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Electra | |
---|---|
Origin | United Kingdom |
Genres | |
Years active | Late 1980s–early 1990s |
Labels | FFRR |
Past members | Paul Oakenfold Steve Osborne Nick Divaris Johny Rocca Micky |
Electra was a British electronic-music band, founded in the late 1980s by Paul Oakenfold in close collaboration with his friend Steve Osborne.
The band was made up of Oakenfold, Osborne, Nick Divaris,Johny Rocca and Micky. It released three EPs. [1] The first one, "Jibaro", was an unacknowledged cover version of a rare Latin-funk song originally composed and recorded by Elkin & Nelson, [2] a Colombian act based in Spain in the 1970s, which was a part of the original "Balearic beat" of the late 1980s. [3]
Paul Mark Oakenfold, formerly known mononymously as Oakenfold, is an English record producer and trance DJ. He is a three-time Grammy Award and two-time World Music Awards nominee. He was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World twice in 1998 and 1999 by DJ Magazine. Oakenfold has provided over 100 remixes for over 100 artists including U2, Moby, Madonna, Britney Spears, Massive Attack, The Cure, New Order, The Rolling Stones, The Stone Roses and Michael Jackson.
"Lost in Love" is a 1980 song recorded by the Australian soft rock group Air Supply. The song was written by group member Graham Russell. The original version of the song appeared on the Life Support album in 1979 and was released as a single in Australia, reaching number 13 on the Kent Music Report. The group re-recorded the song for the album of the same name in 1980 and this version was released as a single in the US, reaching number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches is the third studio album by English rock band Happy Mondays, released on 5 November 1990 by Factory Records. DJ Paul Oakenfold and collaborator Steve Osbourne were previously enlisted by the band to create remixes of some of their songs. The success of these led to the pair producing "Step On", a cover of the John Kongos song, for Happy Mondays. The band went on a tour of the United States, and by the end of which, had started recording their next album with Oakenfold and Osbourne at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, California. They returned to the United Kingdom, where further recording took place at Eden Studios in London until September 1990. Described as a Madchester album, Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches saw a lot of input from Oakenfold and Osbourne, with the former making loops, while the latter handled song arrangements.
Robert Berkeley Davis is an English guitarist and songwriter.
Unit 4 + 2 were a British pop band, who had a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1965 with the song "Concrete and Clay". The track topped the UK chart for one week.
Hot Chocolate are a British soul band popular during the 1970s and 1980s, formed by Errol Brown and Tony Wilson. The group had at least one hit song every year on the UK Singles Chart from 1970 to 1984.
Grace was a 1990s dance music act, consisting of the DJs Paul Oakenfold and Steve Osborne and the jazz singer Dominique Atkins. The group's first single, "Not Over Yet", had lead and backing vocals by the original frontwoman Patti Low. Atkins recorded her own lead vocals for "Not Over Yet" when it was included as the first track on the group's only album If I Could Fly.
"Unfinished Sympathy" is a 1991 song by English trip hop group Massive Attack, released under the temporary group name Massive. It was written by the three band members Robert "3D" Del Naja, Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles and Grant "Daddy G" Marshall, the song's vocalist Shara Nelson and the group's co-producer Jonathan "Jonny Dollar" Sharp. The song was released on 11 February 1991 as the second single from the band's debut album, Blue Lines, on the band's Wild Bunch label distributed through Circa Records. The name "Massive" was used to avoid a radio ban, as the track's release coincided with the Gulf War. Produced by Massive Attack and Dollar, the song incorporates various musical elements into its arrangement, including vocal and percussion samples, drum programming, and string orchestration by arranger Wil Malone.
"Close to Me" is a song by English rock band the Cure, released in September 1985 as the second and final single from their sixth album, The Head on the Door.
"Not Over Yet" is a song by British dance act Grace. Originally released to clubs in 1993, under the band name State of Grace, it was re-released in 1995 as the first single from their only album, If I Could Fly (1996). It peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart and reached number-one on the US Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. Lead vocals and backing vocals were performed by singer Patti Low. In 1995, the lead vocals were replaced by new frontwoman and singer, Dominique Atkins for the album release, although Low's backing vocals remained in place. This Atkins/Low combination appeared on all subsequent re-releases and remixes of the track. The woman who appear in the accompanying music video is Low.
The Goa Mix is a two-hour DJ mix by British musician and DJ Paul Oakenfold. It was originally broadcast on BBC Radio 1 as an Essential Mix on 18 December 1994 after the producer of the show, Eddie Gordon, chose Oakenfold to produce an eclectic DJ mix for the show which featured a burgeoning variation of electronic styles, having begun the previous year. Oakenfold had, at this point, developed his own unique Goa trance sound, influenced by his time at hippy gatherings on beaches in Goa, and employed it heavily into the mix, which also made pioneering use of film score samples. Oakenfold used the mix as an experiment in which he tried to fuse electronic music, especially trance music, with film score music, and then to overlay the result with vocal parts, samples and additional production. The mix was split into two parts, later referred to as the Silver Mix and the Gold Mix respectively. Reflecting the Goa influence, the album title did not evolve beyond its simplistic working name.
"Faster Kill Pussycat" is the first single from British producer Oakenfold's second studio album, A Lively Mind (2006). The song features American actress Brittany Murphy's vocals and was co-written by singer-songwriter Kelli Ali. The title of the track is a play on the title of the movie Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.
"Walk On By" is a song composed by Burt Bacharach, with lyrics by Hal David, for singer Dionne Warwick in 1963. The song peaked at number 6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Cash Box Rhythm and Blues Chart In June 1964 and was nominated for a 1965 Grammy Award for the Best Rhythm and Blues Recording. Isaac Hayes recorded the song five years later, in 1969, and reached number 30 on the Hot 100 chart and number 13 in the R&B charts with his version. "Walk On By" has since charted numerous times in various countries, with wildly different arrangements.
"Xanadu" is the title song from the soundtrack of the 1980 film Xanadu. Written by Jeff Lynne of the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the song is performed by English-born Australian singer, songwriter and actress Olivia Newton-John, with Lynne adding parenthetic vocals in the style of his other songs on the Xanadu soundtrack, and ELO providing the instrumentation. It is Lynne's favourite song of the ones he has written. "Xanadu" reached number one in several countries and was the band's only UK number-one single, when it peaked there for two weeks in July 1980. It was certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry. It also peaked at number eight on the US Billboard Hot 100.
"Starry Eyed Surprise" is a song produced by English record producer Oakenfold featuring vocals from Shifty Shellshock of Crazy Town. The song was released on 19 August 2002 as the second single from Oakenfold's debut album, Bunkka (2002), reaching number six in the United Kingdom, number 19 in the Netherlands and New Zealand, number 21 in Ireland, and number 37 in Australia. It also reached the top 50 in Italy and the United States. It was later included on Shifty Shellshock's 2004 album Happy Love Sick and Oakenfold's 2007 album Greatest Hits & Remixes, Vol. 1.
Jake Williams is a British electronic music producer and remixer, who currently records as Rex the Dog. Rex the Dog currently releases on Kompakt Records. As Rex the Dog, Williams is a proponent of DIY electronics and performs live with a self-built modular synthesizer. Williams first came to public attention as JX in 1994 following a recording contract with Hooj Choons, a United Kingdom dance independent record label. Williams has also recorded as Mekka and wrote the song "Bullet in the Gun" as part of Paul Oakenfold's collective Planet Perfecto.
"Hand in Hand" is a 1997 song by British dance act Grace. It was released as their 6th solo single on Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto label. The song was written and originally performed by electronic music group Opus III. It reached number 38 in the UK charts, number 32 in Scotland and number 85 in the Eurochart Hot 100. Remixes of the song included a complete reworking of the song by Jam El Mar of European dance act Jam & Spoon. Two videos for the song were released, of the Oakenfold and Osborne Radio Mix and an unreleased Eddy Fingers Edit. The Guardian called it "Grace's strongest single to date." But The Baltimore Sun thought the song had "too much exuberance."
"Wide Open Space" is a song by Chester rock band Mansun, released as a single on 25 November 1996. The song was the lead track of Four EP. The single's success led to alternative versions appearing on four of the next five Mansun singles. These versions were one live, one acoustic, and two remixes, the first and most popular by Perfecto, and a NRG version by The Trouser Enthusiasts. A completely different version credited to longtime engineer Mike Hunter was included as a hidden bonus track on their compilation Kleptomania. The song also appears on The Sound of Gran Turismo, a soundtrack album based on Gran Turismo.
"I Can't Let Go" is a song co-written by Al Gorgoni and Chip Taylor, who also wrote "Wild Thing". "I Can't Let Go" was originally recorded by blue-eyed soul singer Evie Sands' on George Goldner's Blue Cat label, which was popular in New York City in 1965. The song became popular in 1966 for the group the Hollies, who charted at number two in the UK Singles Chart with their version. Linda Ronstadt covered the song in 1980 and had a number 31 hit on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart.
The Big Brother UK TV Theme, also known as "Elementfour" in Belgium or as "Tast-E" in Australia and Greece, is the opening theme for the British reality TV series Big Brother, written and produced by music duo Elementfour in 2000.