. They released their first studio album, In the Garden, in 1981 to little success, but achieved global acclaim with their second album, Sweet Dreams (1983). The title track became a worldwide hit, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart, and number one in Canada and the US Billboard Hot 100. Eurythmics went on to release a string of hit singles and albums, including "Love Is a Stranger", "There Must Be an Angel " and "Here Comes the Rain Again", before splitting in 1990.

Madchester was a musical and cultural scene that developed in the English city of Manchester in the late 1980s, closely associated with the indie dance scene. Indie-dance saw artists merging indie music with elements of acid house, psychedelia and 1960s pop. The term Madchester was coined by Factory Records' Tony Wilson, with the label popularised by the British music press in the early 1990s, and its most famous groups include the Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, Inspiral Carpets, the Charlatans, James and 808 State. It is widely seen as being heavily influenced by drugs, especially MDMA. At that time, the Haçienda nightclub, co-owned by members of New Order, was a major catalyst for the distinctive musical ethos in the city that was called the Second Summer of Love.

<i>Touch</i> (Eurythmics album) 1983 studio album by Eurythmics

Touch is the third studio album by British pop duo Eurythmics, released on 14 November 1983 by RCA Records. It became the duo's first number-one album on the UK Albums Chart, and also peaked at number seven on the US Billboard 200. It has since been certified Platinum in both the United Kingdom and the United States. The album spawned the singles "Who's That Girl?", "Right by Your Side" and "Here Comes the Rain Again", all of which reached the top 10 of the UK Singles Chart.

Baggy is a British alternative dance genre popular in the late 1980s and early 1990s, with many of the artists referred to as "baggy" being bands from the Madchester scene.

<i>Madchester Rave On</i> 1989 EP by Happy Mondays

Madchester Rave On is the second EP by Happy Mondays. It was released in November 1989 on Factory Records. The track "Hallelujah" became the band's breakthrough release, reaching the top twenty in the UK and leading to the band's first Top of the Pops appearance.

<i>Touch Dance</i> 1984 remix album by Eurythmics

Touch Dance is a remix album by the British pop duo Eurythmics, released in May 1984 by RCA Records. It contains seven dance remixes of four tracks from the duo's 1983 album Touch, with four remixes by John "Jellybean" Benitez and three by François Kevorkian and Jay Mark.

<i>We Are Family</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Sister Sledge

We Are Family is the third studio album by the American R&B vocal group Sister Sledge, released on January 22, 1979, in the United States and on April 30, 1979, in the United Kingdom by Cotillion Records. The album was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of the band Chic, and includes four hit singles: the title track, "He's the Greatest Dancer", "Lost in Music" and "Thinking of You", all of which have been sampled, remixed, and reissued in the decades after the album's release. The album reached number one on the Top R&B Albums chart and peaked at number three on the Billboard 200, making it the band's most commercially successful album. In 2013, NME named it among the 500 greatest albums of all time.

This discography lists the key British and notable international releases of The KLF and the other pseudonyms of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty. It also details the other releases on their independent record label, KLF Communications, by KLF-spinoff Disco 2000 and Space. In the United Kingdom—their home country—Drummond and Cauty released six albums and a wide array of 12 " singles on KLF Communications. In other territories their material was typically issued under licence by local labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)</span> 1983 single by Eurythmics

"Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" is a song by the British new wave music duo Eurythmics. It was released as the fourth and final single from their second album of the same name in January 1983. It was their breakthrough hit, establishing the duo worldwide. It reached number two on the UK Singles Chart in March 1983, and number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 six months later; it was their first single released in the US.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The King and Queen of America</span> 1990 single by Eurythmics

"The King and Queen of America" is a song recorded by pop music duo Eurythmics. It was written by group members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart with Jimmy Iovine. The track appears on their album We Too Are One and was released as the album's third UK single in January 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I've Got a Life</span> 2005 single by Eurythmics

"I've Got a Life" is a song released by the British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was released as a single in 2005, in order to promote their second greatest hits compilation, Ultimate Collection. It was written by band members Annie Lennox and David A. Stewart and produced by Stewart. It was the duo's final single to date, becoming their fourteenth UK Top 20 hit, and also topped the US Dance Chart.

<i>Madstock...</i> 1990 studio album by Candy Flip

Madstock...The Continuing Adventures of Bubblecar Fish is the first and only album of English acid house band Candy Flip. Four of its singles charted on the UK Singles Chart, with the biggest hit, "Strawberry Fields Forever", a cover of the Beatles song, peaking at No. 3 in March 1990. Lloyd Bradley from Q magazine described the album as having "satisfying solid beats and oozing melodies".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lost in Music</span> 1979 single by Sister Sledge

"Lost in Music" is a song by American vocal group Sister Sledge, released in July 1979 as the third single from their third studio album, We Are Family (1979), an album entirely written, produced, and arranged by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. The "intoxicating" song was a no. 35 hit on the American R&B charts. In 1984 and 1993, "Lost in Music" was re-released in new remixes.

<i>Good Times: The Very Best of the Hits & the Remixes</i> 2005 compilation album by Chic & Sister Sledge

Good Times: The Very Best of the Hits & the Remixes is a two-disc compilation album, of recordings by American R&B bands Chic and Sister Sledge, released by Warner Music in 2005, an expanded re-release of 1999's single-disc compilation The Very Best of Chic & Sister Sledge. Disc one contains the original recordings made between the years 1973 and 1982, disc two extended versions and remixes dating from 1982 to 2005. (Note: track 1, disc 2.)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thinking of You (Sister Sledge song)</span> 1984 single by Sister Sledge

"Thinking of You" is a song released as a single by Sister Sledge in 1984 that became a hit in the UK. It was originally recorded for their 1979 album, We Are Family, and was included as the B-side to their UK top 20 single "Lost in Music". "Thinking of You" was written and produced by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards, and, like many Sister Sledge hits, was built on the rhythmic foundations of their famous guitar and bass line arrangements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remember Me (Blue Boy song)</span> 1997 single by Blue Boy

"Remember Me" is a 1997 song by British DJ Alexis 'Lex' Blackmore under his pseudonym Blue Boy, released as a single only. Built around samples performed by American singer Marlena Shaw, the song peaked at No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in February 1997 and No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart. It was a top-10 hit in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. On the Eurochart Hot 100, the track reached No. 13.

This discography documents albums and singles released by American vocal group Sister Sledge.

<i>The Very Best of Sister Sledge 1973–93</i> 1993 greatest hits album by Sister Sledge

The Very Best of Sister Sledge 1973–93 is a greatest hits album by American vocal group Sister Sledge, released in 1993. Featuring the biggest hit singles of Sister Sledge, the album also includes two new Sure Is Pure remixes of "We Are Family" and "Lost in Music", both released as singles in 1993 and reaching number 5 and 14 in the UK Singles Chart respectively.

References

  1. "The 90s spawned this genuinely terrible cover version". Radio X.
  2. "Indie Moans And The Raiders Of The Pop Charts. Or, 'Don't Pop': How The Stone Roses Killed Indie And The Problem With Populism". 4 September 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. p. 75. ISBN   0-7535-0427-8.
  4. 1 2 Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 91. ISBN   1-904994-10-5.
  5. "Candy Flip | Biography & History". AllMusic . Retrieved 2 December 2019.
  6. "10 of the Best Madchester Anthems". 22 October 2015.
  7. "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today AKA What Were Candy Flip Thinking? – FreakyTrigger". 22 May 2023. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  8. "Sure is Pure | Ultimate Eurythmics". 20 February 2022.
  9. "Official Charts Company". Official Charts .
  10. Sister Sledge – "We Are Family (Sure Is Pure Remix)", 1993 Atlantic Recording Corp/Warner Music/Rhino Records – A4508T
  11. Sister Sledge – "Lost In Music (Sure Is Pure Remixes)", 1993 Atlantic Recording Corp/Warner Music/Rhino Records – A4509CD
  12. "BLUE BOY | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". Official Charts .
  13. "Soul Mekanik · Biography" . Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  14. "Down to the Sea & Back – New Kelvin Andrews show on 1BTN – 1BTN".
  15. Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (pdf ed.). Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 48.